Times are changing on suggested preventive maintenance on older cars

I use Idemitsu Matic S - they are the current manufacturer of Nissan Matic S you can buy at the dealer. Its a little cheaper direct from Idemitsu, but still not cheap.
Supposedly Castrol was (is) the fluid manufacturer and Castrol Transmax Import Multi-Vehicle ATF = Nissan Matic-J. Coincidentally, Castrol had a "Transmax J" fluid right around the same time that Matic-J became Nissan's spec and a number of years later, Castrol released Transmax Full Synthetic and soon after, Nissan spec'd Matic-S (this was around when JATCO started making the 7-speed transmission).
 
Is that a Jatco RE5R05A maybe - same as my Xterra and Frontier? Mine has a drain plug. I do a drain and fill every 20K or so - about 4 quarts come out, and 4 fresh quarts go back in. One of them is over 300K so far with no problems. I like the drain and fill approach as it doesn't shock the system. At least that is what I tell myself.

I use Idemitsu Matic S - they are the current manufacturer of Nissan Matic S you can buy at the dealer. Its a little cheaper direct from Idemitsu, but still not cheap.
I just did a drain and refill on my 2012 4X4 Frontier and it required about 3.75 Liters (I measure everything Liter-wise). The custom ATF is similar in formulation to Valvoline's MaxLife ATF, shifts well and stays Red and transparent for the full 30k interval.
 
Is that a Jatco RE5R05A maybe
I just did a drain and refill on my 2012 4X4 Frontier and it required about 3.75 Liters (I measure everything Liter-wise).
I do as well since the container/jug I use has liter markings instead of quarts. I've done 3 drain and fills on my G35 with this same transmission. First time I put in a little over 3 liters but I must have measured wrong or something because it was low on the dipstick. I don't remember and didn't update my spreadsheet but I added fluid to get it in the right range on the dipstick. The next two I did I used 3.3 liters. Others claim to get 4+ quarts, some claim close to 5 quarts, out when they drain theirs.
 
BG probably warrants their fluid like most companies - if the fluid itself was faulty from the factory, they might cover repair expenses.

BG has a lifetime mechanical transmission warranty (2 versions). If memory serves, you must start their service between 50 and 75 thousand miles and have it done every 30 thousand miles to maintain warranty.

I agree with the good advice above and change your fluid and filters (if accessible) every 30 to 60 thousand miles.
My BiL put 400k on a GMC 4L60e doing a BG fluid swap at 50k OCI’s …
 
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.
When you pull the cooler return line and direct it into a bucket, if there are any lube points it feeds... does that not prevent lube flow to those points with this line disconnected?

Also, do u have it in Drive when doing this?

U also said you replenish the ATF after doing this... Is that of any negative consequence in the meantime before you refill to correct level?
 
Supposedly Castrol was (is) the fluid manufacturer and Castrol Transmax Import Multi-Vehicle ATF = Nissan Matic-J. Coincidentally, Castrol had a "Transmax J" fluid right around the same time that Matic-J became Nissan's spec and a number of years later, Castrol released Transmax Full Synthetic and soon after, Nissan spec'd Matic-S (this was around when JATCO started making the 7-speed transmission).
The safety data sheet I found for the Nissan branded Matic S was that if you had a spill to call Idemitsu in Illinois. Its quite possible castrol made the fluid at some point as well, as I am sure there isn't much special about it. However I don't like mixing brands. If I were doing a full change I would likely use something else.
 
When you pull the cooler return line and direct it into a bucket, if there are any lube points it feeds... does that not prevent lube flow to those points with this line disconnected?

Also, do u have it in Drive when doing this?

U also said you replenish the ATF after doing this... Is that of any negative consequence in the meantime before you refill to correct level?
I don't think it feeds anything, it just circulates in and out of the cooler at that point. Here is a how to: https://www.thenewx.org/threads/how-to-transmission-pmf-poor-mans-flush-pbr.30213/
 
When you pull the cooler return line and direct it into a bucket, if there are any lube points it feeds... does that not prevent lube flow to those points with this line disconnected?

