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Transmission Fluid


cham
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I cannot for the life of me get a consistent reading on the trans dipstick when at "operating temperature" because its such an ambiguous term.  Not only that, I get various results depending if I drove around a block to get it up to operating temp versus letting it sit at idle from cold up to its "operating temp" which is me just waiting until the engine temperature needle settles.  One thing I always perform is shifting through all of the gears before checking.  I read on a forum a cross check is the best method meaning checking both when cold and hot.  From what I've gathered online, a cold check is when the trans is between 86 df and 122 df while a hot check is when its between 122 df and 176 df.  Now I don't have a dedicated transmission temp gauge so there is no way of truly knowing but does anyone have experience with which methods work best to get you in these realms of temperature with the most accuracy.  I've just realized that the shop that touched my transmission last overfilled the trans to the point where regardless of what I did it was well above the hot max with noticeable bubbles.  I took about a 1/2 - 3/4 of a quart out using the drain plug and I just did a cold check this morning with good results but I am not sure if my methodology is right.  It's currently around 65 df where I live.  I started it up from dead cold, it had been sitting all night; after waiting maybe a couple of minutes, I shifted through all of the gears then put it in park and checked the dipstick.  This seemed accurate and I have yet to check hot as I'm not sure what the best way to get it up to "operating temperature" is.  If anyone has any experience with this, any info would be much appreciated.  I really hope I have not been driving around for over a year with that much extra fluid in the transmission.  Also what would be the best fluid I can get for a 2002 pathfinder LE auto transmission with the Auto 4WD transfer case, not sure if that makes a difference, thanks.

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https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/transmission-fluid/automatic/signature-series-multi-vehicle-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid/?code=ATFPK-EA

Are you having issues with your transmission that caused you to bring it to a shop?

Having the trans overfilled a bit isn’t necessarily a bad thing, at least not with the RE4. I am well beyond a quart overfilled, maybe two..

When I check the dipstick at cold the level is 1/2 an inch up the cable.

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Ever since I got this truck its had at least some sort of noticeable shifting sluggishness, mainly from 1-2 at slow speeds.  Also a noticeable lag between gears when accelerating fairly quickly.  I had a shop just change the fluid (not a flush but I think something more than just a pan drop cant quite remember) but they must have overfilled it quite a bit.  What do you mean by 1/2 an inch up the cable, I know my dipstick is a flat piece of metal all the way down I believe ours are different.  Are you sure that much is okay?

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96f2c94ea1d8773d0624eca9fe03c787.jpg

This was after 20 minutes of driving from pretty much a cold engine, no highway. I let it sit about 2 minutes and then shifted through every gear.


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b690d7a9267dc7fcafd0e6e875b871fd.jpg

For reference these are the markings with the notches being the cold range and the hash markings being the hot range.


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ac21980cf92f45da4b63c3762df83051.jpg

You can hardly read this stupid style of dipstick so I rolled it across a towel so you can see the level. Of course it doesn’t matter because I’m a couple quarts low instead of overfilled. What the frig??

 

This is not super low but I wonder if this is why my trans was doing the weird crap it was doing earlier this year.

 

Anyway, you can help yourself see the level by gently imprinting a paper towel with the dipstick. I say you lower your level and I will fill mine back up haha

 

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It help both of mine tremendously! They even run better. Finally these R50's are coming around. That dipstick is confusing as %$#!

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What is it you are referring to that helped your pathy?


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96f2c94ea1d8773d0624eca9fe03c787.jpg

This was after 20 minutes of driving from pretty much a cold engine, no highway. I let it sit about 2 minutes and then shifted through every gear.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I agree this dipstick sucks for getting a reading. I had my trans filled perfectly and after adding a trans cooler I haven’t been able to get a good reading


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Would anyone happen to know if a transmission temp sensor exists in the transmission. I’d love to be able to get a Bluetooth obd2 scanner and the torque app and monitor it but it’d be a waste if it’s not even there.


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Would anyone happen to know if a transmission temp sensor exists in the transmission. I’d love to be able to get a Bluetooth obd2 scanner and the torque app and monitor it but it’d be a waste if it’s not even there.


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It does not


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Can someone confirm the trans dipstick is the same with the image above for their 2002 pathfinder? I guess any facelift R50 would be the same probably. I want to double check this isn’t aftermarket from the previous owner for whatever reason and in actuality I’m getting a false reading.

 

 

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Can someone confirm the trans dipstick is the same with the image above for their 2002 pathfinder? I guess any facelift R50 would be the same probably. I want to double check this isn’t aftermarket from the previous owner for whatever reason and in actuality I’m getting a false reading.
 
 
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That is an OEM dipstick


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On 10/8/2019 at 7:28 PM, Mrelcocko said:

It help both of mine tremendously! They even run better. Finally these R50's are coming around. That dipstick is confusing as %$#!

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk
 

I know what you mean there. My 96, you can barely see the fluid on the dipstick it is so hard to see.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

After much fiddling I have still been unable to find consistent results.  As it sits, the only constant thing is that I am getting conflicting results between the cold and hot readings.  The issue is on just about every occasion it shows no fluid on the dipstick when cold and too much when hot.  I follow the manual to a T.  It states that for a cold check you must run the car at idle until its warmed up and then check before driving.  For a hot check just must warm the engine up then drive 5 minutes in an urban environment.  It also gives temp ranges for cold and hot which influenced me to buy an IR temp scanner.  I use it at the trans pan with what seems relatively good readings.  Something positive is I no longer have bubbles like I used to but that I think was because it was simply very overfilled before.  If anyone has an experience with this please chime in, I am at my whits end with this.  I called my local nissan dealership and there is no way I'm paying $130 for them to check my transmission level. 

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The temp range for a cold check is 86 - 122 dF while hot is 122 - 176 df for reference.  I guess is it better to check on the upper end of this range versus the lower end or dead center would be best?

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  • 9 months later...

Does anybody have any more insight on getting a correct reading from this style dipstick? I’ve always struggled with this. Glad to hear I’m not alone! 
 

When changing the fluid via the drain plug (not a full flush with filter etc) how much have you guys been replacing? I’ve been getting about 3L out so that’s what I’ve put back in. But my dipstick consistently reads as overfilled. Experimented with slightly less but even then it stays high. 

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Does anybody have any more insight on getting a correct reading from this style dipstick? I’ve always struggled with this. Glad to hear I’m not alone! 
 
When changing the fluid via the drain plug (not a full flush with filter etc) how much have you guys been replacing? I’ve been getting about 3L out so that’s what I’ve put back in. But my dipstick consistently reads as overfilled. Experimented with slightly less but even then it stays high. 

You can check when “cold” so basically a few mins after starting engine. You’re really supposed to check after driving a couple of miles around your neighborhood. Engine should be running and you should shift through the gears while not moving.


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On 10/8/2019 at 2:01 PM, cham said:

96f2c94ea1d8773d0624eca9fe03c787.jpg

This was after 20 minutes of driving from pretty much a cold engine, no highway. I let it sit about 2 minutes and then shifted through every gear.


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and have the engine running, while

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These dipsticks suck. One thing I’ve done to remove doubt is put a bubble level on my running board and use a jack and wheel choks to set the vehicle level in my driveway since it has some rake. Then I do my readings. I’ve ran overfilled by a quart for a year without issues. I’ve driven a week about quart low with no issues so adjusting fluid levels may not help any issues

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