[penski61]

so there have been quite a few issues with the trans fluid and radiator fluid mixing on the nissan boards for the 05+ , which ends up killing the transmission
a while ago i bypassed the radiator and installed a new cooler with a fan , then did a drain and fill but since it warmed up the fan seemed to be running all the time (has an inline t-stat 180 on 160 off).
so i decided to get a larger cooler and come to find out a drain and fill is useless because the fluid looked like crap



well after 14qts later got clean fluid running thru the system and temps are alot better , also shifts tons better
2nd to last pic you can see the old cooler i installed , also temps were running 180-200 at the same ambients temps and same drive

sitting idle for about 30 minutes , one is in celsuis

after running for 30 minutes idle and 10 miles with 0D off

and here is what the fluid looked like only 2k after a drain and fill

 

[Idleone]

Good info. Where did you get your cooler from?

 

[penski61]

summit racing , it was $92.90 shipped its a perma cool heavy duty cooler rated at 24k
gvw part # SUM-G4968

 

[shinermiller]

Interesting observations. What type of fluid did you refill with & how many quarts? Not all fluids are the same, some have more detergents ect.. Looks like your fluid was toast Before you did the refill.

 

[penski61]

i changed the fluid at 32k , drained nissan matic J and re-filled with nissan matic S -5 qts
today flushed with 13 qts of nissan matic S before i had clean fluid coming out

i agree with you i knew the fluid was toast at 32k which is why i did the drain and fill , this is just a heads up that drain and fill is useless cause its just mixing old fluid with the new fluid

 

[Idleone]

summit racing , it was $92.90 shipped its a perma cool heavy duty cooler rated at 24k
gvw part # SUM-G4968

Cool just ordered one myself. I hope the install is pretty straight foward.

 

[penski61]

have you bypassed the radiator yet?
basically there are 2 hard lines coming from the transmission that go to soft lines right behind the radiator
the hard line to the left(looking from the front of the truck) is the return the right is the supply
disconnect the existing soft hose for the return(left) at the hard line , run your new hose from the hard line to the bottom of the cooler
disconnect the right (supply ) about half way up the radiator where there is a coupling and run this right into the top of the new cooler

by doin what i posted above your bypassing the radiator and stock trans cooler

 

[NISM0]

What's your opinion on doing the bypass without adding the extra cooler for folks that don't do aggressive offroading? What temperatures were you getting on the highway?

 

[penski61]

highway youll see lower temps because of the amount of airflow goin over the cooler
its the street driving , towing ,low speed 4 wheeling and heavy stop and go traffic driving where the temps go up

natalie drives the highway in the morning to work then the side streets on her way back home , on her way back home is where we had temp issues
even with a cooler the same size as stock with a fan wasnt enough to keep the temps below 190 *
im not sure what the temps are like with the bypass and stock cooler ( i think 180-200)but i know they will not be lower than what im running now with the one large cooler

 

[Avplayer]

does this only apply to 1st gens?

 

[penski61]

this write up was for the 2nd gen

 

[Avplayer]

gotcha

 

[06MidnightBlue4.0]

Doing a drain/refill is not a waste of time if the maintenance intervals are correct. For the transmission, you have to drain it every 25K miles. If you wait until 75K+ and expect to have clean transmission fluid from one drain/refill, your fooling yourself. At 25K miles, the transmission fluid still looks near new in regards to color on my rig.

I change rear diff, transfer case, and transmission every 25K. The front diff oil stays cleaner longer so that I only do every 50K or 75K.

 

[Mathster]

does this only apply to 1st gens?

I dont think our first gen trucks have the problem of cross contamination.
On a related note tho, the first few time I drained and filled my gen1, the fluid was dark, but changing every 30K or so, the last couple times still had a red tinge to the fluid.

 

[penski61]

fluid was drained and filled at 32k , nissan manual shows every 30k

the fluid shown is 2k after the fluid was drained and refilled

I dont think our first gen trucks have the problem of cross contamination.
On a related note tho, the first few time I drained and filled my gen1, the fluid was dark, but changing every 30K or so, the last couple times still had a red tinge to the fluid.

ive only heard of a few , not near as bad as the 2nd gens but it doesnt hurt to have a cooler on any auto especially if your towing or 4 wheeling

 

[Devius1]

fluid was drained and filled at 32k , nissan manual shows every 30k

the fluid shown is 2k after the fluid was drained and refilled..

^dayum.. I'm almost 25K mi. now

In spring/summer Cali. street driving I've been seeing..

^about 150* on the highway and 220* on mild trails; got me wonderin' about my fluid.

 

[2007xe4cyl]

tranny

I have a 2007 xe 4cyl/auto 27,000 miles.
It had matic-f in it, i installed a new radiator 150$, the local dealer had a special $130 for a complete drain and refill, not a reverse flush, using matic-s, now i have doc's about the transmission service because my b-b warranty is done in 2 months.
now if the tranny goes out, they will more than likley cover it and the radiator should be ok.
I was going to change the fluid myself but took it to the dealer so it would be doced on the vin.
I bought 8 qts of matic-s and still have them and don't need them anymore. i will sell them for 65$ , that includes shipping if someone needs them.thanks

 

[mrgrayaz]

if thats diluted down after a drain refill your fluid originally must have been really bad. Impressive. But remember, yours looking at 30k miles of driving around on heavy tires and alot of torque converter action on the trails. My fluid looks almost new compared to yours, and its about 30k old too. Granted you were running the factory fill....

Interesting. Did it smell burnt?

Might be time to put in a dedicated tranny temp gauge.....

 

[penski61]

yeah definatly smelled burnt , i will probably be putting a temp gauge on after we get back from moab

im sure the fluid wont be like this next time around because the truck only see's highway and street driving , but ill be flushing the fluid everytime from now on

checked the temps again today after driving all over the place with OD off the highest i saw was 170* with 95* ambient

 

[TheOregonFront]

so you dont think i would have any issues if i dont run a fan? i should do this.