My 05 will hit 30K today or tomorrow. The owners manual suggests that for premium maintainence an optional service is flushing the automatic transmission. There is no mention of an ATF flush for the schedule 1 or 2 maintainence schedules at 30K, 45K or 60K. This is the first automatic trans I've owned, so I don't know what needs to be done and how often. The stealership wants $125 + fluid and gasket for a total transmission fluid flush, including the torque converter. Is this the best way to go, or is it a waste of money at this mileage interval?

I tend to drive my truck fairly hard and have done some heavy towing. I also have a bad habit of manually shifting the trans into the gear of my choice. Lately my transmission seems to have a slight hesitation and a soft clunk when I shift from reverse to drive. Would a fluid flush be a good idea?

I'm going to change the rear diff fluid to the mobil 1 75-140 and do a coolant flush and change myself later this week.

Thanks,

Mitch

The service manual calls for inspection of the transmission fluid every 15,000 miles, but there is a note that if towing, using car top carriers or driving on rough or muddy roads to replace very 30,000 miles. I think that it does not call for it to be changed until 120,000 miles or something like that.

But I am pretty certain that most people around here will agree that it needs to be done a lot sooner than that. If you are going to wait that long to change it, you may as well leave it alone. By that time, changing the viscosity will not be good. There is one sure way to cause a leak on a high mileage transmission and that is to service it IF it has never been done.

Just to take care of your tranny, go ahead and change it out. What can it hurt? Nothing...over-maintenance is a good thing. By the way, don't know about your area, but around here, the tranny flush is $99.99 including the fluids. And more than likely the gasket can be reused.

I just drained and refill my trans. fluid at 18K miles. That thing was still clean.

99.99?? including fluids? my guy told me the cost on the fluid was $7 per quart and it takes like 10-12 to flush and fill?? 99 sounds extremely cheap??

I'm going to get it done next week. I do a fair amount of towing and drive it like a 16 year old, so it can only help. The shop I had the engine oil changed at today wanted $129 for the trans fluid flush with 12 quarts of the Nissan branded J fluid (he had 2 cases on the shelf). I'm going to see if the stealership's advertised price of $125 includes the fluid.

Thanks,

Mitch

i just had my pan fluid changed and will probably have mine flushed at 40k

99.99?? including fluids? my guy told me the cost on the fluid was $7 per quart and it takes like 10-12 to flush and fill?? 99 sounds extremely cheap??
I paid $9/qrtz from local Nissan dealer. So at 12 quarts, that $99 is real cheap.

The place across town is $25 higher if that makes you feel any better. LOL

Actually guys we live in an area that is one of the cheapest costs of living in the country. There are a lot of things around here that are dirt cheap compared to the rest of the country (especially houses). Just for instance, one on my mechanics just moved up here from the Orlando area (Deltona, FL). He sold his 1100 sq. ft. home with a 1/2 acre of land for $179,000. Came up here bought a home with 1.35 acres, 1800 sq. ft. and a full unfinished basement and 900 sq. ft. workshop for $174,000. To beat it all, it is in a very nice established nighborhood within the city limits that is less than 15 years old. Now just like all cities, there are some areas that are very high to live in. Then you get further from the city and it gets even cheaper.

I'd be very suspicious of a $99 or even $125 transmission flush no matter where you live. They're probably just going to do a drain and fill or they're not using propper fluid or both. The cheapest I've seen Matic J is $7/qt (where I live it's over $9). That right there is $84 alone for a proper flush. Also, most independent shops with a real flushing machine are mixing a lot of different fluids if they work on lots of different vehicles and if Matic J gets contaminated, it deteriorates quickly which I found out the hard way. I had an independent shop do a drain and fill at 15K miles. They used what Castrol claims is their Matic J equivalent. The tranny ran hotter and shifted poorly even after I made them drain again and fill it with real Matic J. I then had a dealer do a true flush with Matic J and it cost me $315 (the joys of living in Silicon Valley). The service rep also claimed that if I have any tranny problems, the warranty will not cover it now. Hopefully I'll never have to find out, but the point is, make sure you know what you're getting. I'll do most any other service myself or at an independent shop, but the tranny I'm leaving up to the dealer.

-Chris

It is Nissan tranny fluid and this is the dealership. There are windows to the shop and you can watch them. You can even go outside and stand at one of the 24 bay doors to watch them if you like, they do not care. I know every person in the dealership by first name and they definitely know me. I have no reason to lie about something that can so quickly be proven wrong.

shailey, i need room and board cause im coming down there to get my trans flushed...oh...also i will let you borrow my truck if you will put the headers on?? deal?? lol

I called 2 of the local dealerships. The first one told me they only do a drain and fill for $129, about 4 quarts. The service writer was very up front and told me that they only had one flush machine and they didn't want to mix the fluid. The other dealership said they have 3 machines: one for regular ATF, one for the J matic, and one for the CVT fluid in the Murano. They want $180 for a complete fluid exchange. I'm going in on Tuesday.

