I have a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder 160,000 Miles don’t think the transmission fluid has ever been changed. The fluid is dark but still red tint to it. The 2-3 shift can sometimes be a little slow in the truck. Would it be bad to do a pan drop fluid change in it?
2003 Pathfinder Transmission fluid Change
- Thread starter jxthomps
- Start date
I would absolutely do a pan drop and filter change. If a fluid change adversely affects it, it was not long for this world anyway.
You don't have to drop the pan because Nissan is smart enough to include a drain plug on their transmissions 
Even a single drain and fill is more than most cars get, as most cars arrive at the junkyard on their factory fill.
If you still want to do a more complete fluid exchange, you can always do the drain and fill 3-4x, with a little driving in between.
Even a single drain and fill is more than most cars get, as most cars arrive at the junkyard on their factory fill.
If you still want to do a more complete fluid exchange, you can always do the drain and fill 3-4x, with a little driving in between.
MolaKule
Staff member
On my old 2003 PathFinder I gave to my daughter the auto tranny did not have a filter but did have a drainplug.
She sold it to famer who now has over 325,000 miles on it.
I have never seen a fluid with over 40,000 miles on it that did not turn dark, so I doubt the fluid has been in there for 160,000 miles if it has any tint to it whatsover.
She sold it to famer who now has over 325,000 miles on it.
I have never seen a fluid with over 40,000 miles on it that did not turn dark, so I doubt the fluid has been in there for 160,000 miles if it has any tint to it whatsover.
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I recently had an "ASE certified mechanic" tell me that it was a bad idea to change fluid in a transmission with that high of mileage, when I was looking for someone local to slap a new filter and pan on the 4l60e in my 08' TrailBlazer with 175k on it, it's been acting peculiar like the pump was having a hard time with the fluid when it was cold out so I thought maybe changing the filter might help if it was plugged, which obviously if there was enough crud to plug the filter that's another issue, and changing the filter didn't help and the issue I'm having with vibration and pump whine, and a slow 1-2 upshift when cold seems to be getting worse, so I probably at least need a pump if not a complete tranny rebuild, but back on topic changing the fluid didn't make my transmission worse something clearly is already wrong and it was just going to get worse anyways.
