hey guys! at what mileage do u change your A/T Transmission Fluid? Thanks!

 

I change mine around every 20,000 miles. In NY with stop and go and other driving conditions that can be hard on your AT I think it's cheap insurance against premature AT failure

 

Changing AT fluid is the cheapest insurance you can buy for your Auto-tranny. If I did mainly stop and go driving, I'd be tempted to change at 15K miles (which is in the Nissan service cycle). If I did mainly highway driving (which is easier on the tranny), I'd probably change at about 25K miles. If you can get all of the fluid out (rather than just some) you will be even better off, but most service places only drain it.

My Max has a manual tranny because I've had problems with auto trannies (GM vehicles) in the mountains where I live. Take good care of your auto-tranny and it will last longer.

 

Thanks Man! Actually, im planning to replace the ATF of my wife's Altima. I guess I gotta do it ASAP! Thanks again!

 

For the five speed auto tranny, Nissan schedules a fluid change at 30K at their 'premium service' level.

For regular or minimum service levels, they do not schedule a fluid change for the tranny; just an inspection each 15K, with a change necessary only if the color, consistency or odor have changed.

I always change each 75K, whether the fluid looks good or not. if I were doing lots of hard driving, or city/stop and go driving, I would probably change every 30K. Of course I would replace the fluid immediately if there was the slightest hint the fluid was changing or deteriorating in any way.

There have been a few lost souls at Nissan engineering who insist changing the tranny fluid often, unlike changing the engine oil too often, can actually harm the tranny. They give several technical reasons for this, but, not being one who overdoes the tranny fluid changing, I didn't bother to remember those reasons.

 

I suspect that Nissan is worried about contamination of the fluid. You want to be certain that your new fluid is the same as the original fluid. If you get it done at "Quick Oil Change," Nissan may be worried that the fluid will not be compatible, so they would rather see you run with the original fluid.

You also don't want to get the fluid changed where they "back-flush" the fluid from the tranny. This method has a tendency to pick up debris and deposit it back inside the tranny -- not a good idea. If you just drain the fluid from the tranny, you will only get about half of it out. A friend of mine uses the tranny pump to pump out the remaining fluid, but you have to be careful when doing this to shut it down quickly when the fluid is out.

Finally, we need to discuss what causes tranny fluid to fail -- mainly heat, but also dust. Heat is the biggest problem for most trannies as it causes the fluid to break down. There is a synthetic tranny fluid that resists heat much better, but costs about $20 per qt. This probably is not cost effective and it may not be compatible with Nissan trannies. lightonthehill has been successful only changing his fluid every 75K miles. I still maintain that changing your fluid more frequently is low-cost insurance against a future auto-tranny failure. I would at least do it every 30K miles.

Some may point out that my Max has a 6-speed, so what do I know. I got the manual tranny for two reasons -- better control and auto tranny problems with my previous GM car. Believe me, auto-tranny problems are no fun.

 

Change it any 30,000 miles unless you can smell that the tranny oil is burt. You shouldnt change it too ofter because the seals might break. (SilverMax) you could be right about Nissan not wanting you to mix fluids.

Synthetic ATF is fine and doesnt cost $20 a quart. It's around $5 a quart. A drain is about 4 quarts, and a full tranny oil change is about 9 quarts. The tranny shifter nicer with synthetic, and if you have a lead foot or stop and go trafic, you may want to consider synthetic.

 

I have been searching for a particular answer which may sound kind of odd and I couldn't find it just by looking. I picked up some Nissan Matic K tranny fluid from the dealer at $10.99 per litre. I went to go and add a little fluid but I couldn't find a section under the hood where you could add transmission fluid? Anyone know where or how exactly I am suppose to add transmission fluid? I did the level check like I had read on the forum to check the hot reading while the car is running after at least of about a 10 minute drive, etc. Fortunately my reading was in the middle for the hash marks of the tranny fluid.

 

The tranny fluid goes into where the dipstick is. Same location. You need a funnel.

For Matic K, switch to the Amsoil ATF fluid. It's way better. Ever since I switched on my '04 Maxima, I don't get that jerk at low RPMs anymore.

 

For the five speed auto tranny, Nissan schedules a fluid change at 30K at their 'premium service' level.

I am pretty sure it says every 60k miles unless it changed from when I went to go get mine done. Both in the user's manual and at Nissan said 60k miles. I recommend 15k miles or once a year. Until you get your tranny fixed with level 10 or equivalent parts.

 

What are level 10 parts for a tranny? i'm going to be doing a tranny power flush in like 52K miles. I've heard so many different things, I am told that a 5sp tranny can't be power flushed from a 3rd party transmission shop, and then the dealer said it can be done on my 05 SL maxima. I was also told that only the 04 came in like 4/5sp auto, and 05 and on only came as 5sp auto.