Yamaha, ... what are those black caps that fit over your jack stands? They look like they could be helpful. Did you fabricate them yourself or purchase them?

To the group ... I recall many years ago reading something about synthetic transmission fluid not be compatible with the seals in the tyranny (???). Presumably this was just rumour ... or improvements have been made in the fluids and/or seals. Can someone please confirm? I'm thinking of switching to synthetic in the new couple of weeks. Thanks!

Synthetic is okay, but no GL5 for the transmission as it is bad for the synchros, use GL4 instead. You can use GL5 in the rear end.

Those are hockey pucks, every Canuck should know that LOL.

Yes, those are hockey pucks. Cost $1.99 each in Canadian Tire. Used a drill and sand paper to make the slot; it's actually a bit of work but it's worth it.

http://www.thehockeyfanatic.com/wp-c...ockey-puck.gif

Interesting ... thought they looked like hockey pucks. Good use for them now that the Saddledome is toast because of the recent flooding here in Calgary. The water actually reached the 8th row of seats! Forced the cancellation of a number of Stampede events. Good excuse for the City to commission the building of a new arena. LOL. The Flames can use all the help they can get!

Thanks also for the advice on the use of synthetic fluid. Much appreciated!

I found a little trick to making the hockey puck pads quickly a couple years ago. Clamp the puck in a vise horizontally, then take a wood saw to it to make the slit. When you take the puck out of the vise and it decompresses to its normal shape, the slit will actually be 3-4 times the size it was when you sawed into it

Thanks spearfish for the DIY. I did both the manual transmission and differential fluid changes this weekend.

I first did the differential using the pump with the inlet and outlet hoses similar to what a lot of people have displayed in this thread. Around $16 a Walmart. I thought I'd start with the diff as it seemed like I would have more room to work with at the rear of the car. The fill plug was fairly easy to free up and the drain plug same with no issues with drainage. You are all correct, the fluid is stinky. There was a bit of sludgy material around the magnetic tip of the drain plug. The fill was not as well as I had hoped. I ended up using almost 2 quarts. The real pain was switching quart bottles on the go. Luckily I planned for this potential outcome so I had a very large surface area but thin piece of scrap wood to catch any mess and lots of rags to soak up. I left the car on ramps as well as 4 secure jack stands over night and then the thoughts of doing the transmission Sunday morning. I came up with a much better idea. I thought to have all the required fluid in one, see through stable container would make this task much easier and less messy. I found an old semi-transparent windshield washer fluid bottle that could easily hold the almost 4 quart volume. The wide, flat bottom area to vertical height I thought was a better plan. I cleaned it out and made sure it was completely dry. Same relatively easy deal removing both the fill and drain plug on the transmission but I have to admit the claustrophobia when I first went under there was intense. I switched pump methods and went with a cheap $5 siphon pump from crappy tire that I cut so that the bulb part was just outside the container and long enough to reach the bottom of the container. Once I slid the outlet into the fill hole it went without a hitch. I used a Sharpy marker to indicate volume graduation on the side of the container so I would visually know when I was getting close to 3 quarts. I then slowed and was done with a trickle running out of the fill hole. I made sure the car was level both front-back, side to side so I'd have an accurate refill and of course used 4 new plug washers from Nissan. Used Redline MT-85 for the transmission and Redline 75W90 GL-5 for the diff.


Thanks again to all who have posted on the DIY and especially spearfish for taking the time to initiate it.:tiphat:

A couple of pictures of the cheap *** pump and container.

^^Using the above pump, how long did it take you to fill up the trans/diff? Lots of pumps?

Might have taken 5 minutes max. Lots of pumps (can't put a number on it but maybe 50-75 at the high end) but honestly, they are just a finger squeeze really. What I liked about that cheap *** pump is that it had check valves in the vertical suction tube as well as the outlet tube so there was no problem pumping higher than the container. I'm big through the chest at 50-52" so I had to have a system that didn't require lots of moving around such as switching bottles. I'm gonna buy a couple more of them just to have around for the next differential and trans fluid changes in a year or so. I really had my doubts before using it but have to give it top marks at least this time anyway.

Massive Props to Z1 Motorsports. I called them this morning to order the Transmition oil, rear diff oil and the 4 crush washers; delivered to Va by Friday. Still came out cheaper than buying it local or piece-mealing it from ebay, amazon etc. Great support and super nice staff. I'm ordering my Z stuff from here on out. Thanks Z1! :tup::tup: Best deal I've found anywhere.

When he says crush washer, are you actually selling him a transmission fill and drain plug washer that is a crush-type?

My idiot dealer tried to confuse me the last time I tried to purchase the transmission drain and fill washers. He tried to sell me copper crush washer (like for the engine oil drain plug), but I knew from previous experience that the transmission and differential plugs use just a flat metal washer. I went back later with part numbers to make it easy for their low capacity brains.

