Okay,

So because I am anal retentive and all, I follow the premium maintenance schedule. So here it is and we are at 30,000 miles...So away we go....

So I look in my handy-dandy manual and it says ATF, Diff, Transfer fluids, coolant. Okay no problem....Then it goes on to say, "Recommended use of Nissan Service"...well crap it is only fluids....So then I check for viscosities and capacities....well...no soap on the capacities, but it was fun with the viscosities....

ATF == Nissan Matic J ATF ONLY
Transfer == Nissan Matic D ATF ONLY
Coolant == Nissan Long Life ONLY

okay this is getting old I am thinking at this point...then finally...

Diff == API GL-5 Sysnthetic 75W-90 YAY!!!!Real info...

Alright, so the questions then come up...
1) How much of each....Any thoughts??? (Other than the coolant which it does tell me)

2) I seem to remember that ATFs are specific formulas and hence can't be mixed (so no going synthetic and such, so pretty much the Nissan formula is the only way to go), but what about the Coolant??? Do I have to use their long life, or is it some special formula etc????

3) Is there any reason I can't do these by myself??? I mean, it has been awhile since I have changed ATF, and I have never changed transfer, or diff fluid. But I am a pretty handy guy and if you show me the drain plugs and fill holes then I am usually good to go, if I know the capacities....So can anyone help me with the location of those and the capacities????

Thanks....

Ok, some of what I type you may already know, but it was the first time I had encountered this. All the drain and fill plugs on the nissan have gaskets. I'm 99% sure they are metal compression gaskets like on the oil drain plug. So you'll need to pickup a handful of those. I know there are different part numbers for the plugs on each main component.

There is great debate out there on the Nissan Matic J ATV versus synthetics/other brands. I remember reading someone saying that they found brand XYZ that had essentially every specification exactly as Nissan's except say higher zinc or something. I'll be sticking with Matic J after seeing first hand the damage caused by using a non-Mopar specific trans fluid used where Mopar specifies a type.

***edit*** after typing this I realize I have erroneously changed the trans fluid in my Sentra about a year ago to Mobil 1. While I can't say I have any problems, I do think I've been experiencing odd shifts......maybe. It could just be a mental thing. I've just started driving the car for the past 2k miles. The wife had it before that for a few years and put the previous 10k miles on it so I have no real reference. I'll be switching back to Nissan Matic J this spring.

Along the same lines the coolants from OEM I know have come a long way. Formulated to resist corrosion better because of the dissimilar metals than the store bough 50/50 mixes.

On to answer your questions:
You have it but Antifreeze is 3.5 gals
Rear Diff Gl-5 Syn 75w/90 3 pints
Auto Trans 10 7/8 qts Matic J (this is a Dry quantity)
Transfer case Nissan Matic D ATF 3 1/8 qts
Front Diff Gl-5 80w/90 1 3/4 pts

And the drain and fill holes you should be able to just see by takin a look down there.

have fun

Hey I just noticed that all of the diffs and transfer case all have torqex(sp?) drive on the plugs.....Since I don't have anything even close to that size.....Does anyone know what size bit that is?????

Thanks

I haven't even looked but if they are torx bits then I bet going to your local sears/home depot/lowes and picking up a 5 pack of assorted 3/8 or 1/2 drive bit's you'll be set. Its probably something in the 25-45 size range. I've only seen the larger ones go up in increments of 5 , so the set will start at say 25 then go to 30, 35, etc.

Okay so it wasn't Torqx, it was actually Hex-drive...I just didn't look closely...for all those that wan t to know, it is a 10mm Hex-Drive bit...

So this is turning out to be a little more work than I had originally anticipated....The problem comes from filling the fluids....

Rear-Diff: fill hole is about 1/2" in diameter, can't line up the gear oil bottle, so used a hose from home depot that was too big for the hole 5x8 OD-1/2 ID, and cut it so it fits and pour the gear oil straight into it a little messy, but works pretty well.

Transfer-Case: Holy crap this was a pain....BTW ATF tastes like a$$. So first attempt at funnel + hose was a disaster, it crimped and I got to taste ATF!!!! So up went the pathy onto jackstands....finally found a place to put the funnel and hose so it would not make as much of a mess (still have the wrong size hose and funnel...I need to work on that for next time)....it was still a pain because I had to get the bottle over the rear drive shaft and get it poured into the funnel...but finally got the Transfer case re-filled...


Also, the washers......so NO Nissan dealer in the state stocks them...so I had them grab me a tech and talked to him...it appears that the just re-use the washer....However, the service manual says that is a NO-NO, but it is hard to argue with stocking practices and the tech....So if they leak....I will have a sh1t fit....


