Oes ATF Drain/Refill replace some of the oil in Torque converter?

[Dominik]

Hi all,

Would 3-4 drain/refills eventually replace most of the oil in torque converter?
It's is a Nissan trannny that holds about 10 litres only about 5 can be drained. Some people say only T-Tec flush can replace fluid in torque converter is it true?

 

[Al]

I have don my son in law's Quest and my Sentra. In my Sentra I get out exactly a gallon and it holds a bit less than 2 gallon. 3 changouts gets you at least 90% that is more than O.K. Gop that route. Don't do the power flush. I have heard horror stries with flushes. They may not all be true but I won't risk it. I do a drain and fill about every 8 to 10 K miles while it is up on the ramps for an oil change. Its a piece of cake.

Nissan trannies are very hard on ATF so I would suggest the fill and drain like I am doing.

 

[Al]

Oh and the other thing is..don't waste your money (*IMHO) on Mobil 1 ATF it sheared back pretty bad. Just go with the more frequent changes. ]

 

[Roger]

Yes, a 3-4 drain/refil routine will eventually replace a large percentage (@88-94%) of the fluid in the torque converter if you drive the vehicle in between the drain and refil part.

Not sure what model and year Nissan you have, but I've had good luck draining the pan, refilling the amount drained, and then pumping out the balance from the tranny's return line off the radiator in both my Altima and Maxima. I've been able to get nearly 100% of the old fluid that way. Not everyone likes to unhook the tanny line, but I think it is super easy. There is a more detailed "how to" explanation in this old link.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000195

Al is right, on a Nissan changing the tranny fluid is almost as easy as changing engine oil.

 

[JHZR2]

Id say that if it has a drain plug, just get some out every oil change, and then do the filter/pan removal at the spec interval.

Another option is to get an electric lift pump (topsider, etc), and pull some out of the dipstick every so often.

JMH

 

[bighead]

quote:

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Originally posted by Al:
Don't do the power flush. I have heard horror stries with flushes.

---

Agreed. I had an 89 Lincoln Town Car, and it only had ~89K on it when I bought it back in 96. Took it to a Texaco Quickie Lube and had them flush the tranny. It didnt necessarily need the flush I suppose, just wanted to have that piece of mind since it was a used car. About 3 or so months later the tranny lost 3rd and 4th gear..on a road trip out of town no less. Cost me a grand to get it rebuilt at AAMCO..never was the same. Leaked fluid, took FOREVER to engage in reverse. Took it back several times, they never were able to correct it, but that's another thread altogether I'm sure

lol.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dominik:
Hi all,

Would 3-4 drain/refills eventually replace most of the oil in torque converter?
It's is a Nissan trannny that holds about 10 litres only about 5 can be drained. Some people say only T-Tec flush can replace fluid in torque converter is it true?

---

Run it some between each drain to ensure it mixes well.

Change 1: 50% new, 50% old
Change 2: 75% new, 25% old
Change 3: 87.5% new, 12.5% old
Change 4: 94% new, 6 % old

Probably three changes is enough. Use good but inexpensive ATF the first two changes, then use Redline on the third. After that do a Redline change about every 10,000 to 20,000 miles. But somewhere along the line you need to drop the pan and change the filter/screen. If that gets more ATF out it would be good for the first change.

 

[outrun]

Originally posted by Al:
Don't do the power flush. I have heard horror stries with flushes.


I reject that attack on the ATF service.

Please read my other posts on it.

1st it is not a "power flush" that is untechnical mistruth.

It is more less and infusion machine taking in old ATF through a cooler line and infusing it back into the return line. In order to maintain pressure without gyrator contact of the fluid it uses the same "rotating-squeezing-line-compression" type used in hospital style infuser machines

So there is no "FLUSHING" action. Some use some sort of solvent 1st, although you can request them not to use it.

2nd, the only "horror" stories you hear are 3 kinds of people:

The ones that had neglected transmissions from the get-go, ones that never had there pan filter replaced at service, or ones with a transmission ready to go anyway.

We have three vehicles in our family between 400,000+ miles. This service has been done with a PAN-FILTER change at around 30k intervals.

The fluid used was Amsoil Universal ATF.

Never ever had a horror story?

We always had the pan filter changed too.

The only AT failure we had was caused by an internal ATF-Radiator leak in which water contaminated the transmission causing it to fail.

If your transmssion is well maintained, this service will not cause it to fail.

All the ATF did was uncover a problem that already existed.

When in doubt 1st run Auto-RX, after the XXX miles drop the pan, replace filter. Run the ATF infuser machine drive XXX miles. Redrop the pan and refill to be careful.

Franks Auto-RX website also supports this strategy.

I think adding 4qts at time is an inefficient dilution process when infusers can knock out 90% of what is in there once and for all.