The engine oil drain plug washer is Part #11026-JA00A
Need one (1) washer for fluid change


The transmission drain and fill plugs are Part #11026-4N200
Need two (2) washers for fluid change


The differential drain and fill plugs are the same as for the transmission. Of course, Nissan tried to make this as confusing as possible by naming them Transmission Drain Plug Gasket and Differential Drain Plug Washer even though they are the same part.

Thanks, John! :tiphat:

Hey I have my second tranny fluid change coming up soon and wanted to add a magnetic plug to it but haven't found any info on the thread size. I've only found info that the engine oil plug is M12xP1.25. Thanks.

If I had to guess, I bet the differential drain plug is the same as the transmission drain plug. Since the differential drain plug already has a magnet, you could probably just get a second one and use it on the transmission. I'm not absolutely sure they are the same, though :twocents:

:tup:

do you guys see that much metal shavings in your MT fluid?

when i did my G's at 34K miles it didn't have much shavings in there and the
fluid was clean.... anyway, thanks for confirming the gasket 11026-4N200
for the Z. :tup: now i know it's the same as my G. diff and tranny.

Just figure it's time to for some long-term insurance. Just did the diff fluid again last week and cleaned off the shavings off the stock magnetic drain plug. It's a good amount of shavings each time. I'm getting a magnetic one for the oil pan just to see what's up in there, and figure I might as well get one for the tranny if there is one for it.

http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...t-gearbox.html

;)

most of the particles collected at my last trans oil change was actually suspended in the oil - brass particles it seems

so you'd be better off filtering the oil than trying to attract it because brass
doesnt appeal to magnets

They are the same.

i've never taken apart the gearbox but my first thought about using a diff drain plug in the gearbox is that there could be clearance issues with internal components as the diff plug is quite long

I changed my Dif and Trans fluid at the same time. I used Lucas 75-90w Syn for both. After jacking up the car, the rear was only slightly higher than the front.

I got about 2.75 quarts out of the Tranny and it took about 3 to refill.

I only got about 1.4 quarts out of the Diff and it took about 1.9 quarts to refill.

Does any of the oil get by the seals or burn up and any way? Just wondering why they seemed to be low on fluid? Car just hit 30k.

For future reference, I'd use a GL-4 specific transmission fluid as GL-5 (Lucas 75W-90) will deteriorate our transmissions' brass synchros. I use Red Line MT-85.

my only guess is that the car was not perfectly level when you did it?

or your measuring devices are a little off. any leaks should be obvious and oils of this viscosity should not burn up under normal operating temps in their applications

Yup. You might want to swap over to the MT-85, referenced above, ASAP.

Also, 1.5 QTs is the correct amount for the diff, if you truly do have 1.9 in there, you might want to put the car back up, level, and see if any will leak out of the fill hole.

The trans will take 3QTs with no problems.

That's not right :icon14:

:iagree:

"Not right" is putting it mildly. By using a 75-90W diff fluid in your tranny, you've exposed the brass components in your six-speed tranny to high-pressure elements needed in a differential. But those same chemicals are caustic to softer metals like those found in the tranny, and can etch and damage them and the seals. Worse yet, it's easy to see this type of damage when you take it back to the dealer, who will then void your warranty. Hate to see a perfectly good Nissan Z tranny damaged by owner ignorance...

Thanks guys! I guess I'll put her back on the blocks and do it again. : (

So, Lucas tech support agrees with y'all that the fluid is to vicious for yellow metal. They told me to drain half the oil and add Lucas Synthetic oil conditioner. The 50/50 mixture would be a GL-4. Any thoughts?

Three of these...

Red Line MT-85

:iagree:

Well, I learned a lot about gear oils tonight, My oil in draining and I'll get some GL-4 tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone on this forum.

No problem, bud. We want you to enjoy your car for a long time and be safe!

Does anyone make a magnetic drain plug for the trans fluid???

The stock one is already magnetic. Same with the diff.

Actually the stock transmission plug is not magnetic. The differential plug is though. I've always wondered if you could use a diff plug on the transmission. Never bothered to check.

here you go:
http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...t-gearbox.html

the diff plug is much longer though, but i'm not sure how much clearance there is inside (or during operation). best to stick to a stock length plug. im going to change my tranny fluid soon. gears are crunchy when hot, stiff when cold.
It's been exactly a year since i changed the oil to Castrol VMX80, which i believe is a mineral fluid. Cheap stuff and silky smooth & light shifting so i dont mind doing it annually.

Im Lazy any DIY for differential oil change?
Thank you with lots of kisses from my dog pooch!

Attachment 95724

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...il-change.html

Cute pup :tup: