^Thats the same oil I used in the trans. and diff. I only had maybe 17k miles of daily driving, and the diff oil was already black with a lot of metal shavings.

 

Interested in hearing your impressions of the RP fluid Tekwon-V, even though you have the new and improved tranny.

 

ok, i officially do not like the royal purple max gear lube 75w-90. i've put on some mileage and it is clearly not working out.

on a cold morning (lol southern california cold @ 65 and my car is garaged), it is moderately difficult to get it in 1st gear. DEFINATELY harder compared to the OE nissan fluid; which i believe is synthetic anyway. although, it's not "moderately difficult" to put it in 1st gear everytime, it's enough to tell. also, 3rd is more notchy. i do not like it at all. 30bucks down the drain....

i am going to leave the **** in the differential (stock V-LSD) but i am going to drain the royal purple and put MT-90 Redline or try Motul in the transmission. With the MT-90, at least it was similar/slighter better than the OE fluid.

this personal experience ruined the possibility of me ever using the RP ever. lol.

 

after reading and reading for the last while, I think I've decided to use redline gl4 mt90 & mtl 50/50 mix in my tranny and royal purple gl4, gl5 75w90 in my lsd diff. anyone here have a 350z that have this combo?

Tom YVR

 

Anyone reccomend using 4 rhino ramps to lift the car? I have 2 already but would 4 rhino ramps be a good idea?
I am ordering some mt-90 and mtl and I need to know the best differential fluid to use from experience. also will changing differtial fluid get rid of the vibration clatter in rear diff when first going into 1st gear??
as for changing tranny fluid will it stop that weird noise that our flywheels make like marbles rolling around in tranny? not loud just when the clutch is not pushed in i hear it when it is pressed it stops. Same reason we have that noise when we shut oout cars off without having clutch pushed in

 

I can answer a few of your questions:
That would be impossible as you would have to be able to fit the rears under the car to drive up on them.
No. The flywheel is not in the gearbox where you would be putting the fluid.

 

Time to do the Diff oil and was wondering what's the best to use.

Motul GEAR 300 75W90
Viscosity grade SAE J306 75W-90
Density at 15°C (59°F) ASTM D1298 0.900
Viscosity at 40°C (104°F) ASTM D445 72.6 mm²/s
Viscosity at 100°C (212°F) ASTM D445 15.2 mm²/s
Viscosity index VIE ASTM D2270 222
Flash point ASTM D92 200°C / 392°F
Pour point ASTM D97 -60°C / -76°F

Motul GEAR BOX 80W90
Viscosity grade SAE J306 80W-90
Density at 15°C (59°F) ASTM D1298 0.902
Viscosity at 40°C (104°F) ASTM D445 164 mm²/s
Viscosity at 100°C (212°F) ASTM D445 21.7 mm²/s
Viscosity index VIE ASTM D2270 157
Flash point ASTM D92 198°C / 388°F
Pour point ASTM D97 -24°C / -11°F

Motul MOTYLGEAR 75W90
Viscosity grade SAE J306 75W-90
Density at 15°C (59°F) ASTM D1298 0.868
Viscosity at 40°C (104°F) ASTM D445 107.8 mm²/s
Viscosity at 100°C (212°F) ASTM D445 16.7 mm²/s
Viscosity index VIE ASTM D2270 171
Flash point ASTM D92 200°C / 392°F
Pour point ASTM D97 -45°C / -49°F

Motul GEAR FF 75W140
Viscosity grade SAE J306 75W-140
Density at 15°C (59°F) ASTM D1298 0.896
Viscosity at 40°C (104°F) ASTM D445 193 mm²/s
Viscosity at 100°C (212°F) ASTM D445 24.8 mm²/s
Viscosity index VIE ASTM D2270 160
Flash point ASTM D92 212°C / 413°F
Pour point ASTM D97 -45°C / -49°F

Soure: http://www.p1-performance.com/produc...ar_oils/gearFF

 

To add a little info to this thread... The Nismo finned cover also takes 2 quarts to fill, which I belive is the same capacity as the standard cover. For some reason I though it added capacity...

