MT Fluid Change Writeup

[4DRSS]

I changed the MT fluid in my 07 6 speed last weekend and here are some tips for anyone who might want to tackle this job themselves.

First, the owners manual calls for 75W-80 GL-4 gear oil. I checked ALL my local auto parts stores and no one carries this weight. They do have TONS of 75W-90 choices however. But I only found one synthetic 75W-90 oil that met GL-4 specs, all others were only GL-5. Even though the weight was a bit off, I went with it. It was $10 a quart (bought two). If I wanted to wait, Redline makes a 75W-80 GL-4 synthetic, but I would have had to mail order it. It's available here http://store.summitracing.com/...w=sku

Next issue was the drain plug, here's a pic showing its location on the transmission.



The drain plug is a female square plug (not hex). No biggie I thought, it appeared my 3/8" ratchet would fit right in it. WRONG! It's slightly smaller than 3/8" and bigger than 1/4", must be some special metric tool. Once again I hit ALL the auto parts stores in my area and no one had a tool that would work, or even heard of a plug like this for that matter. Lucky for me the plug wasn't torqued all that tight and removed very easily with a pair of vice grips.

My V has just over 18K on the clock and the oil looked like new. I was hoping the drain plug would be magnetic and have some trash stuck to it, but it's not.

I reinstalled the drain plug (again with vice grips) and started refilling. I used a funnel & small hose, about three feet long fed through the wheel/fender to refill the transmission. The fill plug is a plastic wing nut which removed easily by hand. Here is a pic showing its location.



I added two full quarts which seemed to do the trick (the owners manual does not list the MT fluid capacity).

First impressions are I cannot really tell a difference. The reason I changed it was because the gearbox is feeling quite notchy of late, especially when it's really cold in the morning. I was hoping a fluid change would improve this but it did not. I guess it's just the nature of this transmission. At least I have the piece of mind knowing there's synthetic fluid in there now, when I change it again next fall I'll be ordering the Redline MTL to see how it performs.

Hope this helps someone! Any questions let me know!

[Versa Madness]

I added two full quarts which seemed to do the trick (the owners manual does not list the MT fluid capacity).

MT transaxle fluid capacity is listed as 2.0 liters or 4.25 pints in the service manual.

[#1Tango]

ive been wanting to do this, thank you, this helps

[viet510racer]

thanks for the writeup!

[mrog71]

Thanks for the write-up. Quick question. The manuals typically say to fill until you can feel the fluid with your finger through the fill plug. Does it make a difference when you just have the front wheels jacked up, and the car is not level? Seems like the fluid level would be different than if the car was on a lift and was level.

Thanks!

[reyes1212]

There would be a better change had it been fully synthetic. My shifting is smooth as ice on a pitch black night.

[4DRSS]

Thanks for the write-up. Quick question. The manuals typically say to fill until you can feel the fluid with your finger through the fill plug. Does it make a difference when you just have the front wheels jacked up, and the car is not level? Seems like the fluid level would be different than if the car was on a lift and was level.

Thanks!

I did it with the car level. Bottom line is just make sure you get two full quarts in there.

[viet510racer]

just out of curiosity, does anyone have colorful pics on this?

[rick o]

I can't see the pics...were is the fluid fill plug at? i have 07 mt versa..