To Q45tech in regards to fluid exchange method in transmission.

[mattd1979]

I have been trying to find your posts in regards to your transmission fluid exchange procedure. I have yet to find it. What I want to do is to start with, by 14 quarts of transmission fluid. I want to get the Nissan Matic D(or is it J) trans fluid and change out the old with the new. I will be making a trip to Tampa and back and then to Georgia for a total of 500 miles and then later have the car serviced at a shop that uses BG products and have them do a fluid exchange using Mobil1. What I want to know is what exactly is your procedure when changing the fluid? I read somewhere that you run the engine for 2 minutes between fluid drain and fill. Would it be better to put the car on stands and run it through all of the gears within 2 minutes of each fluid drain and fill? The transmission currently has 78K miles on it. I am also using a Magnafine inline filter (with internal bypass valve). I have a replacement ready.
Modified by mattd1979 at 7:25 PM 6/18/2009

[Q45tech]

Watch the 30 minute video training tape that come with each and every BG ATF machine.

The point in running thru each forward and reverse gear plus park and neutral...............7 positions times 2 minutes each up to 2,000 rpms in each, brake then shift then reaccelerate to 2,000 is to make sure the BG QUICK Clean for AT goes everywhere 100% and coats the varnishing softening it so that WHEN the old ATF goes out most of varnish goes with it.

[maxnix]

Drop pan, inspect and clean, replace and inspect interior filter and O ring. Reassemble with new gasket and one time use bolts.

Not all shops will do the previous steps, so ask first.

Next, BG Quick Clean for automatic transmission.

Exchange the fluid, observe color of the old fluid compared to new and time the 14 qts. exchange.

[mattd1979]

I'm going to do the "drain and fill 4 times" method first. I will then take it to a bg shop after I put some miles on the oil that I'm going to put back in which is MaticD. I was under the impression that Q45tech did his own fluid change instead of using the exchange machine. I thought I read about that a few weeks back. In that same post I read that he would first warm up the engine, shut it off, drop the drain plug. reinstall the drain plug and fill, restart engine and run for 2 minutes before doing it all over again until all 14 quarts have been added. I mentioned the part about running it through the gears because I wanted to know if that would help move all of the old fluid back to the pan within the 2 minutes of each drain interval or should I just leave it in park?

[qship96]

Leave it in park running at idle speed for exactly 2 minutes then shut off engine drain, refill......repeat. you will end up replacing about 90% of the old fluid with fresh new atf.

[SteveTheTech]

Leave it in park running at idle speed for exactly 2 minutes then shut off engine drain, refill......repeat. you will end up replacing about 90% of the old fluid with fresh new atf.

Much easier. I am a life long skeptic when it comes to universal cure all cleaners. But I cannot debate they do something in severely neglected transmissions. If there is already shifting problems removing varnish tends to expose worn clutch discs and the symptoms return or get worse requiring replacement or overhaul.

I want to get the Nissan Matic D(or is it J) trans fluid and change out the old with the new.

If your going for OE fluid go for Matic-D it is the original fill fluid and will give your transmission the best chance of long term survival.

[mattd1979]

I took these 2 pictures of a napkin that I dipped into a sample container of the fluid. Hopefully you can see the picture alright. The first was done without the flash and the 2nd was done with the flash about 10 minutes after it soaked into the napkin.

The picture looks darker with the camera for some reason.
Modified by mattd1979 at 10:26 PM 6/18/2009

[mattd1979]

Here is a picture of after the final fluid drain. The spot in the middle is from when I dipped the napkin in the path of the fluid as it was draining into the pan. The spot at the lower left corner of the napkin is from me pouring out a little from the bottle onto the napkin.

[qship96]

Looks good- how many quarts total did you use? how many drain/fills?

[mattd1979]

I did 5 drain/fills. Here are some pics of my car right after I finished.

[maxnix]

I did 5 drain/fills. Here are some pics of my car right after I finished.

For 80% of that amount of ATF you could have 98% new ATF, and eliminated almost all the varnish a detritus. Drain and refill is a waste of ATF and does not address deposits nor detritus, nor the old contaminated fluid left behind in the TC and planetary gears. But some prefer pornography to real sex also.

Surely you dropped the pan nad replaced the filters, O rings ans gaskets.

[qship96]

Nonsense!!!! His "white paper towel" test proved he accomplished the objective of ending up with fluid that matches in color to brand new atf out of the bottle......and saved aprox $125-150 on paying some flunky to use a machine to accomplish the same objective.

Machine exchange would not do anything better than what he did himself, except flush ones wallet and expose your transmission to possible damage caused by the monkeys fiddling with the cooling lines!!!! not to mention,who knows how much dust/dirt/grit/crap left in machine from prior flushes ends up being pumped into YOUR transmission!!!!

