Just bought an 02 I35 and have a transmission fluid question

[mclasser]

The car has about 72000 miles on it and I am not sure when the last time, or if ever it had a trans. fluid change. The fluid is still reddish in appearance and not gunky, which I guess is a good thing. The shift from 1st-2nd isn't as smooth as it should be so I believe a nice and safe drain/refill is in order, due to the vehicle's mileage. Since I do not know what type of ATF is currently in the car (Nissan's Matic D or some other non-OEM fluid brand), is it safe for me to just do a few drain and fills with Matic D? If there is some non-OEM fluid currently in there, will mixing it with Matic D cause problems? My auto tech. knowledge is rather limited, so please excuse me if I sound like an amateur

[OutToWinPAHC]

Only use OEM fluids, it's worth the few bucks more

[mclasser]

I was planning on using OEM fluid as well. My only concern is that if the previous owner put some other brand fluid in there (like Mobil 1, Amsoil, etc), will it mixing with the new Matic D that I'll be putting in cause any issues? The fluids will be mixing since a drain/fill of course doesn't get all the old fluid out.

[loystock]

Welcome to NICO.

I'm assuming you didn't get the Owner's Manual. Your transmission needs 9 qts Matic-D, which is good news for you since you can use an alternate fluid, Dexron III or the much improved Dexron VI. OEM fluid is preferred but I have used Dexron II/VI without any problem (I do multiple drain and refill every 2 years). It would be better to have a full flush since your mileage is <80,000 miles (some transmission shops will refuse a flush on cars with >80K miles and no record of previous flush). I usually add a bottle of LubeGuard ATF Protectant (red bottle, not black which is a friction modifier) after a transmission service.


Below is a link to the Maintenance section for you car.

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/i35/2002/ma.pdf