Times are changing on suggested preventive maintenance on older cars
- Thread starter NormanBuntz
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Matic S is the Nissan recommended replacement. No dealer uses J anymore, and hasn't since S came out in like 2010 is my understanding.
If you want a cheap aftermarket solution, Valvoline MaxLife has a version that meets both J and S specifications per the bottle, and is available from walmart for like 20 bucks per gallon. That is the fluid most Nissan specific boards will recommend. Full disclosure I still use Idemitsu S - not maxlife, but my OCD is strong.
I am also in preference of drain and fills, its cheaper and I do it frequently.
If you do prefer a complete flush, then I would do the poor mans flush I referenced above. That is actually the specific procedure recommended in the factory service manual for my 2008 Xterra with the same transmission.
If you want a shop to do it, then just make sure there using a machine that cycles fluid based on the transmissions own pump - not pressure from the machine.
Good luck!
If you want a cheap aftermarket solution, Valvoline MaxLife has a version that meets both J and S specifications per the bottle, and is available from walmart for like 20 bucks per gallon. That is the fluid most Nissan specific boards will recommend. Full disclosure I still use Idemitsu S - not maxlife, but my OCD is strong.
I am also in preference of drain and fills, its cheaper and I do it frequently.
If you do prefer a complete flush, then I would do the poor mans flush I referenced above. That is actually the specific procedure recommended in the factory service manual for my 2008 Xterra with the same transmission.
If you want a shop to do it, then just make sure there using a machine that cycles fluid based on the transmissions own pump - not pressure from the machine.
Good luck!
Do (2) drain and fills with the "J" fluid. Do a 3rd drain and fill later and use up the remaining "J" and use "S", Castrol Transmax IMV, Castrol Full Syn ATF, Valvoline Import ATF, etc. It will be fine.
Whoever wrote that Matic-J vs S thing should have someone else review it. They contradict their 1st sentence with the rest of the write-up. And what is the "extraordinary steps" of bolting the dipstick in place supposed to mean ? Yes, there's a bolt, but it simply "secures" the dipstick in (not sure why it's necessary but it's not an impediment). All G35s have a dipstick too.
Was that really written up by Nissan ? Just now looked at it directly.... It seems like a dealer wrote it up or someone because they write in 3rd-person referring to Nissan at times.
Was that really written up by Nissan ? Just now looked at it directly.... It seems like a dealer wrote it up or someone because they write in 3rd-person referring to Nissan at times.
This looks doable by me. I can't jack up, pull the front wheel, etc. etc., on my Camry. What do others think re the siphon/replace method method?
Nissan Tech News magazine.
Matic-S is compatible with Matic-J. You can mix both with no problem.
Of course, the peanut gallery here will say just use MaxLife - which I did in a 2015 Frontier. I liked the firmer shifts - but the owner didn’t like them, so a spill & fill of Matic-S was done.
Of course, the peanut gallery here will say just use MaxLife - which I did in a 2015 Frontier. I liked the firmer shifts - but the owner didn’t like them, so a spill & fill of Matic-S was done.
My MO - all trans fluid is replaced at 30K unless I know that car lives an “easy” life. By easy, I mean no stop & go, no short-tripping, no hills and if the car doesn’t get an opportunity to stretch its legs on a good length of freeway.
To your point, preventative maint is getting out of hand expensive. Even doing my own with factory fluids and quality parts is getting tiring.
I paid $3.19 per quart in 2005 for Mercon V direct from the local dealer. Now it is $15. Of course I wont be buying it from them, but there is the example at least.
I paid $3.19 per quart in 2005 for Mercon V direct from the local dealer. Now it is $15. Of course I wont be buying it from them, but there is the example at least.
Thank you for the response. The drain and fill on my Camry requires pulling the front wheel so I was asking if siphoning and replacing 1/2 quart at a time from the at reservoir would be helpful for those of us that don't want a flush but can't easily drain and fill.
Thanks so much.
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My limited understanding is J is / was a higher viscosity fluid than S. S is a very low viscosity fluid designed for the newer auto transmissions with more gears. That likely is why some didn't like the shifting with other fluid like the valvoline.
Also of note - Nissan sold the Jatco RE5R05A transmission to both Mitsubishi and Subaru in the past and they used their own fluids in them. Its quite possible they were different versions of the transmission - I could never find much data on it.
If taken care of its a excellent transmission that will last a really long time.
Also of note - Nissan sold the Jatco RE5R05A transmission to both Mitsubishi and Subaru in the past and they used their own fluids in them. Its quite possible they were different versions of the transmission - I could never find much data on it.
If taken care of its a excellent transmission that will last a really long time.
Jatco....
I thought it was Hyundai and Subaru but the transmissions were the same. At best, they could have slightly different programming logic that each manufacturer dictates. I know in Subaru models, they spec'd "ATF-HP" fluid. Are we to believe that Subaru ATF-HP and Nissan Matic-J are secretly the same
or do these transmissions simply not care or require anything special after all.- Joined
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I could never figure out what the ATF-HP angle was so I can't comment on that. However I do know The transmission was originally built with Matic J as the spec, then it changed to Matic S - which is my understanding a very different viscosity at the least. Also on the Nissan specific boards there are a ton of people running Maxlife which is the cheapest swiss army knife fluid ever which meets a ton of specs. So I won't say those are the best for it, because working with different fluids and benefiting is very different, but its obviously pretty tolerant, and there are a ton of them around with 300K+ miles.I know in Subaru models, they spec'd "ATF-HP" fluid. Are we to believe that Subaru ATF-HP and Nissan Matic-J are secretly the same
Lots of acronyms on "Bob". I suppose DMF refers to a dual mass flywheel (a more or less conventional manual).
You don't have to do a lot of clutch jobs if you know how to drive a manual. In almost 60 years of driving I've only replaced one clutch and that was because the linkage broke on my '86 Volvo 740 Turbo - at about 180,000 Km. We replaced the clutch and pressure plate "while we were there". That clutch still had quite a bit of life left in it.
And I taught our daughter to drive on manual cars as well. My wife and daughter both prefer manuals.
Yes, DMF is dual mass flywheel.
That may be true on lower-performance economy cars, but on higher performance vehicles, it is rarely a lifetime item.
I had a clutch in an '88 Escort last 260K and the one that replaced it had about 208K and was still working great when I retired the car. Lots of those miles were city driving in and around Charlotte, NC. The only clutch that wore out prematurely on the Escort was the original that wore out at about 50K miles and was while my brother owned it. I think what happened with it was one of my nieces that didn't know how to drive a manual drove it and burned the clutch out of it. A clutch will last a long time if the person using it knows what they're doing. Years ago a friend was changing some bearings in an '84 Mazda B2000 transmission for me and I told him to go ahead and change the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing which he did. The truck had 80K miles at the time and he told me after changing it the old clutch still looked like new.
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