is it hard to change the gear oil on the 5th gen 5 speed, im in upstate ny so its cold and id ont have access to a heated garage- im not asking HOW to do it, i already read though that, just i've never done it before and im wondering how much time it should take. I just hafta order 5 quarts of MT-90 and dont wanna take it to a jiffy lube or something and have them not put in what i give them. i change my own oil, so whats the difficulty compared to that?

its got 72k miles with OE fluid, so thats why i wanna change it out

 

You certainly don't want to try and change the oil outside when the temp is below about 50 degrees F. Thus you have a few options:
- wait for warmer weather before you change it yourself.
- find a garage where you can do the change yourself (even if you have to pay to use it).
- pay someone to change it for you.

The trickiest part of this will be to get the drain plug out. I changed mine at 30 K miles and it was very tight. At 72 K miles it will be even tighter. The other tricky part is to get the fill plug out and to have a long enough funnel to get from next to the battery down to the trannie fill hole.

I also recommend that you warm up the fluid before it is drained. Having it warm will insure that more of the old fluid flows out. It does not like to flow when it is cold.

Good Luck

 

If you haven't changed the transaxle gear oil before, it should have been done by now.

I went to a Mr. Lube in February and had mine replaced for less than the cost of a dino oil change. Quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered with synthetic gear oil and changing it myself. Just use straight GL4 in either an 80w90 or 75w90 (better yet for colder weather) and get it changed at a lube joint every 30K from now on.

I can see using synthetic transmission fluid in an autotragic, but question the benefits in a manual transmission.

 

it's pretty easy....just wait for a warmer day then tackle the install...also be very careful of the gear indicator switch...i broke mine during the installation...the plastic is very brittle....my best advice is, jack up the car as HIGH as you can....then put jack stands and climb under there to gently pray out the switch from all sides....i screwed up becuz I barely jacked up the car...and prayed on the switch real hard with a screwdriver

 

I suggest that next time you do a little less praying and a little more prying!

 

Amen! lol. It's okay man, we understand you have fat fingers and can't type. lol jk. So Synthetic fluid is better for Auto's?

 

i broke my gear indicator switch damnit. anyone have the part # so i can replace it? Thanks!

 

You know, i already did mine and even though he said be careful, lol, i chipped it right off trying to get it out with a screwdriver! but then i got it out and all the fluid spilled all over the garage floor til i got a drain pan under it. Anyway, when i was putting it back, mine was cracked between where it screws in and where the actual plug is, so i put JB quik-weld on the crack and in between, and let it set for a little before i re-filled with new fluid. that was back in feb., and i was just under the car a few days ago and it looked pretty good, was holding everything on tight. I also had a little white plastic piece with a copper rocker switch on it come out and had a b*tch of a time putting it back in, anybody know what that was? Came from inside the transmission, i had to take the front wheel off and go from the side to put it back with pliers

 

You guys need to take it easy. I've done this on numerous cars and never broke the gear indicator switch. You have to work it out slowly and not from the tab area where it will break the easiest. Then hold it with one hand to prevent it from bursting out and wait for some of the fluid to drain out first before completely removing it

 

anyone got that part number to replace? ;D

 

Good luck trying to change it with the gear indicator switch thing, last time I tried that it broke all along the ring, completely, and the fluid went gushing out everywhere.. I was

 

Nissan part # is 32005-17E12 works on almost all fwd MT cars. 25.00 List price.

 

...gear indicator switch?

 

Sticky http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=225766&page=2

 

1. There is no gear indicator switch. The switch that everyone's referring to is called the reverse/neutral position switch.

2. You shouldn't be removing that switch to drain the tranny fluid anyway. There is a drain plug for that.

 

He he. Easy for you who drives a 4th gen to say. Try it on a 5th gen and you'll know why people are doing so. Add an LTB and it's impossible to use the drain plug.

 

My brother has an '01 and i removed the plug with no problem. I'll take your word for it about the LTB though...