How and how often should you change trans fluid?

[vinceleto]

I have a 2000 Max with 56k miles. I was curious how often I should be changing my trans fluid and how to go about doing it myself. Any suggestions?

[nissan2nr88]

depends on if its auto or stick

[BP2K2Max]

auto's are said to need it every 30,000 miles and manuals are said to need it around 70,000

[Ceasars Chariot]

i just had mine changed two days ago in my 5 speed manual. i dont know if its ever been changed.. lol and im kicking it at 151,000 miles.

i asked ," hey how did the old stuff look ? nissan guy says not bad at all and that he was surprised.

well i still feel better knowing i have fresh redline mt-90 in the car. not sure what the old stuff was.

if you have an auto you will need 10 qts, to do a complete flush, this will cost around 50 bucks, if you have a manual then you will need to buy 5 qt.s and the dealership will change that for 28 dollars.

if your doing it yourself its free !

[vinceleto]

Originally Posted by BP2K2Max

auto's are said to need it every 30,000 miles and manuals are said to need it around 70,000

It's Auto and has 55k miles on it and I never changed the fluid. I've heard mixed reviews on changing it at this point since I did'nt do it at 30k or not to do it.
Something about adding the new fluid where the gears are used to the old oil "broken down more fluid" That the new fluid can cause more problems than good.
Any experience with this?

[BP2K2Max]

I've never really owned an automatic before. and since i change it at 70,000 mile intervals i've only really done it once, maybe twice per car so i can't say with any great certainty but i would say to do it anyway and make sure it's not just a top off but a full flush and refill.

[xilinx69]

I've heard some people say that completely flushing the fluid and changing it sometimes causes problems because the new fluid is abrasive. I dont really believe this.

I had my fluid changed at 100k and it was dirty as hell - dont know how often the old owner flushed it. It wont be as good if you flush it yourself since the mechanic will use a machine that vacuums the old stuff out and pumps in the new. That is, unless u have your own machine.

I think my trans would be in much better condition if it had been changed every 30k miles. This is for auto....i envy those with manual.

Keep in mind i dont know sh!t about cars, just my opinion.

[ogparjay]

yeah.... change it every 30,000 or if your car doesn't smoothly shift..... once you change it you can feel the difference... change it dawg....