Green 2kSE

Here's my take on the tranny fluid change:

The Maxima auto tranny is pretty conventional and easy to maintain. Try changing the ATF on trannies with no dipstick and a filler plug pointing upward in the oil pan. The GM L30E is a good example. While an excellent transmission otherwise, maintaining it is a chore.
1. For regularly maintained and slightly neglected cars, gradual replacement of ATF is preferable as there's no danger of "shocking" the tranny with all fresh ATF (meaning all fresh detergents, additives, etc.) There's little danger of shocking the tranny of a well-cared car but this is just in case. The disadvantage is that you'll have to do several drain and refills over time and will never get all of the ATF out (usually 30-35% per fill).
2. For regularly maintained cars, you can also opt for ATF "exchange", similar to what the local JiffyLube would do. Say you have 30k on your car and haven't replaced the fluid. The ATF on the dipstick looks discolored and smells a bit. Go ahead and have it exchanged if you like. The advantage with this method is that most of the fluid is replaced at once but it is more costly than drain and refill.
3. For neglected cars, there are three options. Drop the pan, clean it and replace the filter. You won't get all the old ATF out this way but with several drain and refills over a week you will get most of the old fluid out. This has the advantage of gradually conditioning your tranny and gradually cleaning deposits and crud. New ATF acts as a pretty good cleaner itself so IMHO there's no need for special cleaners. The most dangerous option is having a tranny flush. Usually it is recommended to people with neglected cars who already may be having transmission problems. A flush with strong cleaners will dislodge most deposits but it may not dissolve them quickly enough so they don't clog vital passages. The cleaners are not always completely removed from the tranny regardless of what the JiffyLube boy says. And last, you can have a flush with cleaning the pan and replacing the filter. This is the most expensive option and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are having transmission problems that need to have an absolutely clean ATF in order to diagnose/cure the problem.
Bottom line: since the Maxima tranny is easy to service, drain and refill it once a year and keep an eye on the dipstick once in a while. If you've gone too far with the maintenance, opt for a pan drop and filter replacement followed by several drain and refills.

SnowMax3

Alright, I'm a 3rd generation Maxima owner, but after doing a search on tranny fluid changes I came up with this thread and it has definately put some new thoughts in to my head. My tranny has been slipping for some time now and I was told that it wasn't worth flushing/changing the ATF because slipping meant the transmission was plain old junk. This was told to me by a family member who somewhat knows his stuff about cars, but never took a look at the tranny himself. So after reading everthing you guys have said, it has lit a light in my dark and dreary thoughts of transmission maintenance. I've bought myself a haynes manual and read through the changing of the ATF and it sounds almost identical to what you guys say you have done. I have no clue when the ATF fluid was changed last and my car has 116k+ and I guess you could say that this tranny may need just a little bit of lovin'. From what I read in the haynes manual and from what you guys say the following is what I believe I'm supposed to do:
-Get the car to normal operating temperature
-Start by pulling the drain plug and draining the fluid
-Pull off the pan and clean it out real good, that includes cleaning the 2 magnets inside of there.
-Replace the pan with a new seal because the old one is most likely fubar
-Pull out the filter and replace it with a new one.
-Then run the car for a couple days and repeat the draining process 3-5 times over a week or so to replace as much of the old ATF as possible.

That is what I think I'm supposed to do so far. The only thing I'm kind of sketchy on is the amount of time I should run it before draining it the second through the fourth or fifth time. I'm probably going to attempt this ATF change next week. I am in the US Navy and I'm stationed at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach. The garage/hobby shop here is absolutely awesome and has everything I could ever need to work on my car so I'll be going there to do it. I'm not a pro car mechanic or anything, but I've been learning to do routine upkeep by myself over the last 2 year and I've found it's not only kind of fun, but satisfying to know that you did it yourself. Could you guys tell me if it sounds like I have the right idea here.

SnowMax3

One of the guys that I work with says that changing my ATF after extended use (70k+ or more) is bad and it will just trash my tranny. I've read early on in this post that putting in the new ATF is better than leaving the old. Can I get some suggestions on this too please.

Concorde

I do not have personal experience with changing out ATF on high mileage cars (>70k)...however, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I have some BMW friends who have changed their ATF at >100k, and threw out the old ATF. Later, regreted it because the new ATF made the transmission act very negatively.

DISCLAIMER: I know some people here may disagree, but if I were in your shoes, I would not totally replace all of the old ATF. Drain just a few quarts, then replace with new ATF. Repeat the process a few weeks later...this would allow the transmission to slowly accept the new mixture--not so much a drastic shock.

