ticker Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 The pathy was due to have the transmission oil changed. I was looking at my choices and I was looking at the Valvoline 75w-90 gl4 oil when the Royal Purple caught my eye. Too expensive but right next it was the Mobil1 75w-90 which was about half the price. I thought hmmm I've heard good things about Mobil 1. So I decided to go for it. Heres the stupid part I never even looked to check if it was GL-4 and didn't notice until I was done that it was GL-5. I've read conflicting reports about the suitability of it for Nissan transmissions. Any thoughts? Anyone running this? I figure if need be I can drain and put into rear diff. Separate but related issue. When I took out the fill plug, oil came pouring out of the hole. How is it possible to overfill when you can only fill it to the hole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastpath Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 drain it and use GL4. The trannies are meant to be overfilled. Usually to do this people will fill from the shift insert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrano1992 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I figure if need be I can drain and put into rear diff. You are right. Drain it and replace with GL-4. How is it possible to overfill when you can only fill it to the hole? Lift this side up (for example, park a car on a slope). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yeah, get it out ASAP, GL-5 will eat the thin brass components in your tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) drain it use nissanmatic D i think you crossed the fine line in your sig lol Edited September 23, 2009 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 drain ituse nissanmatic D i think you crossed the fine line in your sig lol If he has an automatic, he really screwed up! GL-gear lube, as in for manual trannys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastpath Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 oh, and as you have a 1998 you should have the revised transmission fill hole that lets you fill to the required amount of 5.somthing quarts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 oups yea i did not realize it was a manual lol and yes use the 4 kind for manual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 read the bottle...some will say its ok with GL5 and some will say its not...I use valvoline and it says on the bottle it's fine with GL5 and I havent had any problems (other than what was already there in my 87 and 95 trannys) and I have put at least 120k miles between the both of them and havent had the syncro's get any worse over that time frame so i petition that it didn't negatively affect either tranny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticker Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 read the bottle...some will say its ok with GL5 and some will say its not...I use valvoline and it says on the bottle it's fine with GL5 and I havent had any problems (other than what was already there in my 87 and 95 trannys) and I have put at least 120k miles between the both of them and havent had the syncro's get any worse over that time frame so i petition that it didn't negatively affect either tranny let me claify. You are using GL-5 without negative effects? I found this Nissan TSB which states either gl-4 0r Gl-5 is acceptable. This is a confusing subject. There seems to be a lot of opinions but little in the way of documentation. Thanks for weighing in. NTB94_100_2_.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 There are some GL5 fluids that contain harsh additives that tear up bronze in Nissan transmissions. Not all GL-5 fluids contain it. If your bottle says it's save for syncromesh transmissions, or safe with soft metals, or compatible with GL-4 and GL-5 applications, you're probably alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticker Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 Well as far as I can tell I screwed up. The bottle, nor Mobil web site says nothing about compatibility. I know there are better ways to waste $50 and an hour of my time. I'll have to drain and refill with some GL-4. Any thoughts on putting the drained Gl-5 into the diffs(gl-5 is spec)?? will be tainted with the old fluid. I'd like to salvage this situation if at all possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Being a 98 they might have made some changes to the tranny components so that GL-5 is OK to use. Most of the talk of trashed trannies from GL-5 I have heard were from Hardbody pickup owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 let me claify. You are using GL-5 without negative effects? I found this Nissan TSB which states either gl-4 0r Gl-5 is acceptable. This is a confusing subject. There seems to be a lot of opinions but little in the way of documentation. Thanks for weighing in. yea I haven't had any negative effects Being a 98 they might have made some changes to the tranny components so that GL-5 is OK to use. Most of the talk of trashed trannies from GL-5 I have heard were from Hardbody pickup owners. yea with it being 98 do what Grim suggests and check it out. on the valvoline the "accpetable in GL5 or GL4 isnt in the main writing it was small print right under the bar code IIRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticker Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 I e-mailed the service dept at Nissan North ( columbus) to see what they thought. Hopefully they'll have an opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 "bring it on in and we'll check it out for you" Good luck man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 no, they'll tell him it's fine.. Nissan insists that gl5 is fine for all their vehicles.. i asked every dealer in town. that is what they put back in a tranny, no matter what year. 98.. gl5 was around by then already, i