i realized ive gone about 17K miles (2 years) with out changing the tranny fluid (5spd), was woundering if its bad for the tranny or its ok to wait till next summer, or maybe about 25K miles between changes?

by the way, used regular nissan fluid last time.

 

good question! I was literally just thinking about this today meself....the manual should probably shed some lite on this, but mines out in the garage. Perhaps i'll look and share....

I have about 30k in two years on my 6spd, last I changed from dino to full syn amsoil. It's been damn good thus far.

gr

 

well in the maintenance list, its recommended to be changed at 60k miles I believe so figure it should last every 60k miles. Also, many have seen that Redline MT90 is the best for this job, although i'm sure you cant go wrong with what nissan recommends. Only time i would say its good to change the fluid early is if you plan to let your car sit for a long period of time. Driving 17k miles in 2 years is little driving IMO but doesnt qualify for a need to change fluid unless u drove 17k in 6 months and let it sit for 18.

btw i changed mine when car was at 63k miles i believe. There was no spots or leaks on the tranny before changing, at 94k miles there are no spots nor leaking still. (some people get worried about this, atleast i did)

 

I changed mine at 60k. Went with Redline MT90.

BTW, check the Fluids and Lubricants section.

 

Concur!
Manual says 60k for schedule 1 and 2 (i follow 2), and I'm sure the synthetic stuff will last longer if needed, but I wouldn't push it, personally.

I changed mine @ 10k because people said the synthetic helped the notchiness of the tranny -- it seems to be better after 45k miles....but I think that has alot to do with gears mating properly after so many miles of driving, as well.

gr

 

Annually with AMSOIL trans. fluid.

 

why anually? Isn't that kind of overkill?!

 

well your supposed to change the mt fluid around every 25k. its not gonna hurt that change sooner, but its recommended at around 25k. but then again the book sais change the oil at 3750 instead of 3000k so it could be different

 

you might be lookng at a different service "schedule" in the manual -- there are three levels of service that NIssan recommends.
Premium is just total overkill -- that is that way they make money on you.
25k for tranny lube change might be ok - but personally, I think it's going a bit far. Service sched. 1 & 2 recommend 1st tranny lube change @ 60k, and that's for orginal dino that came from the factory.

naTURALLY - Everyones' driving habits are different, and you should service according to ind. needs. I don't think you should run tranny lube more the four years anyway - regardless of mileage....same for most fluids, like brake and coolant too.

You wanna change it early -- HAve at it I say - it's not going to HURT your car!!

gr

 

My personal schedule was 30K with MT-90, but I dumped the RL after it started leaking (coincidence or did it shrink/dry the gaskes?). I'm now running an Amsoil MTG/Sta-lube semi-syn mix.

 

According to the manual, MT fluid should be inspected every 60k miles. It does NOT have be be changed.

 

$40 spent on something that is a VITAL NECESSITY in my life is not overkill in the least.

 

yea, thats what i read, INSPECTED. i would think it should be changed. i donno where i heard its recomended to change it every 15K, but i guess its not true.

 

Well., I changed mine as soon as I purchased the car with 50k... The old fluid was looked brand new...

Changed with RedLine and it shif*** alot better., worth the $40 bucks. The Service Manual does say inspect. BUT, the change did make a noticeable difference in shifting. It's like butter now...

 

I changed mine at just past 30 K mile to Redline 90 and it substantially improved the shifting of the 6-speed. Had I known, I would have changed the fluid by at least 25 K miles (if not sooner). As was said earlier, the new shifts were "like butter" compared to the old shifts.

The trickiest part about doing it yourself:
- Finding the correct drain bolt and fill bolt. Check out the stickies for the manual trannie you have and check the recommendations and pictures before you start. You can break things if you are not correct.

- Getting the proper funnel that would fill the trannie from near the battery. If you look hard enough, most auto stores will have a funnel and the proper length funnel extension.
Better to do it yourself that hope someone else did it correctly.

Now that I have Synthetic fluid, I plan to increase the change interval and probably change it again at about 75 K miles and then every 50 K miles thereafter. This is one area where I definitely exceed the Nissan recommended maintenance schedule.

The old fluid in my trannie had a somewhat bad smell. The new smelled fine.

 

I just bought my 02 6 speed, it has 72k miles on it. Any way I can tell if the tranny fluid has been changed or still needs to be?

 

Your safest bet is to assume it has not been changed and do it yourself. I recommend either Amsoil or Redline synthetic fluid.