Actually, when I drained 4.5 quarts during my initial ATF drain, my '00 SE had the original ATF until 53k miles, and I did the exact same process as mentioned in the last paragraph...three separate times. My transmission is absolutely fine.

Good luck.

deadrx7conv

If a tranny is slipping, it is already blown. The seals around the servopistons are shot and pump is not developing enough pressure to apply the clutches. Could also be a solenoid issue, other electronic problem, internal leakage, or worn pump. Worn clutches usually weld themselve together, and you usually end up with slam shifting or stuck in a gear.
Don't expect a fluid change to fix it. It won't. But, if you want to waste ATF, drive it a hundred miles or so between changes. If I were you, I would save the money for a thorough rebuild(full rebuild-tc-solenoid pack-vb). Also, as a last resort, toss in a bottle of Lubegaurd ATP after your final ATF change. Sometimes slipping is just shudder. But, there is no fix in a bottle, just luck!

Concerning the hearsay regarding high mileage changes, most people already were experiencing problems(like above) and were hoping that the ATF change would fix the transmission. Again, it WON'T. There should be no sludge/crud in any transmission. There is no combustion in a transmission. There are components that wear and saturate the fluid. There is heat that destroys clutches, seals, ATF, etc. Every transmission that I ever rebuilt died because of heat from abuse, or from the lack of maintenance. None ever died from a fluid change. Many are seriously varnished. But, the varnish is hard enough to remove in a trans washer, let alone expecting it to disappear after a fluid change. The varnish will stay or slowly dissolve. Regularly changes would prevent saturation of the fluid. This is why it is important to start a regular maintenance program.

Concerning the BMW, ZF transmissions suck. No comment on the GM ATs that BMW uses. Toss in the fact that most BMW owners drive with enthusiasm which usually borders abuse. And, why did he change it? Plus, they usually require quality fluid(mandatory synthetic or BMW brand fluid). Cheapo fluid won't make it happy.

jnm2kse

I wasn't having any issues with my tranny, just that I didn't do any maintenance for 70k. I did the whole flush and change thing at the Nissan dealer so I guess we'll see how it goes the next few weeks or so.

So far so good

Green 2kSE

I don't think you can compare the miles on all auto trannies when it comes to maintenance. What I mean is you can't rely on some shop saying "change the tranny fluid at 60k" whether you have a Maxima, Kia or a Lexus. Depending on driving conditions and type of tranny, you may have significantly different changing intervals. In fact, there are transmissions that don't need frequent maintenance at all. My 2001 Isuzu Trooper has a sealed GM transmission that has no dipstick and according to the manual doesn't require service until 120k. Am I comfortable going that "farther" without service? No, especially since the Trooper sees some dirt roads and sand in 4WD Lo, but I'll probably do just gradual drain and refills every 30k.

iwannabmw

iTrader: (3)

I agree with deadrx7conv on the issue that BMW auto trannies suck. They're notorious for early and expensive failures. If I were your friends, I'd consider myself lucky that the tranny lasted that long, it must have been on 3 or 5 series cars. The 7 and 8 series usually won't even make it that long. Find a cheap 8 series on the market and chances are the owners is dumping it because he's ****ed he had to replace the tranny.

Concorde

Agreed indeed. BMW claims their ZF transmissions are "lifetime" (gimme a break), and are actually sealed. The majority of the BMW guys changed their ATF because they realized they *should* have done so over 50k miles ago, and are finally getting around to it...big mistake. And...you are correct, the BMW fluid is mandatory and also quite $$.

karguy

Converted a 97 SE and a 97 I30 to AMSOIL Synthetic ATF. SE had 131k on it and the I30 had 51k on it. Been about a year since it was done, no leaks in either car and tranny is shifting great in both cars. Did drain and refill 4 times on I30 to get a 92% synthetic/dino ratio. Pumped out 97 SE (Removed tranny return line) to achieve 97% synthetic/dino ratio. Drain and refill takes about 20 quarts while pumping it out return line takes 11 quarts. Pumping it out saves 9 quarts of ATF and yields a higher Synthetic ATF ratio. After doing it both ways I would recommend pumping it out. The synthetic ATF really quieted down the tranny and made the shifts even smoother. SE was hanging a little bit between shifts but the new AMSOIL ATF fixed that problem. When considering tranny cooler, the AMSOIL ATF reduces tranny temp from 20 to 50 degrees. If I remember right doesn't the tranny cooler bring it down about 20 degrees. I went the synthetic ATF route and passed on the tranny cooler. Just a few thoughts.