[mz-s]

Hi folks,

I just bought a 2016 SV king cab a week or two ago, and want to do all the maintenance I can myself. From my research this truck seems to be relatively easy to work on, and at least for the first several maintenance intervals there's nothing complicated that would involve more than basic knowledge and tools I either already own or can get easily. I am a fairly handy person, I've done all the maintenance on my home myself (including emergency maintenance and routine maintenance) and have done oil changes and similar work on my cars in the past. This is just the first time I've owned a vehicle and a house from the start, where I can do all the work myself. Previously I've been in apartments.

I am not a beginner to basic car maintenance, but I am a beginner when it comes to owning a truck and doing all the maintenance myself beyond oil changes and other things everyone should know how to do like changing out bulbs and things like that.

I bought the truck used with 3800 miles, and the dealer's already done the 5k service since they got it in on trade with 3600 miles. I will likely change the oil anyway at 5k or close to it. I do have ramps which I've used to change oil in the past but likely won't need them for the truck since there's a good bit of ground clearance, and ramps are useless for tire rotations anyway.

I have a question regarding the differential. I will likely have more questions as time goes along, and I'm not ashamed to say something is out of my league and hire a mechanic. But so far, most everything I've researched seems pretty simple and there are good videos on YouTube for nearly everything I need to do.

I have an SV V6 with automatic transmission 4x2. Obviously I don't have a transfer case, but looking in the maintenance manual at 10k I need to inspect differential oil and change it at 20k if towing (towing is planned in the future, perhaps not before 20k but definitely at some point during the life of the vehicle). How can I inspect this fluid without changing it? There is no dip stick, and the maintenance manual does not specify that I see.

Outside of that, if any of you have tips regarding maintenance please feel free to share! Thanks a lot!

 

[Nissan4Life]

I think there is a fill port on the back cover of the diff. You can inspect the oil level and the condition from there.

I would not worry about it. Replace diff oil and tranny oil at 30k with synthetic. ANd that is being very conservative. SHould be able to go to 100K easily without change.

Switch to synthetic engine oil at 30K to allow for proper break in.

 

[mz-s]

I think there is a fill port on the back cover of the diff. You can inspect the oil level and the condition from there.

I would not worry about it. Replace diff oil and tranny oil at 30k with synthetic. ANd that is being very conservative. SHould be able to go to 100K easily without change.

Switch to synthetic engine oil at 30K to allow for proper break in.

Thank you! I knew about the fill port, it didn't come to me that I could just inspect the oil and not drain it out.

I don't have the maintenance manual in front of me, but I think the actual change intervals are closer to 100k as you said, inspection is sooner (unless towing or severe service interval).

 

[rodhotter]

you can put "most" synthetic engine oils in anytime because they are highly refined CRUDE oil, group III technically. Redline on the other hand is a synthesized Ester based oil + 3,000 mile break in on mineral oils.

 

[LittleBull]

I changed mine at 10,000, but only because I was replacing the cover (see pic) because I like to
customize my vehicles. There was absolutly nothing wrong with the original oil, just didn't want
to put it back in after draining it to replace the cover.

The truck's performed flawlessly, I don't anticipate doing anything other than following the
maintenance schedule. Relax and enjoy your vehicle...it's a fine truck.

Hmmm... now that I think of it, I DID do the "vent mod", because there was a huge vacuum in the axle
when I removed the fill plug to change the cover and I was worried about the effect it'd have on the
seals over time.

 

[rodhotter]

some differentials had vents from the factory years ago. although differential lube lasts a long time its not forever IMO, + when i replace it i use the correct viscosity of Redline lubes. their MT-90 improved shifting in 2 cars, one barely shifted before!!! changing, real synthetics run cooler + last longer + cut wear, well worth the $$$

 

[Colo.Frontier]

I have a '15 SV 4x4, I follow the severe duty maintenance schedule for mine. Brake flush every 15K, diff service there is a drain plug in the differential so it's even easier. With the transmission, make sure that whatever you plan to use is Matic S rated, that is Nissan specific. If you really are concerned about the trans, consider replacing the factory pan with an aftermarket larger capacity pan.

 

[rodhotter]

you will never hurt anything but your wallet doing extra fluid changes, but in the end your ride will prolly last longer without issue.