The Nissan Path

so when are you suppose to flush the trany? im at 41 thousand miles on my pathfinder its an 06

Not sure on the exact interval, but im at 65K and im just gonna do a drain/refill due to reading alot of threads on different forums that a flush can ruin the tranny. IMO

xd9-g19 wrote:Not sure on the exact interval, but im at 65K and im just gonna do a drain/refill due to reading alot of threads on different forums that a flush can ruin the tranny. IMO

hmm well then, because i was at valvoline today, pretty nice place i might add. And they scanned her vin number and showed me all the service intervals and they told me it needed to be flushed at 35k and i lost my service manual so i said no. To many damn books in the glove box for the truck lol.

Here this may help.Maintenance schedule. http://www.thenissanpath.com/filelib/R51/Service/MA.pdf

i do a drain n refill on all my vehicles trans and diff's every 30k miles. i think that is the recommended intervals.

it's a myth that flushes kill trannys. Its only if you haven't done one forever in a high mile car and and was half dead anyway - you should do the regular service - esp so you don't get denied if you cooler packs it in and takes out your trans later

Tech wrote:it's a myth that flushes kill trannys. Its only if you haven't done one forever in a high mile car and and was half dead anyway - you should do the regular service - esp so you don't get denied if you cooler packs it in and takes out your trans later

O thanks, ill flush it soon then. It dosent get exactly get driven with nicest amount of care.

be sure to use the right stuff too, matic J or S, the universal stuff is NOT the same. It's not expensive stuff anyway - and there's no filter to service

There is a Nissan service bulletin that deals with aftermarket flushing systems (like bg). Nissan recommends that you do not use them on any Nissan vehicle. (I have the pdf but I can't figure out how to post it.)

you can "flush" with the right fluid if you have a machine dedicated to matic J/S. (flush meaning positive displacement while your trans pump exchanges - as opposed to drain and fill) . Your local dealer might. DO NOT go to some random tranny shop, they won't use the right stuff, and despite what they tell you, it's not the same. It's gotta come out of a nissan bottle. You will have drivability issues at some RPM and veh. speeds - likely a shudder or rumble from trans. Do not use flush additives cleaner before or sealer/conditioner after.

i would not recommend a drain and flush. you should just stick to a drain and fill. the reasoning being that the pressure they use in a drain and flush can cause you issues soon after your flushing. the pressure can ruin your seals and o-rings in the tranny. a normal drain and fill while wont be able to get 100% of the old fluid out but will keep your tranny fluid semi fresh and if you do it often like every 20-30k you should not have any issues with your tranny and the fluid being dirty and braking down. this is also why you wont find drain and flush in your service manual. the whole drain and flush process should be called a drain and wallet flush because thats all it really does.

JAHBLESSINGS wrote:i do a drain n refill on all my vehicles trans and diff's every 30k miles. i think that is the recommended intervals.

30,000 every.. good rule of thumb.

i think the flush is a good idea if your using the right fluid....i've never heard of a "drain and flush". The flushers I and most everyone uses are basically a resevoir of clean fluid, into which the transmission's own pump, postitively displaces new fluid with old, thus pushing new fluid in. Being that it's positive displacement, the level should be perfect. Given that it's the trans pumps own pressure, in neutral 95% of the time (you can take it through all the gears to get everything out of the valve body), i can't see how the pressure would do any harm. There are very few situations where maximum line pressure is even ever reached. I've done thousands this way and never had a problem. You can drain and fill more frequently for convienience sake, but you'll only get about 3-3/4L out. Basically whats in the pan, not the valve body, torque converter, lines or cooler. You're basically just forever diluting dirty fluid with a bit of clean.

Tech wrote:i think the flush is a good idea if your using the right fluid..

Tech, could you elaborate on that? It sounds like you are not using an external flushing machine, rather you are pumping new fluid in and the old out using the transmission's internal pump. Is that correct? If so, that would conform to Nissan's bulletin to not use external machines.

How do you know when to stop flushing? Do you monitor the quantities in or out?

Every trans flush machine i've ever used basically works that same way - with variations on the bells and whistles. Basically, It hooks up inline/in series with the trans - most often at a cooler line. So if you imagine the path the fluid takes, through the trans, through the cooler and back to the trans - you'd interrupt the circut at a cooler line and one end of the "flusher" goes to each end of the now open circut. Basically you include the trans flush machine in the circut.

The machine holds new fluid over a piston - it's "positive displacement" ie. only the volume that comes in, goes out. So you start the car, when it runs, the trans pump pumps, and fluid flows. With the flusher attached, the fluid flows to underneath the piston, filling up the machine with old fluid while pushing new fluid out from above the piston, into your car/truck. It only uses the trans own pump under it's own pressure and control - no chance of f'ing anything up. Some are believer is a flush additive, to emulsify whatever might be in your trans, i'm not a believer.

The trans is basically a wear item - it contains clutches, bands and solenoids - the first two being lined with friction material like brakes or manual trans clutches - they wear from use, instead of brake dust on your wheels, the crap goes into your fluid, it's not so good for the trans - so you do a flush.

FYI - flush = 20L typically
drain and fill 3-4L