I've never had a car as long as I have this one so I'm not familiar with high mileage maintainence. The manual makes no mention of changing the tranny fluid.

I have 58,000 miles on my car now (Auto Transmission). Transmission seems to still be shifting pretty well except for the slight slip between 1st and 2nd which I have just learned to live with (And yes, I've even had the TSB done).

There is a saying that if it ain't broke don't try and fix it. Has anybody noticed the transmission shifting smoother or anything after changing it? I've even heard some people with other kinds of cars say their tranny started giving them problems after changing their fluid.

I'm planning on keeping this car for a while. It's the first car I've really enjoyed driving. So I want to make sure I do everything I can to make it last a while.

 

Replace it, most people change every 30K but that depends on your driving style. If you had say a 98 Dodge Durango with 80K and you decided to have the BG tranny flush and it caused a leak and a blown trans cooler then I would use the addage if it ain't broke. But you have a Nissan, it will be fine.

 

I'ts a pain in the butt to completely change it but it's a darn good idea to do it every 30K or so. Just draining it isn't hard, but you only get about 1/2 the total... the rest is in the torque convertor and cooler. So I drain the tranny every 10-15k and replace that. At least it keeps fresh fluid in there and it's fairly easy.

But at some point, no more than 40-50k, it's also a really good idea to pull the pan to clean out the fine filings that accumulate around the magnets in the bottom and to change the screen.

FWIW, to completely change all the fluid you need to take it in to get a power flush. But if you want you can do it yourself: first drain the pan and replace that fluid then remove the tranny cooler return line from the transmission and run that into a drain pan (BIG.. 2/12 gal's min). Have a friend (one you trust with your life) set the brakes and start the car and run it through the gears. As fast as it's pumping into the drain pan replace it with new fluid through the filler. After about 10 qts, or when it is coming out bright red new fluid, stop the engine and put it back together. Check level and drain/add as necessary to get it JUST BELOW the lower cold mark. Drive around to get it hot and check level again, adjust as necessary.

I did this once on my son's Mirage... it's messy, a pain, don't like it, wasted a lot of good fluid (the line fell out of the pan). I prefer to drain the pan every 10-15k method, much better, but if you have high-mileage fluid you want to get rid of it's a good way. Or take it in to a shop you trust that'll give it a power flush.

BuddyWh

 

I have over 20yrs in the auto repair business and I will tell you ALL that it's like engine oil, more often will NEVER hurt. If ya plan on keeping it change it at 30k intervals (min) and if you plan on keepin it and drive it hard change it every 15k! I change mine every 15 myself and have never had a trans issue and I have had cars for 200k.
My .02
l8tr -- SS