Changeing Tranny Fluid

[tommytomtom17]

I just did my oil, rear fiff, and tranny on my 08 CC this weekend. Its a piece of cake. You will need a new crush washer for the tranny plug, I got a bunch from the parts dept along with some AT fluid at the dealer. I go the sythic 75-140 gear oil at the auto parts store used right at 2 quarts, but i had to put a small rubber hose on the end of the bottles to be able to sqeeze it all in the diff. Good luck with it all!

[tighten06]

you also have to factor in time, i just had a 48 month service which included coolant, trans fluid, diff fluid..my truck only has 24,000 miles on it but is now 4 years old, i just didnt want to leave the fluids in there any longer-plus it was free under my maint. plus plan-i also have them change the oil every 3 months regrdless of mileage.

[BucFanTitan]

Is there a write up I am missing on how to do the tranny pan drain and fill? From what Iam reading it sounds like it is better to just change the pan and not do a flush. Thats good to know gonna save me over 100 bucks. Thanks everyone.!!!!!

[NorCal 4x4]

Originally Posted by BucFanTitan

Is there a write up I am missing on how to do the tranny pan drain and fill? From what Iam reading it sounds like it is better to just change the pan and not do a flush. Thats good to know gonna save me over 100 bucks. Thanks everyone.!!!!!

Here's one that you can use on Sunday. juma's write up

[Divey]

Thats a pretty good write up. Haven't done mine yet but this will help. Terry

[mdemeglio]

Just my two cents. I've been working on cars, trucks, and boats since Regan was in the Oval Office Oil technology has changed a lot and engines are built with much tighter clearances these days. But, dirt still gets into a lot of these components over time and engine oil is still degraded by heat and contamination from blow-by gases so I believe $15 every 3 to 4k miles is cheap insurance and well worth your time. I've just started running synthetic in my Titan and will change it at 5k the first time and then 6 to 7k depending on how dark it gets and how quickly. The best way to know for sure is to take an oil sample and send it off to a lab - it's not terribly expensive but it's an unnecessary cost (in my opinion) unless you suspect something is wrong or it's something other than routine maintenance. If your engine oil becomes dark very quickly or it's getting close the time to change it, that's a good sign that the oil has become contaminated with blow-by deposits, sludge, etc and should be changed.

I hear a lot of people say you can run oil for 10k or more miles and that may be true - but many of these people (a) don't keep their car/truck long enough to know if their maintenance strategy worked (the engine still has good compression and no bearing noise after say 80k miles or 5 years for example) and (b) don't really have any form of evidence that what they're doing is working (regular oil sampling for example). So I just say "good for you, hope it works out for you, me - I'm sticking with 3-4k on conventional oil and 6-7k on synthetic".

As far as the transmission goes - I'd just drain the trans pan and add 3-4 quarts (that's all mine took) of fresh ATF every 15-20k miles. I doubt you'll need to replace the trans pan drain plug gasket - but it's probably cheap insurance to keep one or two of them in the garage just in case one is cut or you damage it. Once you drain it, put the drain plug back in and unbolt the trans dipstick tube and add 2 quarts of ATF using a funnel placed in the dipstick tube. Check the level with the engine off - if it shows up on the dipstick, go ahead and start it up and move the shifter through each gear and then recheck the level. I think I read that it should be checked when the tranny oil is at 130F - they probably have a special tool and procedure for measuring the temp - I just let it warm up in gear (foot on brake, e-brake on) for 3-5 minutes and then check it. Add more ATF if needed to get the level in the hatch (criss-cross) area.

I would always do the diff oil (front and rear) at least every 40k miles. These are dirty compartments and gear oil really gets punished by heat and friction. They sell pumps at Wal-Mart and the auto parts store that screw into the top of a 1gal gear oil jug - usually around $8 and they allow you to leave the oil jug on the ground and just put the pump hose into the diff and pump the oil in. Nissan updated their recommendation for the rear axle (probably the front too but I don't have that info handy) to 85w-140 instead of 80w-90.

