The Nissan Path

Hi Guys,
Newbies here...
Living in Norway and driving 2,5 Diesel Pathfinder from 2008 with AT gearbox.
Lately I started to face some problems in temperature below 10 degrees Celsius (50 deg Fahrenheit).
Car starts perfectly as always but when I place gear handle in D or R it takes some time (depends of temperature it can take between 5-15 sec.) while it starts to move and engine revolution are on minimum at before it starts to move. After a minute of driving everything is perfect again.

Two years ago I was on service (official dealer) where my AT oil was changed. It was a summer time so I didn't notice anything wrong until winter starts.

To make a long story short, I'm suspecting that they put a wrong type of oil into my gearbox and that I have problems with oil viscosity.

When I was checking the oil I was expecting a red colored oil but instead the oil was colorless...

Any of you guys that are having original oil in you tranny that could confirm color of your oil???

BTW, the dealer is proposing the gearbox flushing before anything else and I'm very interested what kind of oil color will I get afterwards.... .

Apologize for my bad English

Actually, "colorless," or a very light, "pinkish" color, is consistent with the look of Nissan-matic Type "J" or "S" ATF on the dipstick. When drained into a container, it often looks dark brown or blood red in color.

smj999smj wrote:Actually, "colorless," or a very light, "pinkish" color, is consistent with the look of Nissan-matic Type "J" or "S" ATF on the dipstick. When drained into a container, it often looks dark brown or blood red in color.

Not even that...
I have a picture of napkin that I used to vipe the oil stick multiple times and it was all wet. when it dried there was no trace of any kind of reddish, pinkish or any other color.

Wanted to attach the picture of the napkin but it looks complicated on this forum.

I use Photoshop to post pictures. Once in Photoshop, just click on "image," which copies the link, then paste in your post.

Well, testing on napkin is tricky. Does not resemble real color of ATF.
This is NEW versus OLD ATF on white paper:


...and this is how OLD looks taken out with injection pump:

Yeah, when I drained my 2008 Pathy's transmission into an empty, washer solvent jug, that's how it looked. I was real concerned that there might be clutches burning up, but apparently, that's how Nissan-matic "J" looks. Since then, I've serviced my 08 and my 06 with Valvoline Maxlife ATF. I have around 175,000 combined miles on them since switch to the Maxlife ATF and have had no problems and the transmission fluid is more of a typical red color. The local Walmart now carries it in a 1-gallon jug for $17.50, which makes it tough to beat, price-wise, compared to the $9/qt. Nissan-matic ATF.

I deal with a quality independent shop can I assume that they will know how to do a transmission service on my 2012 PF ? Is there any advantage to having the dealer do the service? I know some dealers have a machine that can suck out all the old fluid flush and then install new fluid.

Unfortunately due to recent health issues my doctor does not want me doing oil changes and other car maintenance myself.

All you really need to do is a drain and fill. There's a drain plug on the bottom of the pain and it'll take about 4 quarts of ATF. Any auto repair facility should be able to handle it.

I thought that you would be better using Nissan ATF if you were just draining and filling. Not mixing aftermarket ATF with OEM. Am I wrong ?

Used Castrol import in the transfer case which I will use again, but that was a complete drain and refill so no mixing.

In Canada they only sell type J I think. Is it just geographical or temp related.