7AT fluid change
 

As you guys know, supposedly Nissan says we have a maintenance free transmission and the fluid doesn't need to be changed. I got my fluid changed yesterday at SpecialtyZ by Seb after installing a trans cooler and here is a picture he took of it. This is at 23,000 miles. Keep in mind, I have never tracked or dragged the car.

This is really dirty stuff. I will be changing my fluid more frequently now. Probably every other oil change.

The transmission is shifting much smoother now. Thanks Seb!

yup mine was also quite dirty when I did mine...
should be redish color not brown !!

I would say your ok with a change, but I would suggest against a flush especially on vehicles with higher mileage. A flush can knock debris around and can get stuck in the valve body. I have seen it happen before in many Automatic trans.

I'm bringing this thread back to life because I just had my 7AT fluid changed at 65k by the dealer. The fluid was terrible and I had lots of debris in the fluid. They hooked my trans up to a machine which cycled fluid through the system like Mitco39 said.

I wish I had done it earlier which is why I'm posting this.

Isn't there a filter in the transmission? Were the debris metal shavings?

Yes there was an "Excessive amount of metal", noted from the dealer. I forgot to ask them to change the filter. I'm going to call them today and check to make sure that the filter was changed. I assumed that they were going to change the filter.

I checked with the Nissan tech and he said that there is a mesh screen that catches any debris. He also explained that the machine back washes to removes stuck contaminants.

I'm looking to upgrade my transmission in the future to Level 7 or Fast Intentions so the finding isn't the end of the world. Also, the trans shifts great right now.

How much did the service cost?

208.91 out the door.

thanks

Good to know, I only have 10,000 miles on the Z so far....so I'll keep this in mind!

Does anyone have any DIY info? I dont trust my local Nissan dealer... went in for an oil change when I first got my car and they crushed both rockers with the lift...smh. Just do it myself now, but haven't even considered trans since they said maint free. Thanks in advance for the input.

Im never gonna change my 7AT fluid. It can be the next owners problem.

I am also very interested in a diy for this.... Subd

Yeah

So is getting the fluid changed a bad idea or not?

So cars WITH high mileage and 7AT should or should not get a fluid change?

Change it; it's just a drain fill & repeat procedure,,,when i first did mine at 50K, it looked like coffee/ but did not smell burnt.

Thanks for the input. So how often should it be changed and is it necessary or it's just a good thing to do? I have almost 101,000 miles on mine.

Wow; that's a bunch-My owners manual doesn't specify; but service manual shows you how?? I asked my dealer & they told me 50-60k,,, I know how hard I run my ~Z~, so I did mine at 50 & plan on doing a single drain & fill every 10 ( to keep it clean) only about 3.5 quarts come out when you drain (level ground) more on ramps.
I recommend that you contact your local dealer or trusted tranny shop ; maybe Level 10 or someone like that & get their opinion. I've been working with hydraulics a long time & your fluid can't be too clean::: but there are places/ shops that will tell you that your tranny may go out if you service it, because it will break loose some potential caked on dirt;etc...If you have it flushed; be sure they use a good machine or run it I between drain and fills... Mine took about 12ish quarts to get really clean....& I used Valvoline Max life Nissan S-matic approved


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LOL, yeah they're a lot of miles on my car. I'm the third owner so I'm not sure if it has been changed or not.

See, that's the part that always confuses me when they say you shouldn't change it? So as long as I go to a reputable place, I should be good?

i'm calling Nissan garages today for mine. 48k miles and randomly now when the car is hot or up to temp I am getting a small clunk/jerk when it downshifts into 2nd.

based on it doesn't do it when cold i'm guessing thicker fluid when cold so no issues. when hot it thins out due to age/mileage and that's when the clunk or whatever you want to call it occurs.

sadly the first dealership I called said they've never worked on a 370....I hung up.

I wish I had a lift and the tools to do it myself but a stealership may be the easier option this time around.

Kinda hard to give thorough instructions: not very hard/ but if you can hook up with someone who's got a machine like FPenvy says... That is very good/ it will flush torque converter and all with one shot.


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just got off the phone with another dealership where I know the owner and semi-trust their mechanics lol

the service manager said they've done multiple 370 AT fluid changes and work on GT-R's so they are set-up for it.

think he said it's $180 and takes 1-1.5 hours. but doesn't it take like $150 in fluid to change out fully? or did I misread the tranny capacity?

also he said that 100k mile thing is BS they tell people every 30k.....guess i'm a bit overdue.

Believe it or not ; our local dealers use Kendall's s-matic equivalent fluid in their bulk tanks...imagine that.. But they will sell you the 10,12,14$ per quart stuff in parts.
The Valvoline equivalent is about 5$ per quart or 18$ per gallon at Walmart.
I just made me a rig at the house to do it. :)


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