Also, do u have it in Drive when doing this?

U also said you replenish the ATF after doing this... Is that of any negative consequence in the meantime before you refill to correct level?
pretty sure the cooler return line just dumps the fluid into the pan. If you fill the pan simutaneously the level shouldn't drop as much, i.e. overfil 1 quart, remove 1 quart, turn off engine, repeat.
 
I don't think all A/Ts just dump cooler return into the pan. The CD4E is one such transaxle...

Just about every automatic transmission uses cooler return to lubricate parts of the unit. However.....Those parts are not usually spinning/in use/loaded in Park/Neutral. So doing a cooler line exchange is very unlikely to do any damage.

Never...EVER work on a vehicle while it's in gear. If you don't get cooler flow in park.....Use neutral.
 
Just about every automatic transmission uses cooler return to lubricate parts of the unit. However.....Those parts are not usually spinning/in use/loaded in Park/Neutral. So doing a cooler line exchange is very unlikely to do any damage.

Never...EVER work on a vehicle while it's in gear. If you don't get cooler flow in park.....Use neutral.
CARB put out a blast advising smog check shops to never do one on a BMW or other with a ZF for that reason alone. They state to direct the customer to a dealer or stop the car, restart it and immediately do the two-speed idle test. With the dyno requirement, that has changed.
 
The safety data sheet I found for the Nissan branded Matic S was that if you had a spill to call Idemitsu in Illinois. Its quite possible castrol made the fluid at some point as well, as I am sure there isn't much special about it. However I don't like mixing brands. If I were doing a full change I would likely use something else.
I don’t think Castrol ever supplied the Japanese OEMs with fluids. Idemitsu, Eneos, Showa Shell or XOM Japan, yes.
 
LATEST WRINKLE: Nissan Matic J fluid (in my car since the last fluid change at 72K miles) has been superceded by Nissan Matic S. The J fluid is in short supply unless I want to pay $15 a quart at a Nissan dealer. I can only lay my hands on 11 quarts of the old J Fluid at a decent price from Napa and Amazon, but that's not enough to do a full exchange. My local indie shop now will do a full exchange using BG 312 synthetic fluid for a reduced price of $250. My question:

1. buy the 11 available quarts of J fluid to do three drain and fills myself. Cost is $81.
OR
2. go with the full BG exchange for $250 and it will be the last A/T service the car will ever need, unless it dies.

I know there are pros and cons of each option. What would you do?
 
Id do 2-3 drain and fills because that way you can be sure the level is correct. This is more important than every drop being new fluid.
 
LATEST WRINKLE: Nissan Matic J fluid (in my car since the last fluid change at 72K miles) has been superceded by Nissan Matic S. The J fluid is in short supply unless I want to pay $15 a quart at a Nissan dealer. I can only lay my hands on 11 quarts of the old J Fluid at a decent price from Napa and Amazon, but that's not enough to do a full exchange. My local indie shop now will do a full exchange using BG 312 synthetic fluid for a reduced price of $250. My question:

1. buy the 11 available quarts of J fluid to do three drain and fills myself. Cost is $81.
OR
2. go with the full BG exchange for $250 and it will be the last A/T service the car will ever need, unless it dies.

I know there are pros and cons of each option. What would you do?
Why do you want Matic-J? We've been using Matic-S in place of it for years, no issues at all.
 
I'm leary of using Matic S to do a series of drain and fills since the current fill is Matic J. I either wanted to do a complete exchange or use the same formula for some D&F's. Maybe I'm overthinking this.
I think you are. Even a complete fluid exchange will only change out 70-80% due to amount of "mixing" that takes place during the fluid exchange process.

Nissan has certified that Matic-S is backwards compatible with J and has been the approved service fill for many years.

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