ATF and Auto box "frustration"
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:08 am
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?
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?
