How many quarts A/T 97 Nissan PU 2WD?

[88m5]

So I drained the Fluid the other day and measured the amount and it was just under 2 Quarts. Is that right? seems a little low to me. I let it drain for 20 minutes. I can't seem to fine how many quarts you need if you change the filter. Hope you guys can shed some light on this.

Thanks

97 PU

[Mark Mellott]

The crazy thing about automatic transmissions is that you cannot drain all of the fluid out. About half of it stays in all the plumbing (so to speak). I just changed the A/T fluid in my 2002 Pathfinder. The specs on this in my repair manual states the capacity to be 9 quarts when dry. I had no idea what "when dry" meant until I searched on-line to figure out why only less than 5 quarts drained out plus a bit less than a half quart more when I dropped the pan the change the filter. "When dry" means that the transmission is completely empty like when it was first built or had been rebuilt and no fluid has yet been put into it. I didn't like the idea that I had to leave about 4 quarts of dirty oil in the transmission when I replaced the filter, put the pan back on, and then filled it back up. Since I had all these extra quarts I bought, thinking I would need 9, I ran the Pathfinder around the block a few times and then drained about four quarts of the mixed dirty and new fluid. Topped it back off with the extra I bought and felt i little better about.

[Rev_D21]

97 FSM says 8-3/8 qts but as Mark said, you only get so much out of a drain. I'd have 5 qts handy and check the stick between bottles to be accurate.