Mitch

shailey, i need room and board cause im coming down there to get my trans flushed...oh...also i will let you borrow my truck if you will put the headers on?? deal?? lol

We will be at the shop on saturday. Give me a call.

I have 36,200 took it to Giles Nissan in Lafayette, LA for check up, got my trannie serviced. it was 118 With Tax. Running smooth as hell now.

I took mine for the trans flush. When I was paying my bill I noticed that they were only charging me for 5 quarts of fluid. I asked the service writer and he said they screwed up and only did a drain and refill. They took it back and did a 12 quart flush on it. Total cost was about $195, but well worth it in my opinion.

Mitch

Hey everyone - At about 45k miles I had my tranny fluid flushed for the first time - but I took it to Firestone (Nissan dealer is 45 min away) - and they flushed "Kendall Versa-Trans" fluid through it for about $110. Today at the dealer, the guy told me the fluid looks dirty (or its darker than the Nissan Matic J) and thats when i realized that maybe not putting Nissans fluid in it was a mistake. They charge $15 a quart for the stuff here in MD for a total change cost of about $310. Should I have the dealer do this flush or am I ok with this Kendall stuff? .. I think I probably already know the answer, but want to make sure before spending so much. BTW my truck has 59,000 miles on it now...

Don't tell your dealer that you put the Kendall fluid in. You voided the warranty on the transmission when you did that.

yeah I didnt realize that you needed the special fluid anyway (they say mainly because its a 5 spd auto) - The warranty is dead in 1000 miles nonetheless so Im mostly concerned about whether or not the Kendall should be flushed out...

There is no way I would put anything other than Nissan's J-Matic in there. Valvoline claims that they have an ATF that is equivalent, but I won't be the one to try it. I would get that stuff out of there, but $310 sounds extremely high to me, but compared to the cost of a $6000 transmission, it is quite a bargain.

If you want to check for yourself, call the Kendall hotline at 1-800-368-1267 and ask them if the versa-trans is an equivalent to Nissan J fluid. I doubt that they will say yes, if they do...ask for it in writing that they will pay for your trans WHEN the fluid is the cause of internal failure.

I am confused. When is it recommended to have the transmission serviced? Should I get the fluid changed or should I do a flush? What is a flush? I read that a fill is 5 qts and a flush is 12 qts and there is some kind of machine involved with a flush. I assume this is something I cannot do myself or am I wrong? Please excuse my ignorance but I know you guys will answer my question better and faster than anyone else!

Castrol has a "J" fluid and I've heard thats what the Nissan really is.

I am confused. When is it recommended to have the transmission serviced? Should I get the fluid changed or should I do a flush? What is a flush? I read that a fill is 5 qts and a flush is 12 qts and there is some kind of machine involved with a flush. I assume this is something I cannot do myself or am I wrong? Please excuse my ignorance but I know you guys will answer my question better and faster than anyone else!
If you just drain the pan on the transmission you will remove only about 5 quarts. The rest of the fluid is in the converter, clutches, valve body, cooler, etc. A flush changes all the fluid, usually by connecting a machine designed for that purpose to the cooler lines.
If you don't tow or carry heavy loads there is no need for transmission fluid changes for many miles. Nissan's schedule doesn't have a fluid change scheduled, just checks to see that the fluid looks OK. I will drain the pan at 50K on my transmission, but don't plan on a flush unless the fluid is discolored or smells bad.

If you just drain the pan on the transmission you will remove only about 5 quarts. The rest of the fluid is in the converter, clutches, valve body, cooler, etc. A flush changes all the fluid, usually by connecting a machine designed for that purpose to the cooler lines.
If you don't tow or carry heavy loads there is no need for transmission fluid changes for many miles. Nissan's schedule doesn't have a fluid change scheduled, just checks to see that the fluid looks OK. I will drain the pan at 50K on my transmission, but don't plan on a flush unless the fluid is discolored or smells bad.

Thanks!! I don't tow, race, or drive hard. You think I should just get it inspected around 50K miles?

The dealership I go to (only one on this island) told me that they stoped flushing out the trans. because the fluid that they were using messed up the internals. I'm thinking that they are using something other than J-matic? I was thinking about getting the flush (31000 mi), but am leaning to just changing out the fluid and filters. They want like $225 or so just for this service. How hard is it to do by yourself? Actually I think Jet Tech had a write up. A searching I will go.

You have to have a machine to flush it to do it yourself. I believe Jettech just changed the fluid. $225 is high though. The price has gone up here lately, in fact on Friday I had mine done and it was $149.99 now and that includes the fluids and flush kit.

Just thinking about doing the fluid and filters change.