 

The answer I kept running into, from bobistheoilguy.com and even in talking with individual oil formulators and vendors, when looking for the "best" fluid to use is: "There is no one brand that will work the best in a given tranny." Even though the transmission are built to operate the same, there are enough variations within those specifications to allow different oil formulations to perform differently in each person's car. IOW, what works for one guy won't necessarily work for the other. That's why there is no consensus on what works best in our transmissions. The general advice seems to be, keep changing it until you find what works best for your components and driving style. Expensive and wasteful. I imagine this holds true for the differential.

Note: All of the above assumes you are selecting from the available brands that carry weights and additive packages deemed acceptable by Nissan.

The only guideline that seems somewhat conclusive is to use thinner weights for colder weather and heavier for hot weather and race duty, but that is really only concerned with gearbox protection and not so much shifting feel, since additives can also affect synchro performance.

Maybe I'll start a poll so we can at least see what works for most of the people most of the time...

 

Points well taken but throwing out data as I’m researching to see what would work best for my setup. Here’s the Redline gear oils spec:

http://www.redlineoil.com/pdf/5.pdf

The Redline 75W90 seems to be a front runner.

 

Great write up! I just changed my Tranny & Diff oil. Not too hard to do thanks to this write up. Broke a few nails. Also a bit messy, but nothing a hot bubble bath can't take care of.

Manual Tranny: I used Mobile 1 75w90 GL-4 it took about 3.5 QT's to fill. The old fluid looked clean (only had 4200 miles on it). I changed the tranny fluid because it whines a little in 1, 2, and 3 gears. After changing the oil, the whine is still there, but the tranny shifts smoother now. Reused the original washer. No leaks.

Diff: Whew! Even with only 4200 miles on it -- It was BLACK and stank to high heaven. The drain plug was gross. I used Mobile 1 75w90 GL-5. It took almost 2 QT's to top off. Reused the original washer. No leaks.

Deffinitely get a pump. There's no way to fill the tranny without it... Well - Maybe a turkey baster if you don't mind being there all day and spilling half of it on yourself. :-)

I also found a 'breaker bar' helpful to get the 10mm allen bolts loose without hammering on them.

 

Thanks for the pointers! I'll be doing the tranny fluid change in a couple weeks. I'm curious to see how the fluid looks after 43,000 miles. I've never changed it before

 

Yeah, it's really not that hard to do. Plus having the right tools makes it so much easier! I dumped the Mobile 1 this afternoon and replaced with Amsoil 75w90 GL-4 for the tranny, and Amsoil 75w90 GL-5 for the diff.... Changing the oil went much faster this time since I had practice the first time around... :-)

 

After lowering my car the local jiffy lube (with a pit) is best option for oil changes. Jacks and Ramps wont cut it anymore. Just a thought for those who are considering lowering the Z. You better not like changing your oil yourself.

 

Mine is lowered and I have no problems gettin my car off the ground. Doin it yourself is the best way to go.

 

Mine is lowered too... I use a small scissor jack to lift my car a few inches to get the pair of 6 ton shop jacks started. Once I get it lifted high enough, I put the 24" jack stands underneath - no problems... I try to lift the car as evenly as possible so I don't twist the frame or suspension. :-)

 

I run Motul gear 300V 75W90 in tranny and Diff it has no harmful things in it for the tranny, its rated for
Gl4 and GL5 like Royal purple is. Sharif at Forged uses it as well and raves about it says its night and day on the track. Much smoother shifting on cold start ups and under extreme condition.

 

Nice write-up and info. I'll be changing mine out soon....

 

Is there any way to fill up the tranny from the top after removing the shifter? I did it this way in my 240sx so I wouldnt have to deal with a pump.

 

Ok, my noob *** just spent about half an hour reading through all the 9 pages of this thread, but still have a few more questions that either weren't covered or weren't answered clearly...
1. I have a base model w/o LSD (2004 actually), do I still have to change the diff. fluid? If so, do I still use the same type of fluid that you guys uses for LSD, or look for a different one? I'm currently leaning towards the Redline brand, so what should I use within the Redline line?

2. Being that I've never worked on my car before, where should I look for the Tranny and Differential? All I need is the general area where they're located after seeing the detail pictures that OP took. Thanks.