# Changing Tranny fluid



## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

hey guys, i've been wanting to change my tranny fluid to Redline synthetic MT90 or Royal Purple or something else to give smoother shifts and help out of that '02 tranny grinding problem. but the thing is i've never done it and dont know where to begin, i can't even find where to drain the old oil. let alone know where to add the new stuff, and i also need to know weather i need 5 quarts of redline or not. i'm totally clueless...if y'all are kind hearted enough to guide me along here, id be greatly appreiciated


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## nissannut (Jul 3, 2003)

I assume it is a manual trans and the oil is 90weight...

There is a drain bolt on the bottom of the trans.. It looks like a FEMALE 1/2 inch ratchet. Its a square hole that you insert a 1/2 inch ratchet into and remove.

Now after all the oil pours out. Remove the MALE square bolt on the side of the trans and PUMP oil into that hole until oil starts to come out. 3 4 5 6 whatever it takes. Make the car is on LEVEL ground when doing this!! 

You can buy a cheap $5.00 pump or long hose at autozone or harbor frieght if you can pour from above with a funnel.



CLean the metal shaving off the magnetic drain bolt before reinstalling.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

if you're having the grinding problem, go to nissan and get your new O3 tranny.


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## 7SPEED (Mar 24, 2003)

3 bottles is what u need


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

i think im going to change to redline fluid soon


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## wwmjax (Mar 24, 2003)

what exactly does the redline synthetic do for your tranny?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

chimmike said:


> *if you're having the grinding problem, go to nissan and get your new O3 tranny. *


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## wwmjax (Mar 24, 2003)

i think... im not sure though.... if youre having the grinding problem you should go to nissan and get your new 03 tranny.... just a hunch though


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

Redline fluid is synthetic...i drove 7SPEED's car and the shifter feels a little smoother.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

well there isnt enough asprin in the world that'll make me try to deal with nissan dealer people so they can tell me that there is no problem and send me on my 50 mile trip back. Plus, if they do decide to change it after 5 visits, it'll be like a month and a half with out my baby and i just can't let that happen...i'm taking matters into my own hands...will Royal Purple work as well as Redline?


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## BlackoutSpecV (May 8, 2002)

yea, royal purple makes a wicked motor oil, i had no idea they were into tranny oils now too. I might have to go check that out, i was going to use mt90...


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

Guys, I want to change my 6-speed's fluid as well and will be using Red Line MT-90. I used to use the thinner MTL in my Hondas and loved the stuff. 

I crawled under my '03 Spec-V recently and looked at the transaxle and found what looks like two drain and fill plugs. One is a 10mm hex/allen key plug at the very bottom of the tranny. I took this as the drain (seemed obvious to me).

Now, the fill is a bit of a mystery. I saw a similar looking 10mm plug towards the front of the caseand higher up ... just inches from the end of the starter motor. Is this the check/fill plug? Soemthing else?

What I saw looks very different from what *nissannut* describes above. 

Are the '02 and '03 trannies different? Someone told me I'd need a 14mm wrench and after buying one for $7, I can't find a single plug in which it'll fit.  

The factory fill shifts like $#it in freezing temps until the car has gone 3+ miles. I'm hoping the MT-90 will be an improvement and I want to make this change soon before it gets much colder.


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## MDMA (Oct 23, 2002)

Put one bottle MTL and two bottles MT-90
Actually, Royal Purple is MY personal favorite...


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

what viscosity do we use if considering Royal Puple? and what do you guys think about buying the oil and having a shop do the change so i dont @#@$ anything up unintentionally? should we trust shops with our cars?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

should _we_ trust shops?
I don't, but you can if you want

changing the tranny oil is easy, it's actually easier than changing your oil.

1) unscrew drain plug on tranny
2) let fluid drain out
3) put drain plug back in
4) remove fill plug
5) fill with oil until the level reaches the fill plug (starts pouring back out the fill hole)
6) put plug back in

the 2 plugs should be large hex style bolts, you have to use a monster allen wrench (aka hex wrench) to get them out. They're either 10, 12 or 14mm, the fill and drain plugs are different sizes.