Does anyone know a better way to fill this crap up??? I've never had to do a fluid exchange on a 4x4, much less a RWD car before...and I have done an ATF exchange in like 8 years....so I am open to suggestions that might keep my garage floor a little cleaner

Well, at-least you got it done.

re:filling the fluids. there are these little cheap hand pumps that fit either on top or inside your choice of bottled fluid. Most screw right to the bottle to seal it up. I've seen them all over at Pep Boys and Vatozone's.

About the washers, I pre-ordered mine to eliminate that issue. Leaking, that depends. I am pretty sure they use the same washers for some of those fluid plugs as they do for the oil drain plug. And if that is the case you might be ok reusing it once but I wouldn't push it after that. Its probably too late now but if you happen to have a gasket still look at it from the side along the thin edge. If you see two distinct lines then its a crush washer that starts out looking like a cylinder then flattens out sealing the plug. Either way the washers were probably metal and they flatten out to conform to the mating surfaces and shouldn't be reused. Dealing with a leak or a customer complaining of a leak isn't worth the sub-$1 gasket to me.

Yeah the washers are NOT the crush kind, at least for the diffs and transfer case...they are regular old steel washers....however the parts guy said that the oil and tranny use the same crush gasket....


And unfortunately, I am NOT done...I still have the front diff and tranny left to do....just not enough time right now.....

So I guess the baby and the Mustang are taking you away from the Pathy. How is the little one doing?

Litttle man is awesome...he had his first day of daycare today...so that was tough...but he just rocks....

The Mustang is a never ending project....although I have it up to 303rwhp/314rwtq....next is some suspension....anyone for some bushing drilling

Blarg....i'm almost thinking that taking it in for the tranny service would be easier......the front diff is all mine, but i have heard some stories about some torque converters holding all of the ATF and when you drain the tranny you only get a couple of quarts...so i'm not sure how I feel about that.....

I guess you could do a power purge from AAMCO. I know that is probably more scary than going to jb dipstick down the street. It just depends on the shop. I had a tranny rebuilt there and they treated me awesome and did the job right.

As for your Mustang, find a good metal working shop. They have the gear to do your bushings in just minutes. My father-in-law grew up working in one, so I have his old shop to fall back on if I need help. They actually service the roller coasters for six flags. So they are always busy.

Glad to hear you are enjoying your little guy. His baby pictures are cute. Of course I'm sure he is much bigger now.

Good luck on getting everything changed out.

So the saga continues....Yesterday, roll into my local nissan shop and say "I need a quart of front diff gear oil for an 05 path"...he says, "We only have it in bulk"....ummm....okay so i proceed to inquire about getting 80-90....to which he says anywhere, i correct him...he says then just use 75-90...apparently that is fine...i guess they even use 75-140 in the rear????? But that would be bad in the front he says.....

So far I have found out my Nissan dealer does not replace the washer/gaskets for the drain and fill plugs and they recommend 75-90 for the front diff and USE 75-140 for the rear....

And this is why I do my own work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the question stands is there a such thing of a Nissan dealership you can trust?
I took my 05 for it's 30k service and asked for the premium scheduled service and they asked whats that? This was supposedly one of the highest rated dealerships in the country let alone my state... so much for consumer knowlege.

The dealership I purchased the Path from told me the VIAS bullitin rattle was a "heat sheild" rattle after the bullitin was already published. Safe to say it was the beginig of the end of my dealings with them.

Seriously who's junk do i have to kick in for a straight answer? don't even get me started on how my current dealership has been trying to pawn of my 2-4mpg drop on "the quality of gas lately." Yeah guys it has nothing to do with the fact that it started the day I recieved the vehicle back from the "service" you guys preformed to fix the other dealership's screwup. I actually spotted my Path driving down the other side of the highway while the shuttle was driving me to the dealrship (very distinct security barcode on the window for work), and when I got there they were telling me the sealent was drying...

Great posting AZRoushStang, it'll be cold day in hell before the dealership gets their hand on this PF, mostly I do my own servicing. What I job out is monitored and about a tenth the cost.

.

Coolant == Nissan Long Life ONLY

Why do they even call it long life anyway? Replacing the coolant and flushing the system every 30K is not exactly long life.

Greybrick wrote:...it'll be cold day in hell before the dealership gets their hand on this PF, mostly I do my own servicing.

I do most of my own servicing too. The rear differential was a breeze.
Unfortunately I didnt feel like messing with the trans flush so I took it to the dealer for the first time in December. It was quite a nightmare by the time it was over.