ATF and Auto box "frustration"

[Traveler]

Been driving my Pathfinder auto for a year now, and been very happy with the vehicle on a daily basis from day one. The gearbox has been very good no matter if towing, or just driving around. In fact so good that I have left the gearbox 99.9% of the time to doing its own thing and not putting it into “manual” mode.

About two weeks ago I started experiencing a “new” gremlin gearbox which I did not like at all. It was very slow going from Neutral to either Drive or to Reverse. And when doing a rolling stop or going around a corner it felt like the vehicle was going into neutral, there was no response just noise from the engine. I have to say a very frustrating experience from a vehicle I know to not be like that at all.

Did some research and found some scary potential results of what could be wrong. Even sounded like I could be looking at a blown box.

In order to find the problem I had to drain the oil and see it to determine the problem, worst case was getting an oil sample to Wearcheck and see what is going on with the metals in the box.

Started shopping for a replacement oil, but Nissan’s own Matic J was not an option at R2,500-00 for the required 10l. And the catch is that I would have to buy 20l cause the pack size is only 20l. A further irritation was that the Castrol and Mobil products that comply with Matic J (Jaso Type 1A). Some further research lead me to Fuchs Titan 4400 ATF. Used widely in Australia, UK & USA in Pathfinders; and the price was R1,558.00 for a 20l. Luck was on my side and there was one in stock with Fuchs. Interesting you can also use this oil in Toyota auto boxes.

So we drained the oil, and the oil that came out was not 10.3l in volume, but only slightly more than 5l. Further checks with the oils showed nothing but normal wear, no water and no metals (Wearcheck).

Filled up the gearbox as specified in the manual (I bought a copy of the workshop manual on the Internet last year). And low and behold, it drives like the vehicle I bought a year ago. Gearbox is smooth and changes exactly like one would expect it to do; gears are engaged quickly and without delay. Interesting no people who discussed their gearbox issues resolved it so easily by just changing the oil, and none had experienced such a dramatic loss of volume of oil.

So again it was a case of the dealer not checking fluid levels; and I should have checked that myself as well. Had exactly the same happen on my Hilux, dealers did not check oil on the diffs nor gearbox, nor did they actually grease the propshaft.

My big concern is where has the other oil gone?

It could have leaked out, but there is no holes or signs of leaking nor sweating. It could have leaked through a busted diaphragm between the radiator and the oil cooler for the gearbox, but there is no oil in the coolant, and there is no water in the oil. Any ideas where oil can evaporate to?

[Thabogrobler]

Kan dit nie wegraak deur 'n breather nie? Maar 5L is baie om weg te raak.

Dalk was dit nie 100% vol van nuut af nie?

[Hiluxfan_111]

All the oil does not come out of an auto box when you just drain it. A lot of it is also left in the box and torque converter. There is a procedure to pump it out. The dealers should have a machine to change the oil.

[dd6]

Torque converter takes a lot. Is there a filter you could change? Always a good idea.

[Traveler]

You are right, the full volume of oil cannot be drained with a normal drain performed. A torque converter can easily account for holding 50% of the volume of oil inside the gearbox.

I did however manage to without hassle get over 8l back into the gearbox and over the past week the level has stayed constant; and I definitely did not overfill it with an additional 3l.

I am leaning towards it maybe having been under level for a while. Maybe the oil started to break down? And with reduced qualities the shifting issue started.

[ChrisF]

So again it was a case of the dealer not checking fluid levels; and I should have checked that myself as well. Had exactly the same happen on my Hilux, dealers did not check oil on the diffs nor gearbox, nor did they actually grease the propshaft.

My big concern is where has the other oil gone?

It could have leaked out, but there is no holes or signs of leaking nor sweating. It could have leaked through a busted diaphragm between the radiator and the oil cooler for the gearbox, but there is no oil in the coolant, and there is no water in the oil. Any ideas where oil can evaporate to?

bwhahahaha - you EXPECT dealers to CHECK OIL .... WHAT ? ! ?

there is REASON they are called "stealers" !!!!!!



SADLY, have been a long long while since I have encountered a dealership workshop that bothers to do the BASICS .... seems they expect to go wrong AFTER the warrantee expires, so why bother checking anything before the time ....



at about 35 ooo km I bought a grease gun and got under Elders - In THREE services the dealers did NOT grease any of the drive shaft "knuckles" ...




where did the oil go ??? Sounds like somebody fitted a landie box to your datsun .....


if you have no oil leaks on the garage floor .... uhm ....any way that it could leak into the engine ???? (but I doubt that is possible) What does your engine oil look like ??

[Thabogrobler]

Ja, as die olie ook te min is, gaan dit baie vinniger afbreek en smerings kapasiteit verloor.

[Traveler]

Chris, ek het op 100,000km al die olies wear check toe gestuur; niks was fout gewees nie.

Die engine se olie vlak is steeds net onder die vol strepie. Die transfer case se olie is ook reg.
Ek was vandag by die handelaar gewees, en hulle "checklist" is dat AL die vlakke nou nagegaan moet word (moet en wel doen verskil natuurlik).

Ek het die werkswinkelbestuurder gese as dinge so aangaan is hulle binnekort so goed soos Toyota.

[ChrisF]

nee wat, hulle is darem nog VER beter as Barloworld Tygervallei se Toyota !


nou wonder mens WAAR het daai olie heen gegaan .... laat weet ons as jy uitvind