Hello, I’ve got the common “problem” of the PS fluid boiling at track days. I’ve done some searching and see mention of adding a cooler for this, but was also wondering if I could simply upgrade to synthetic fluid. I purchased some Royal Purple fluid ($$$) and was preparing to use this, but have also found more posts /threads where many say to stick to ATF fluid. Is there any harm in using the synthetic stuff? My 03 has 124k on it and does not have any PS leaks or anything like that. And if ATF is best, what fluids do you recommend? Dextron III isn’t made anymore, I believe, but not 100% on that. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

I'm not sure which Royal Purple you bought, and it may or may not be the correct fluid (did they recommend it?), and also don't know the boiling point. There is already a PS cooler in place, and it's quite simple to swap in a larger one, and that's probably your best solution.

You can search on Jeg's, Summit Racing, Perma-Cool, etc. sites to find a larger cooler and use the original lines and clamps.

 

Thanks for the reply. It is just RP synthetic PS fluid. So, not sure if that’s good/bad/indifferent.


I was hoping if I could upgrade the fluid, it could avoid doing the cooler.

 

You can try to find the boiling point spec, and see if it's higher than the original fluid (it's probably not much different), but it's still better for the system to not have it run that hot in the first place. A larger cooler can easily be had for under $100.

 

NISMO has an aftermarket PS cooler that's a direct replacement for the Z. For a high temp fluid, I use Redline synthetic PS fluid for both road and track.

 

Compared to OEM, a synthetic wouldn't be much better? interesting.. thanks on the cooler.

Thanks. I think I saw that the Nismo one was pretty expensive compared to others, but perhaps if its a direct bolt-in, I can look into it. and thank you, definitely looking for feedback on guys using synthetic PS fluid, so good to know that you are doing that and have no issues. I picked up Royal Purple synthetic PS and was planning on using that.

 

This thread reminded me that I haven't changed the fluid in my PS for several years, and I also couldn't remember what to use. My '08 owner's manual specifies Nissan original fluid, or a Dexron-VI equivalent. Mobil 1 synthetic ATF, and Royal Purple Max ATF both don't meet that spec, but Mobil does make a synthetic blend Dexron-VI ATF:

https://mobiloil.com/en/automatic-tr.../dexron-vi-atf

 

dang, this is killing me, lol....

 

so, this would meet spec then, yes?

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/c...=dexron-vi+atf

 

Should do the trick. I'm just on my way out the door to Advance.

 

cool. Amazon does have the Mobil1 by the way, so I will probably just order that at some point, since my "season" is over, so no rush. But have this and brake fluid to do by the spring at the latest.

 

This would likely do the trick with keeping your fluid from boiling:

http://nissanraceshop.com/product/mi...eering-cooler/

Just by the image, it looks like it's maybe 4X as large as the original.

 

oh wow, thank you very much. something like that easy to install? GREAT price too, btw.

 

You might be able to use the original mounting brackets, but I can't be sure without seeing the part in more detail. If not, a bracket shouldn't be too hard to fabricate out of angle aluminum from Lowe's/Home Depot. The original lines might work, too, but you might find the ends where they attached to the old cooler not to be in great condition. The lines are easy to replace, though.