Times are changing on suggested preventive maintenance on older cars

[Hall]

but its obviously pretty tolerant

I see plenty of people that repeat the lines of "you have to use Matic-? or your transmission will fail" but they preface it with "I heard" and when someone says that, their comment has ZERO value to me. Problem is, others read that, repeat the "I heard...." and it gets ingrained with some. When I see that this same transmission is used by Subaru and Hyundai and they don't require any special ATF, it's not hard to figure out that Nissan fluid simply isn't not mandatory. I may or may not use Nissan ATF in mine... If someone asks what to use, my safe answer is tell them to use Nissan fluid just like I say when it comes to Hondas, use DW-1. Use something else ? Doesn't matter to me.

 

[Blackstack]

Change it anyway yourself. Apply a little BITOG common sense. Clean fluid is better than dirty fluid. Doesn't Molakule recommend ATF changes about every 30-40K? I'd certainly trust Molakule over any stealership.
I change mine ~40K; I have GM 4t65e in 3 vehicles, I've added aftermarket drain pans with drain plugs, and I pull the cooler return line after fluid change and start and idle the car (drive wheels OFF the ground) with a clear vinyl 3/8" tube going into a drain pan and let the engine run for a minute or two until the fluid runs red. YMMV. Add however much fluid I drain. My lowest mileage GM vehicle has 176K and shifts like new. Got this idea from Clinebarger.

Clean fluid is better than dirty fluid.

Not in a transmission that is at the end of it's life. The dirty fluid provides friction for slipping clutches. Swap it out for fresh stuff and all of a sudden it starts to slip and is done for. Another reason they'd be afraid to change the fluid.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Change it anyway yourself. Apply a little BITOG common sense. Clean fluid is better than dirty fluid. Doesn't Molakule recommend ATF changes about every 30-40K? I'd certainly trust Molakule over any stealership.
I change mine ~40K; I have GM 4t65e in 3 vehicles, I've added aftermarket drain pans with drain plugs, and I pull the cooler return line after fluid change and start and idle the car (drive wheels OFF the ground) with a clear vinyl 3/8" tube going into a drain pan and let the engine run for a minute or two until the fluid runs red. YMMV. Add however much fluid I drain. My lowest mileage GM vehicle has 176K and shifts like new. Got this idea from Clinebarger.

Do you have shift kits in any of them. Did/Do you use the lubegard?

 

[DGXR]

I would also do the fluid change. Your unit has received reasonable service and you shouldn't have any issues simply due to fresh fluid.

 

[Ihatetochangeoil]

Do you have shift kits in any of them. Did/Do you use the lubegard?

Yes to both. I have Trango shift kits in all vehicles, ZZPerformance aftermarket pans with magnetic drain plugs https://www.ebay.com/itm/131856991821 Lubegard 60902 used @ 1 oz. per qt (label instructions), and two added pan magnets per GM TSB 08-07-30-040B.
FWIW, on my daughter's car, I had the presence of mind to do before/after temperature readings on the transmission fluid; before adding the pan (which has cast aluminum cooling fins), we took the car for a highway run, full equilibrium temperature was ~210F, after adding the pan, same drive transmission temp dropped ~30F. All the proof I needed to see, the pan cools the tranny down.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Yes to both. I have Trango shift kits in all vehicles, ZZPerformance aftermarket pans with magnetic drain plugs https://www.ebay.com/itm/131856991821 Lubegard 60902 used @ 1 oz. per qt (label instructions), and two added pan magnets per GM TSB 08-07-30-040B.
FWIW, on my daughter's car, I had the presence of mind to do before/after temperature readings on the transmission fluid; before adding the pan (which has cast aluminum cooling fins), we took the car for a highway run, full equilibrium temperature was ~210F, after adding the pan, same drive transmission temp dropped ~30F. All the proof I needed to see, the pan cools the tranny down.

NIce!

 

[willbur]

Not in a transmission that is at the end of it's life. The dirty fluid provides friction for slipping clutches. Swap it out for fresh stuff and all of a sudden it starts to slip and is done for. Another reason they'd be afraid to change the fluid.

Correct. Even with a good transmission, excessivelly often fluid changes harm the transmission, too. The little bit of friction material in the fluid helps the clutches function better and makes their life easier, IMO. I remember reading a post (several?) where the poster said they change their fluid each oil change. Doing more harm than good. Just my opinion- no harsh comments, please