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This is the brand. Not sure if it;s what I used cause this is much cheaper but these guys have been around for a long time. Small privately owned family company iirc.
Get a stick from a bone yard or ebay & like 7 quarts of trans fluid. 5 quarts should do 1 flush but you don't know if you're short. Check the level multiple times after letting the car warm up for 5 minutes at idle (per the FSM, the trans needs to be hot for a dip stick reading). Let it cool down, pull the trans pan plug, let it drain and visually inspect the fluid afterwards. Smell it. Taste it. Kidding. Don't drive the car until you get this resolved, that is if you want to attempt to keep this transmission. You'll need to be careful so you don't add in too much fluid. Perhaps call a local Nissan dealer and ask them about their cost for a transmission service. Additives such as LUCAS and possibly others/all are not recommended.
The 5AT transmissions hold 10.5 quarts and a typical drain and fill will use 3.5-4 Qts. I have a gallon jug marked off in quart increments to judge how much fluid comes out when I do the D&F's. Helps a ton to be pretty specific about how much to replace so I don't overfill ever.
Thanks for the tips. Definitely will look into getting the seal leak fluid. Ive been driving in manual mode lately and ive noticed that only first gear seems to have issues (also noticed is so much more fun to drive it this way. May do a manual swap eventually). Im guessing i am low on fluid and the current fluid is probably in awful condition. I plan to change it this weekend. will keep yall updated
I believe the oil dipstick serves as a transmission dipstick as well. Nissan went over budget on these cars and started cutting corners, that's one of many
The transmission dipstick is located near the firewall behind the intake manifold, there isn't a traditional handle on the top of the dipstick and it's held down with a single 10mm bolt.
Welcome! Nice to see another intelligent-sounding budget-minded owner on here with an interest in sorting out a neglected car. While my car has has a solid engine and 6MT when I bought it, it needed brakes, a bunch of suspension/rubber replacement (drives like new now) and still needs rust repair and associated paintwork.
While you're under the car, take a look at the rear differential bushings (google "blown G35 rear differential bushing") and check out the condition of your engine/transmission mounts by SLIGHTLY jacking up the engine (supporting oil pan w/ block of wood) and looking at the mounts for cracks or flex. All of those components are likely to be bad if original on an '03. They also make a GIGANTIC performance improvement when repaired, at least on the 6MTs. OneVQ35DE just tested an easy and cheap method of repairing the diff bushing with castable polyurethane and posted a DIY somewhere, I'm guessing you would be very interested in this fix.
Good luck!!
Last edited by cswlightning; Sep 15, 2018 at 07:22 PM.
Welcome! Nice to see another intelligent-sounding budget-minded owner on here with an interest in sorting out a neglected car. While my car has has a solid engine and 6MT when I bought it, it needed brakes, a bunch of suspension/rubber replacement (drives like new now) and still needs rust repair and associated paintwork.
While you're under the car, take a look at the rear differential bushings (google "blown G35 rear differential bushing") and check out the condition of your engine/transmission mounts by SLIGHTLY jacking up the engine (supporting oil pan w/ block of wood) and looking at the mounts for cracks or flex. All of those components are likely to be bad if original on an '03. They also make a GIGANTIC performance improvement when repaired, at least on the 6MTs. OneVQ35DE just tested an easy and cheap method of repairing the diff bushing with castable polyurethane and posted a DIY somewhere, I'm guessing you would be very interested in this fix.
Good luck!!
thank you! even if I wanted to just get rid of it, I couldn't do it financially. engine mounts is definitely a project I would be interested in. my coilovers finally came in, so I'll be replacing shocks as well as lower control arms and such. might as well look into the engine mounts while I'm down there
update on the car: I havent even looked at the transmission yet. the intake system started acting up again. it started acting like the maf sensor wasn't plugged in (idling low till it dies) so I replaced it, but it's still in limp mode (wont go past 2500 rpm). I tried resetting the battery but that didn't fix it.. any suggestions? I really dont feel like leaving it at the shop for a few days if it's something I can do myself. still drives, just reeeeeal slow. I can do 60 but it's a struggle getting there
Just because the service engine light isn't illuminated doesn't mean there isn't a diagnostic trouble code. You can test the SES light by turning the key to the ON position, it should illuminate every light on the combination meter, if the SES light doesn't turn on the LED may be worn or intentionally damaged to not turn on.
Pending codes don't set off dash lights.
I had a knock sensor go bad at the shop after the fx was strapped to the dyno for tuning. Tuner stopped 1/2 way through the run. That sucked. I had my little scangauge gizmo but not in the vehicle otherwise I would've known before going. That bad knock sensor never set off the check engine light. Scangauge is always plugged in now.
Had a pending code a couple days ago. Driver side cam position sensor. Turns out a vacuum hose for the brake booster was pressing down on the plug's wires. never set off a check engine light. I checked the scangauge because I had a hard start issue that day which has never happened before. All seems good now.
Scangauge 2 is that thing 10" below the vent left of the steering wheel pluged right into the ecu. It tells me in real time coolant temps, incoming air temps, batt voltage, mph, rpm, gas mileage and many other things. Also is accurate to within 2/10's of a second for 0-60, 1/8, 1/4 mile times. It's cheap and a great tool.
I'm convinced my cel doesnt even work. but nevertheless I reset the ECU and it fixed the issue. this weekend I'll be installing coilovers as well as the rest of the front end pieces this weekend. next weekend is cars n coffee but I'd like to do something with the trans between now and then. anyone know anything about a transgo kit and/or how to install one? also I'll definitely need to get a scangauge. where do I find one?
Kidding. Don't drive the car until you get this resolved, that is if you want to attempt to keep this transmission. You'll need to be careful so you don't add in too much fluid. Perhaps call a local Nissan dealer and ask them about their cost for a transmission service. Additives such as LUCAS and possibly others/all are not recommended.