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

*MDMA*, funny you should talk about mixing MTL and MT90. I have a little over a half quart left of MTL (from my old Honda) and will be using this first ... then filling the remaining portion of the case with MT90. I calculated the resulting viscosity to be about a 74W88.  

I really don't care for Royal Purple as a brand. Some people have luck with their stuff but I've found their pitch to be too snake-oily for my liking. Their street engine oils, for example, are not 100% synthetic but they don't openly fess up to that. 

What weight is their GL-4 synchromesh fluid? MTL is a 70W80, MT-90 is a 75W90. Our cars call for a 75W85.

*sr20demOn*, you're right about changing the manual tranny oil. Very easy. Like changing your engine oil ... without the filter. The only tricky part can be adding the new oil as you have to snake the new oil in sideways. Some people use an ATF-type funnel with a hose attached to it. I made a hose and funnel contraption of my own. 

I'm still looking for some confirmation of the location/identification of the drain & fill plugs on a 2003 Spec-V. Don't want to drain the factory fluid out and then be unable to find or remove the fill plug.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

sounds easy enough, but how bout actually doing it? i mean, you some one could take a pic and point out where the drain and fill plug is, then it'll be easy. cuz, looking from the engine bay, i didnt see any hex type bolt anywhere. but i did see a hex bolt on the tranny from the bottom last time i changed my oil, so, a lil help? All knowing SR20demOn? pls? thx!


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

sorry I can't take pics of mine, I don't have the same car as yours 

that hex bolt that you saw on the bottom of the tranny when you were changing your oil is the drain plug. If you look above that, maybe half way up the tranny you will see another that looks almost identical. That's the fill plug, you can't see it from the top because it's kind of hidden and on the side of the tranny.


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

_"If you look above that, maybe half way up the tranny you will see another that looks almost identical. That's the fill plug, you can't see it from the top because it's kind of hidden and on the side of the tranny."_

I'll have to take another look because from underneath the car, the only other plug (hex, square or 3/8" ratchet) I saw was a few inches higher than the drain (good sign) ... but much farther forward ... on the case near the end of the starter.

I'm hoping an '03 Spec-V owner can verify if htis is the one or not.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

Found it! i crawled under yesterday while i was changing my cold air filter, two hex type nuts, same type, the lower one is the drain, the higher one( near a ground wire) is the fill. i saw this my self and saw pics on cardomain of a guy who pointed it out. it just donst make sense that they are side ways, oh well, i guess now it'll be easier to change the tranny oil. and we needed three bottles of the stuff? how far do we fill it? how do we know its full?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

I'm not sure how many you need, I needed 3 and a half for my car but yours has a different tranny.

You fill it until it starts coming back out of the fill hole, that's the full line.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

got it!....i feel pretty confident about this, i'm probly gonna go order some oil in a week or so...i hope i dun F up...


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## wwmjax (Mar 24, 2003)

nissannut said:


> *Make sure the car is on LEVEL ground when doing this!!*


How the hell do you fill it up if all you have are jack stands?


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

um, get four jack stands? and make sure they are the same height?


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

On my Honda I let it down to drain and also during re-fill.

*Silvspec86*, was the higher check/fill plug towards the front of the case ... just a couple inches from the starter?

I think the 6-speeds take 3 1/8 quarts. The capacity is written in your manual.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

ya, right next to a ground wire


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

So what oil did you end up using?


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

i'm goin with redline mt-90 but i havent gotten it yet, i dont have much free time right now but i'll get it done ithin the month and i'll let you guys know the diff.


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## CorNut (Apr 6, 2003)

quick question... I know somebody said to put 2 qt's of mt90, and 1 qt of mtl, is this mtl?? "75W/80W, manual transmission fluid" ?? just reg fluid?? it doesn't say anything about being GL4 on it, does that matter??


