Hello,

I recently purchased a 2006 one owner Maxima with 20,000 miles. The car is immaculate, but I would like to ensure I don't have any transmission issues in the future. Would it be better to add an external transmission cooler and drain and refill the fluid every year or replace the solenoids. I don't mind spending a little up front if it can prevent me from having any costly issues later. Thank you.

 

I say just drain and refill every year.

 

I go every two years on my 2003 and 2008 on transmission fluid and the antifreeze. The 03 has 98,000 and the 08 has 47,000...and I never do a flush..just a straight drain.

 

You can't really flush an auto tranny since so much original fluid remains in the torque converter. My tranny shop guy (who is God's tranny shop) sez to only drain and refill fluid if the fluid looks dark or smells old. He put a new valve body on my 06 SE w/ 85k miles and said it smelled like varnish and was dark. It didn't have any metal particles which means the clutch packs are doing ok.

Regarding the valve body problems with this car, we verified it wasn't a computer problem that was causing gear slamming and erratic shifting when hot. So he put in a rebuilt valve body from Valve Body Express and the job cost ~$900. The tranny shifts like new again.