bet that's what says to use in your OM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticker Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 no, they'll tell him it's fine.. Nissan insists that gl5 is fine for all their vehicles.. i asked every dealer in town. that is what they put back in a tranny, no matter what year. 98.. gl5 was around by then already, i bet that's what says to use in your OM. nope says gl-4, I've heard the same thing about dealers putting in GL-5 too but I think there are differences in the additives different brands use. I've read alot of anecdotal evidence of GL5 esp Mobil1 not being good for Nissans. The 2000 FSM (thats the one I can find) spec GL-4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I donno how legit this place is so i'd run a virus scan before trying to open: http://pdftown.com/Nissan-Frontier-1998-Service-Manual.html http://pdftown.com/Nissan-Pathfinder-1994-2004-Manual.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 From what I have gathered when I replaced the tranny fuild in my first Pathy, GL-4 will not harm the tranny. GL-5 might harm the tranny. My simple solution was to find GL-4 and use it. If it was my truck, I'd drain it and replace with GL-4. Chalk it up to a learning experience and move on. I don't think you will have to worry about flushing the tranny, but I don't know if there are any deep wells inside where fluid could pool. Maybe someone who has taken one apart can chime in. If you do decide to flush it, well, you have to use gl-4. (or mayby something like Lucas oil additive) B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticker Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 From what I have gathered when I replaced the tranny fuild in my first Pathy, GL-4 will not harm the tranny. GL-5 might harm the tranny. My simple solution was to find GL-4 and use it. If it was my truck, I'd drain it and replace with GL-4. Chalk it up to a learning experience and move on. I don't think you will have to worry about flushing the tranny, but I don't know if there are any deep wells inside where fluid could pool. Maybe someone who has taken one apart can chime in. If you do decide to flush it, well, you have to use gl-4. (or mayby something like Lucas oil additive) B I'm going to drain and refill. It seems from the initial drain that most of the fluid will come out. I put in 5 quarts and that came right up to the bottom of the fill hole. I can't imagine the little bit left inside could do much damage. Interesting that you say that it MIGHT harm the tranny as that is what the Mobil website response is to a question about the harm to "yellow metals": Will Sulfur in Gear Oil Harm Manual Transmission Synchronizers? I want to change the manual transmission fluid in my 2002 Toyota Echo. Your 75W-90 gear oil (Mobil 1® Synthetic Gear Lube LS 75W-90 ) is a GL-5 rated gear oil, which it says can be used for manual transmissions. It also says that it contains sulfur and phosphorus, which are extreme pressure additives. Won't the sulfur in the gear oil eat away my synchronizers in my transmission? I am looking for a straight honest answer. -- Rick Dow, Mason City, IA Answer: Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Oil is recommended for all applications where a GL-5 lubricant is specified. GL-5 type lubricants, which have a higher level of additive chemistry, can be corrosive to yellow metals such as copper, brass, etc., and in these applications a GL-4 product is usually specified. Oddly on the data sheet under features it states "Excellent rust, staining and corrosion protection of copper and its alloys resulting in Reduced wear, Longer component life" http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lubes/PDS...t_LS_75W-90.asp as far as I know brass and other yellow metals are copper alloys so I'm not really following on how these two statements can exist about the same product. CYA anyone. Moving on.. If if recall the only options at the auto parts store were Valvoline or Coastal for GL-4. opinons? Nissan recomends Castrol but I can't seem to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yeah, I read similar things and decided just to avoid the whole issue. I can not remember what brand I used, but I do know it took 3 different stores to find it... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoPathyGo Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Pep Boys carries Castrol. This is a pretty helpful article on the differences between GL-4 and GL-5, though I'm not endorsing Amsoil in any way. http://www.amsoil.com/articlespr/2007/arti...roilbasics.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpheus Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 (edited) I have personally seen 2 transmissions completely FAIL shortly after putting GL-5 fluid in them. 1 in a pathfinder, 1 in a 350z One of those people took the shop that put the gl-5 fluid in their transmission to court and won a settlement. They had 3 samples of fluid sent to a lab for testing, and he shared the results with me. 1 test was brand new never used gl-4 fluid 1 test was brand new never used gl-5 fluid 1 test was the fluid from his transmission. There was a huge difference in the additives between the gl4 and 5, specifically with the additives that control friction (from what I remember from reading the report) bottom line, don't use gl-5 fluid in your transmission. Although you might get lucky, and use a brand that is soft metal safe, you could just as easially not. Edited September 24, 2009 by morpheus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Moving on.. If if recall the only options at the auto parts store were Valvoline or Coastal for GL-4. opinons? Nissan recomends Castrol but I can't seem to find it. You can't find any between; Car Quest, NAPA, Auto Zone, .... We have like 10 different automotive chains in town, lol. 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