I am planning on changing my auto tranny fluid. The manual states I should only use genuin nissan matic J ATF, and anything else will cause damage to the tranny. Should I just stick with nissan to be safe, or does anyone else change differently. Thanks

 

ONLY use the J ATF

 

ditto j atf

 

How often should you change it?

 

Nissan claims this fluid never needs to be changed and should only be changed if needed by an authorized service dealer. I did mine however and getting the level right is the real challenge because to really get it right you need to be able to monitor the fluid temp.

 

I am changing the auto tranny fluid this weekend. I already bought the fluid from the dealer. After reading this and some other similar posts, I am a little worried though. Is it not just like a regular tranny fluid change? Can I not just:
1. Drain the fluid out the bottom of the tranny
2. Put back in the same amount that came out via the dipstick tube between the engine and firewall
3. Check the level on the dipstick adding more if needed

Thanks

 

Yes, you can measure the amount that came out and simply replace that amount. Checking the dipstick is where it gets muddy as the dipstick is not labeled, or at least mine is not, and the fluid level will reach different points on the dipstick at different temps. The service manual describes this and recommends short drives to raise the temp to a certain degree and check at that point. If you only drain the fluid from the drain plug, you will not be doing any good as a large amount of the fluid is in the TC and going through the fluid cooler, etc. I think it was somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 of the total fluid volume (~4-6 quarts) that comes out from simply draining from the plug. To properly replace all tranny fluid you would need to setup a more complex system using the lines going to the fluid cooler located at the bottom of the radiator. There are detailed instructions on this procedure with some internet searching. If you are not running FI, changing out the VB or TC, then I would not recommend touching the tranny fluid as Nissan says this fluid never needs to be replaced. FI and higher temps may be more than Nissan expected thus creating a potential need, and of course changing the VB and TC require this.