Change your transfer case oil while you're under there. It's just matic-J ATF (Valvoline Max Life ATF is a great alternative to the expensive Nissan ATF and meets Matic-D and Matic-J specs). It takes about 2.5 quarts of ATF. Mine was never done, just drained it last night and the magnetic drain plug was LOADED with metal - hopefully from break-in but who knows.

[BucFanTitan]

Wow that last post was good info. When doing the change has anyone switched fluids to castrol or mobil? Can you mix nissan and aftermarket compatable. Just curious since about 10 quarts of old stuff will be in the tranny with four quarts of new. Mdemeglio you stated that the rear diff is now 85- 140. My plate says 75 -140 did this change?

[mdemeglio]

You're correct - it's 75w-140 not 85w-140 - good catch!

One other thing that is really easy to do while you're changing the rear diff oil is to remove the axle breather (passenger side of rear axle on top, near the leaf spring perch). Just clean the area off around it with a wire brush and rag to get the dirt out of the way and then unscrew it. Once you've got it out, spray brake clean (put the safety glasses on - this stuff will find your eyes and it sucks when it gets in there) into the bottom of it so that it starts to come out the top part. Once you've got it nice and cleaned out, put it back on. This will make sure all those gases created by the churning and compressing of the gear oil can get out and won't cause a build up of pressure resulting in a leaking seal.

Just wanted to mention that - it's too easy to do while you're down there not to check it.

[Divey]

Wow, I started this thread a while ago and look what has become of it. This is all good info here and especially the post by mdemeglio. Very good write up that I will actually be using. Thanks to all of you for the help and with eveyones opinion I will conclude with my own. Thanks Terry

[BucFanTitan]

Anybody have an opion on using aftermarket fluid like Mobil 1? Thanks.

[rynomx785]

After you drain the tranny is it ok to top it off with aftermarket synthetic oil or is having them mixed a bad idea?

[electricjohn]

Nissan forbids mixing or replacing their Matic J or S fluid with anything else. I have a copy of my ATF analysis posted in the trailering section under the thread titled, "Is the Matic J fluid synthetic?". If you look at my analysis, I don't see why you would want to use anything other than Nissans fluid.

[Yahooligan]

Originally Posted by electricjohn

Nissan forbids mixing or replacing their Matic J or S fluid with anything else. I have a copy of my ATF analysis posted in the trailering section under the thread titled, "Is the Matic J fluid synthetic?". If you look at my analysis, I don't see why you would want to use anything other than Nissans fluid.

Nissan legally and technically can't forbid anyone from using an aftermarket equivalent as long as it meets their specs. If they did then they would be required, by law, to provide the fluid for free.

There are a number of non-Nissan alternatives that meet Matic-J specs (Haven't looked for Matic-S yet), including Mobil 1 ATF, Valvoline MaxLife ATF, AMSoil synthetic ATF, and others.

People really need to get off this "YOU MUST ONLY USE NISSAN MATIC-J" bandwagon, it is utterly false.

[O-FiveCC]

I would use only Matic S, regardless of the forum arguments. If my trans failed, I would rather go in there and say, "well let me get my new transmission now", instead of trying to fight and argue with a dealer about not using the fNissan fluid. Sure, you may win and still get your warranty coverage, but your truck may also be down for a month while your waiting. Plus, I don't see anything wrong the Matic-S (or J) to really be changing IMO. But, we each get piece of mind from different things. I have heard of a couple members getting their Trans fluid changed at the dealer and they used different trans fluid, in that case you are good. Honestly, if it was me an I was really itching (for some reason) to switch the Trans fluid, just call the dealer and talk to the service guy and ask him whats up.."Hey man, am I going to run into any problems if I use Amsoil (or whatever) trans fluid? It says its Matic-S compatible."

I just recently changed the rear Diff fluid with Mobile 1 and am changing out all my tranny fluid very soon along with oil change. I want to have all brand new fluid in there (I changed the Coolant about 4-5 months ago). I will just use the transmission to pump the old stuff out and put all 12 Qts in....I def need to check the axle breather being that I live on dirt roads

[rynomx785]

Any body have any idea how much the dealership charges to do a flush?