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

UMMMM


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

i'd just stick with pure MT-90 its not so good to mix oils. some one did becuase they had some mtl left that just wanted to use up. and they are different viscosity, so you'd get something wierd funky mixture. MT-90 is made to be race lube, it just dosnt feel right to mix it with regular oil. so, Cornut, forget about doing that, just stick with MT-90 alone.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

the nissan Sentra owners manual says that the tranny needs 4 7/8 quarts to fill it. is this how much you guys used? i'm about to order the stuff but i'm confused about how much to buy. five 1 quart bottles is what i think we need but some of you say 3...so any body wanna help me out on this one?


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

Looks like Chimmike was right after all, i should have gone to the dealer. well i did last week and they drove the car, ground up on third twice and told me to bring the car back to do a formal nissan check list before they are authorized to order a new '03 Tranny. no problems, no aftermarket BS, the servive department guy even showed me their 190 whp Spec-V, and their 300 whp 350Z. i'm goin to drop my car off tommorow morning bright and early for them to do the formal check list and for their parts guy to have a looksy. i'm telling you guys, if you live in TX, or in the south for that matter, take advantage of the southern hospitality and the light aftermarket restrictions, and take it to you nearst nissan dealer if you have thr tranny problem. i took it to Advantage Nissan in league city, TX. they rock! they are even going to get a "performance service center" with full Nismo back up and a Dyno! sweet!


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

Well, I had some time on Election Day so I changed my 2003's tranny oil. It was pretty easy.

As previously stated, I had a little leftover Red Line MTL so I used that first. It's no big. It's the same as Red Line MT-90 ... just slightly lighter/thinner (70W80 vs. 75W90).

The car was not _perfectly_ level but close to 3 quarts came running out. Didn't look that bad, actually ... but it won't discolor like engine oil as there are no byproducts of combustion held in suspension. Some really fine glittery bits ... probably from break-in (mostly).

Close to 3 quarts went back in. Car shifts about the same once it's warmed up. It hasn't been cold enough to really see if this stuff works better than the factory Nissan goo.

By accident, I spilled about 3-4 ounces of gear oil down the front of my engine. That stuff and the Simple Green make a pretty nasty smell when the car's warmed up. It's starting to go away, though.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

ok, i just got my car back from the dealer for the '03 tranny install and my god its a completely different car. i mean its just so much more smoother and refined and well thouhgt out. the shifts are like silk and no more plasticky sound. i tried to get it to grind by power shifting at higher RPM but i couldnt do it, the shifts were just as smooth as anytime. the gear ratios were also a big change, because we dont have that tiny ass 1st gear to remind us of driver's Ed anymore, but there is a normal sized 1st gear and revised 3rd, 4th, and 5th. i also made the dealer's performance tech install my hotshot and energy motor mount inserts while he was at it. the feel of the car just totally changed, i advise you guys to try to get the '03 tranny at all cost.


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

Well, I've finally put some cold weather miles on my Spec-V since my tranny oil change:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000278

Some improvement but ...


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## nissanpirate (Dec 20, 2003)

everyone keeps complaining about how long NISSAN takes to do service. I live in Phoenix and my nissan dealer gave me a new tranny and it didn't even take 3 days


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## nissannut (Jul 3, 2003)

nissanpirate said:


> everyone keeps complaining about how long NISSAN takes to do service. I live in Phoenix and my nissan dealer gave me a new tranny and it didn't even take 3 days



Every Nissan Dealer is independently owned and operated. Normally by some family. The same owner may own a single dealer or a few Auto dealers. They can set there pricing and basically compete with other Nissan deaters. I have worked for 3 seperately owned Nissan dealers. 


You need to shop around and find the one that you like. Sounds like you already have. :cheers:


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## o89canucks (Dec 4, 2003)

switched mine to BG synchro shift II and added bg friction modifier, shifts so much smoother now, like a whole new car(well it is still new, only 14k on the clock) check it out www.bgprod.com


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