# Nissan Frontier gear oil...



## Smutgremlin (Nov 27, 2006)

Where can I find out how much gear oil is in my truck... thanx...

-gremlin


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## Oldnissanguy (Jan 6, 2005)

Check your owners manual.


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## BTF/PTM (Oct 19, 2006)

it's not in the owner's manual, it just says "see Nissan dealer for service". Looks like it's time for me to order the service book.

In the mean time, call a dealership and ask a service tech.


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## jerryp58 (Jan 6, 2005)

BTF/PTM said:


> it's not in the owner's manual, it just says "see Nissan dealer for service". Looks like it's time for me to order the service book.
> 
> In the mean time, call a dealership and ask a service tech.


My '04 Owner's Manual has all fluid capacity & specs under the "Maintenance & Do-It-Yourself" section. The only thing missing is the torque specs on the drain & fill plugs. They have torque specs for the oil drain plug, spark plugs, and wheel lugs only (at least that's all I found). If you want the torque specs for an '04 drain & fill plugs let me know and I'll look them up in my service manual.


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## BTF/PTM (Oct 19, 2006)

Wow...I thought I was anal about torquing stuff, but even I don't torque drain/fill plugs. Just snug 'em up and you're good. Anyway, one thing you can check on is whether the '04 Frontiers use the same rear axle as the 05-06 models. The axle I refer to is the Dana 44 axle assembly. If the '04 models use that too, and you have the fill data for that one, it's probably very similar (if not identical) to the later models.


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

The way to check the lube level is to remove the fill plug from the side of the transmission and put your finger in it. If you can touch gear lube, you're fine.Be sure to only use GL-4 gear lube because GL-5 is known to kill the friction surfaces on the insides of the blocking rings of the FS5W71-C transmission used in KA24 equipped RWD Nissans. Unfortunately, GL-5 is about all you'll find as most stores don't carry GL-4. I'm searching for it right now as I will be changing the gear lube in mine in about another 1,000 miles so that I can remove any metal shavings in the trans that may be there from the break in of a fresh trans.


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## BTF/PTM (Oct 19, 2006)

himilefrontier said:


> The way to check the lube level is to remove the fill plug from the side of the transmission and put your finger in it. If you can touch gear lube, you're fine.Be sure to only use GL-4 gear lube because GL-5 is known to kill the friction surfaces on the insides of the blocking rings of the FS5W71-C transmission used in KA24 equipped RWD Nissans. Unfortunately, GL-5 is about all you'll find as most stores don't carry GL-4. I'm searching for it right now as I will be changing the gear lube in mine in about another 1,000 miles so that I can remove any metal shavings in the trans that may be there from the break in of a fresh trans.


That's a good tip, Himile, do you know if GL-5 is equally bad for the 6-speed trans that goes with the VQ 6-cylinder? 

Also, how many miles on your fresh transmission? I've been thinking about swapping the oil in my tranny too since I've got about 2500 miles on the new truck. I should probably do the differential too while I'm at it.


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## jerryp58 (Jan 6, 2005)

BTF/PTM said:


> Wow...I thought I was anal about torquing stuff, but even I don't torque drain/fill plugs. Just snug 'em up and you're good. Anyway, one thing you can check on is whether the '04 Frontiers use the same rear axle as the 05-06 models. The axle I refer to is the Dana 44 axle assembly. If the '04 models use that too, and you have the fill data for that one, it's probably very similar (if not identical) to the later models.


The '04 rear axle is listed as a H233B. I _Search_'ed my PDF copy of the Service Manual for "Dana" and got no hits. The capacity is listed as 5-7/8 pints (US).

FWIW, I waited 10k miles before changing my trans & gear oil to synthetic.  Here's what I used and what the plugs looked like at that time. I'm at 23k now and will probably change them again at 30k even though I think I'm just required to check the oil every 30k and I guess replace "when necessary".

I torque just about everything I can these days. In my early days I torqued nothing to spec (and I broke my share of valve cover, oil pan, and various other bolts and studs


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

BTF/PTM said:


> That's a good tip, Himile, do you know if GL-5 is equally bad for the 6-speed trans that goes with the VQ 6-cylinder?
> 
> Also, how many miles on your fresh transmission? I've been thinking about swapping the oil in my tranny too since I've got about 2500 miles on the new truck. I should probably do the differential too while I'm at it.


I have about 1500 miles on the trans right now. As for the 6 speed, I don't know what it needs. I would look at the owner's manual or the FSM to see what Nissan recommends. All I know is some transmissions are sensitive to this sort of thing. The Borg Warner T-5 ( Mustang, Camaro, Z-31 300ZX turbo, some Isuzu's, etc), for example, requires Dextron ATF to keep from killing it! Given the price of new vehicles and their parts nowadays, it pays to be cautious about this sort of thing.


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