[mattd1979]

Thanks Qship96 I appreciate that very much. I wanted to post a reply but wasn't quite sure what to say without saying something that could come back to haunt me. Your response took care of that. I am going to have the mechanical exchange done, but only by people that I trust. I also have a Magnafine filter installed on the return side and I will make that they hook up the machine to that filter so that if there is any foreign material, the filter should catch it before it goes back to the pan. I won't be doing it until I put at least 3,000 miles on the oil. I am going to allow the fresh fluid (which has fresh cleaning agents in it now) to help loosen up any varnish that may have formed so when it is changed again, it will carry the varnish out with it. I will have it replaced with Mobil 1. One of the reasons I didn't go for the mechanical exchange right off the bat was because I didn't want to risk any chance of any buildup to come loose in bigger pieces that could cause problems with the solenoids for instance when they use the BG cleaning agents in the exchange. So, I am taking a more careful approach. I know it seems more expensive and possibly wasteful "to a certain somebody" but it certainly beats replacing the transmission. Maxnix mentioned that it was a waste what I was doing, well, the fluid that is in the transmission now is certainly an improvement over what was in it. Even though I didn't have any problems with the transmission before I have seemed to notice that the engine seems to pull a little harder now and the transmission seems to feel a bit more responsive. I have driven it a total of 400 miles so far from Jacksonville to Tampa and back with no problems. I would also like to install a trans temp gauge. The next trip will be to Georgia for a family reunion.

Thanks again,

Matt


Modified by mattd1979 at 2:45 AM 6/21/2009

[coolyun_98]

GOOD JOB and NICE WRITE-UP!

You mush have heard the horror stories about "chemical flushing" an older transmission. I have a true story that I want to share with you.

My next door has a 99 Maxima with 85k miles. The transmission fluid was drained and filled at 30k and 60k miles. He ignored the danger of flushing an older transmission and go ahead did the "BG flush". The transmission shifted WONDERFULLY after the flush. However, the transmission started to slip after 50 miles. A couple weeks ago he spent 3500 on a fatory rebuilt transmission (labout + parts at local dealer).

So, if you really want to change 99% ATF and clean up the build-up inside your transmission, think again. Automatic transmission is a very complicated and expensive mechanical device. It must be serviced with care.

Changing 99% ATF is GREAT. Cleaning up all the varnish is even BETTER. However, at what cost? At the cost of possibly damaging the transmission? Bg flush itself is good but the result also depends on the technician who performs it and the condition of your transmission. If you are not certain, go with drain and fill. If you can find a shop like T3, go with Bg flush.

I think you did the smart and right thing!

[Q45tech]

Why would anyone even remotely think of comparing a FWD transmission with a RWD transmission. Such comparisons prove that their tranmission knowledge is very limited.

Don't get caught in that trap.

Always talk about apples to apples not pomegranate's and figs.

[coolyun_98]

Of course Maxima and Q45 have different transmission. Is their difference significant enough to make my commet invalid? I believe not.

[maxnix]

Nonsense!!!! His "white paper towel" test proved........

Machine exchange would not do anything better than what he did himself, except flush ones wallet and expose your transmission to possible damage caused by the monkeys fiddling with the cooling lines!!!! not to mention,who knows how much dust/dirt/grit/crap left in machine from prior flushes ends up being pumped into YOUR transmission!!!!

Nothing about detritus and varnish left in the the torque converter or planetary gears, not to mention the filter and pan.

The second paragraph merely shows your total ignorance of how the BG machine works. The two sides are totally isolated.

No matter how hard ones wishes facts were not true, reality is still the better model than abstract fantasy.

[maxnix]

You mush have heard the horror stories about "chemical flushing" an older transmission. I have a true story that I want to share with you.

My next door has a 99 Maxima with 85k miles. The transmission fluid was drained and filled at 30k and 60k miles. He ignored the danger of flushing an older transmission and go ahead did the "BG flush".

Define precisely in sequential steps what "did the the BG flush" process entailed?

No excuse for incompetent DIY operators.

Again, no definitive accurate information, just an incomplete anecdote.

In either case, there is no way, especially wihtout a pan drop and filter inspection, what conditon was of the transmission clutch material.

Old wive's tales are not sufficient on this forum!

[coolyun_98]

"Changing 99% ATF is GREAT. Cleaning up all the varnish is even BETTER. However, at what cost? At the cost of possibly damaging the transmission? Bg flush itself is good but the result also depends on the technician who performs it and the condition of your transmission. If you are not certain, go with drain and fill. If you can find a shop like T3, go with Bg flush. "

Is the above comment old wife's tale? Of course it is not. That was what Q45Tech said in his previous posts and I merely absorbed his knowledge and share that with you. I do not know why

Again, knowledge comes from reading and understanding someone else's comments carefully before making any immature judgement. I have a great respect for people with knowledge but bullying people one this forum with your ego is a pure display of ignorance and arrogance.

If you think you are way superior to us DIYers, I suggest you use your time more productively and find place for you to display your arrogance which might be appreciated by people who lack self-esteem. I am afraid to say that I do not appreciate anything in your reply and you still have chance to redeem yourself by sticking to the topic, not attacking someone. I hope you learn some lesson here.