Flyer Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 My '02 Pathy needs the tranny fluid changed (44K miles). I just bought it and I knwo it's never been done. One dealer here says they only do a drain while the other two claim to also be able to do a full flush with a "machine." Apparently, the drain replaces 5 quarts while the flush replaces the entire 10 quarts. What do you guys think about this? Which one should I go for and are there any disadvantages of doing one over the other? Drain - $75 Flush - $130-$150 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Drain and fill, just do it more often. And $75 to remove a drain plug and drain and refill 5qts is a little much. Not sure about the 2001+ pathfinders, but my 97 drains about 4qts out of the total 9qts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96pfinderSE Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Dude take the pan off and clean the magnet off and change the tranny filter. Thats my advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Pathfinders have a fine metal screen that never needs to be changed or cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Fine metal screen ehh? is that to keep the shavings from re-circulating?? The simple replacement is what i did to my precious CR-X (5 spd) and used penzoil syncromesh and that stuff rocks!!! The jdm tranny's are always grinding gears; after syncromesh.....smooooooooth. I must look into the auto tranny fluid market...any suggestions? incidentally this forum grows better everyday, great topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Its a filter but it is made of a metal screen instead of fibers so it will not clog unless of course your tranny just blew up. I've actually been at a local Nissan parts department where they refused to sell a guy a new tranny filter for that same reason, no reason to change it. Funny thing is their service literature actually touts changing the filter. I have to admit that curiousity got the better of me and I dropped my trans pan after 100k miles and heavy boat towing over 7+ years. Well the magnet had very little fuzz and the filter/screen was as good as day 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 Tranny fluid can't be that expensive. If I drained it and then drained it again, I shoudl get about 75% of it changed, right? Is it hard to do? I mean, I change my engine oil myself but have never changed the tranny oil. My Accord was quite hard to get to so I didn't try. Do you guys change it yourself? IS is a lot harder than changing engine oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96pfinderSE Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Might not be alot and you prolly wont need to change the filter. But i still would clean the magnet to expand the time of you cleanin it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 I need to figure out how all this looks. See, when changing engine oil, all I do is remove the drainplug/filter and reinstall but withthe tranny fluid, there seem to be more parts- pan, magnet, anything else. I have no idea what and where they are so I have to get me a bit edumicated, yall hear darn, I can't believe I don't know exactly how to change the transmission fluid- darn embarrassment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96pfinderSE Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 The easy way to do it is to just undo the drain plug drain and fill. But you can take the pan down and clean the magnetic of all the metal shavings and change the filter witch you just unscrew poop it out and put the new one in. Then fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trialsin26 Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Don’t forget to tighten the tranny bolts to spec or it might leak. Also don’t tighten it to tight or you might strip the bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Pull the plug, drain it, then run the engine for about five seconds. It'll pump more fluid into the pan and you'll be able to drain more out that way. No, it doesn't hurt the transmission to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Also do yourself a favor and get a bucket with quart marks on it, replace the same amount you take out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Be sure you can remove the fill plug before you drain it. You don't want to find out that you can't get it off after your trans is drained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Good point- I'll get this done as soon as I see 50 degrees. Plus, I'm getting my house ready for sale. I'm so excited since I'll be moving to Colorado as soon as my house sells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Since you have an automatic don't worry about a fill plug, you just have a drain plug on the pan. Add new fluid via the ATF dipstick tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkpath96 Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Is there any way to tell whether the tranny fluid needs changed? I have a used pathy and have no idea if it's ever been done, and I am at 106K miles... It's a standard, too, so would that change anything, in terms of wear and tear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runnerman Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Don’t forget to tighten the tranny bolts to spec or it might leak. Also don’t tighten it to tight or you might strip the bolts. Well had to change the Tranni fluid in the van this past Fall as it wasn't shifting properly (thought I was going to have to replace the tranni) anyway I looked for torque specs even went to the chrysler dealership made me think to get any work there ever again. The machanics there had not even a clue. So they printed out some sheet that had nothing to do with torque specs it was just funny. So I was worried :o that I was going to over/under Torque the bolts. All in all I tightened them up and so far so good The chrysler dealer wanted $160 just to change the bloody tranni fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trialsin26 Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Runnerman, Well it was just my 2 cents. The first time I change it on my Mom's GMC Van it leaked. Then I got the bolts to spec. and everything was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runnerman Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Hey Trialsin26, didn't mean anything by it just that is what the Chrysler dealership told me on the ph. Then when I went there, they had no clue????? I spent almost a whole week trying to find torque specs from the net and Dealers, I even went as low as asking Canadian Tire and I really wish someone just told me to just tighten them down, just don't Ukranian Torque wrench them on. But most of what I heard was make sure you torque them to specs and I would ask what's the specs no one knows. That would of saved me allot of time. The point I was trying to make is that don't worry about the little things. If it leaks tighten some more. If it doesn't your all good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 'Bout 3.6 - 5.1 foot-pounds(as per my service manual). That's hand tight, plus a half turn or so more. Don't crank down the tranny pan bolts more than that cause the gasket'll leak inbetween the bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 The torque spec. is only 61-78 inch pounds for the transmission pan bolts. I found out the hard way how fragile they are and popped one. Easy to drill out and extract though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now