I have a 2001, I have the OEm Trans fluid still in there from when I bought it new, I know I should have changed it but I was way too busy with work. Should I still change it or at this point will I just have trans issues, our Enterprise fleet guy said don't as we did it on an explorer with 80K and 2 weeks later the trans died....any thoughts?

 

First of all, that was an Explorer, so its a piece of crap to begin with. Second, not only should you change the tranny fluid by dropping the pan, but clean the pan of old fluid and metal shavings and replace the gasket.

The Explorer's tran didn't die because it was changed, it collapsed due to the fact that it was already bad(because of not changing it)!

BTW, how many miles do have on your car?

 

I will hit 71 K by lunch time. I am just concerned that I might have problems like some others I have heard of...

 

Just changed my toyota sienna minivan with 75k on it and it drives great. Unless you have 71k of hard miles I wouldn't worry. Just replace it with some good fluid and keep on truckin.

 

Cool, I figure I will get it done this week...

 

If you don't want to shock the trany with a fluid change, how about a simple drain and fill? Only about 4 qt. (out of 10) get change, but it should be safe. Repeat drain and fill in a few thousand miles, then you can do the full fluid exchange.

 

Just called Nissan, they said they do a power flush and do not drop the pan as its a lifetime filter, $119 for the flush, any comments?

 

Sounds like a lot to me but I'm a "do it yourselfer" how handy are you? It isn't real hard to flush it yourself. Check the "how-to" section. For the money you save you could put some real good synthetic fluid in it. The dealer will fill it with OEM fluid; it's not bad but there is better out there. Good luck

 

I will look it up , thanks.

 

speakin about synthetic.. don't mean to go out of subject... how would u change ur tranny oil... with out shockin it from oem to synthetic...?

 

follow my sig Link and enjoy your tranny flush

 

those power flushes are bad for trannys.....

 

My car has 57000 miles and I haven't had any tranny service yet. I went to 3 different places to get my tranny flushed b/c the stealership said it needed it, but none of them would do it. They all said that most likely after a flush i'd start leaking tranny fluid and the tranny would probably fail sooner than if i didn't flush it. I don't remember the reason why, but it sounded logical to me, so I finally believed the 3rd shop and followed his recomendation of draining it and filling. He said the fluid was VERY dirty but it should be fine. He recomended I do a drain and fill again after about 500 miles. I'll do that by myself to save a few dollars.

I'm starting to not trust these chain repair shops (NTB, dealership, Midas, etc...). They would of all just went ahead and made their money by flushing it without realizing they're screwing me in the long run.

 

Will you kill your trany if you go from oem to synthetic tran oil?

If so what are the proper procedures so you wont kill it.

i am not looking to spend 1500 on rebuilding the tranny..

I get 64k on my 01, and think its time to change but want to be safe.

 

it is sfae to do what I did on my sig... the induction flush will fu@k your tranny

 

how does the tranny flush kill the trans, in what way is it bad? Just so I know, I have always been a stick guy, this is my first Auto so the wife can drive it.

 

an induction flush will move the old oil using pressure and that can harm the seals and internal parts of the tranny. If you just follow what I did you just move the old oil out using the pump of the tranny.... oil comes in and oil comes out.. no harm.. to it.

 

when would you drop the tranny pan and when would you not drop the pan. by dropping the pan would count as shocking the car?

 

Cool, thanks for the breakdown on it...I was really looking to just have it done due to time issues, thanks again.

 

Ive Had a machine flush out the transmission oil from my last two maximas, and everything went well afterwards. In my opinion its better to get the flush since your getting rid of all the old trans fluid, and is reccomended at the 60k interval.

 

When do you drop out the pan and when do you not drop out the pan. will taking off the pan kill your tranny? by shocking it? I cant afford a new one right now

 

No need to drop the pan. Just follow the instructions from Lontar or the "how to" sections and you should be fine. A lot of the shops have that "old school" mentality about changing the tranny fluid. The old transmissions would build up deposits in the trans over time and when it was flushed, would clean them away. Almost all of the new cars don't have this problem unless the car has been driven HARD or abused. I've been changing the tranny fluid on my cars for as far back as I can remember with no adverse effects. Take your time, use a friend, use good fluid, and you should be fine.

 

The BG tranny machine we use in the shop only uses internal line pressure to move the fluid, the pressure readings on the machine guages only display pressure in the system, no external air is used on the machine. The thing works great, it has a sight glass and you can actually see the fluid getting cleaner as the new stuff cycles in.

A proper flush is the ONLY way to remove all the old trans fluid, a drain and fill does not remove old, dirty fluid from the torque converter, valve body, etc.

 

yes, you are right but if you fill up the tranny and disconect the hose that moves the oil back into the tranny the new oil will move the old oil out.. so it is doing the same thing.. without pressurizing the trany and damaging the seals............my .02

 

this is getting very interesting, the different thoughts...

 

I think its actually simple, if you want to do this yourself then by all means go ahead and try it out. But if you dont mind spending the money and watch the machine take out all of that old trans fluid and put in the brand new, then thats your best way to go.

 

That's the way I did mine. I used about 10 quarts of oil and ran the car through each gear position to make sure all the fluid was being flushed. My last .02 for this thread.