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I completed my first atf change today  . The stuff coming out was quite murky and black but there was no evidence of wear metals or disintegrated bands etc. I took the vehicle for an afternoon drive and it definitely feels smoother.

I took out approximately 4.5 litres and the transmission holds a total of 7 litres. I think three drains and fills should replace about 95% of the fluid.

Edit: I would highly recommend using a very long funnel to complete this project. The dipstick in my vehicle is located quite low down and it is difficult to get a large bottle in close when pouring.

Burned smells are Bad News for ATF. You definitely want to replace it before you start to get problems with the transmission. I'd drain-and-replace, then give it a few hundred miles and repeat until the stuff coming out looks close to the stuff going in. That'll almost certainly take more fluid than you expect, but it's worth it. As for dislodging gunk... yes, some deposits will come off. That's what the filter and the repeated changes are for. The filter catches whatever doesn't get drained out.

Hi and thanks for the info. I think I will stick with the method I already outlined, as I am new to all this and cant afford to make any mistakes. One thing I now realise is the automatic transmission will need several drains and refills to empty out the old automatic transmission fluid.

I took a sniff of the atf which is currently in the vehicle and it has a faint odour of burnt toast. I will stress that its not a strong odour but it is noticeable. I haven't had any problems with the at transmission as yet.

Is there any chance the detergents in the new fluid will dislodge any gunk that has built up over time and cause additional problems? I think this might be mitigated by several drains and refills over an extended period.

I wouldn't do it. Number one, used lube oil is full of crud. Its job is to hold that crud OUT of the engine's workings. Any solid particles are prime candidates to clog your fuel filters or worse, your injectors. Gums are wonderful at mucking up your fuel lines and your injectors.

Second, lube oil isn't designed to burn. It's got additives you shouldn't be burning in it. Save the stinky horrible blue smoke from coming out of your tailpipe; diesels mostly don't stink like they used to, but burning motor oil still stinks.

Third, wherever you got the new oil from, if they're a proper parts place, will take back the same quantity of used oil, in sealed containers. It's simple customer service to keep people from dumping the stuff or burning it; it gets recycled into useful stuff. If the supplier won't take back your used oil, your local garbage dump will have facilities for you to drop it off - and that will NOT be landfill, it'll be for recycling.

So to sum up, you're endangering your engine and your driving enjoyment, polluting, and being an annoyance to other road users, to prevent something that wouldn't happen anyway from happening. I strongly recommend you quit putting your old oil in the fuel tank.

Doing multiple drain/changes will get most of the old fluid out, yes.

Another technique I've known people to use is pulling the line to the transmission cooler (if it's not a heat exchanger but rather a radiator element), and refilling with the engine running until the new fluid is coming through there, then reconnecting. Be warned that that's advanced stuff, highly not recommended by any manufacturer, will need rather more than the transmission's capacity in new fluid, carries a significant risk of wrecking your transmission if you mess it up and maybe even if you don't, may not even be possible on your car, and all in all is probably a very bad idea... but if it works, will give you all-new fluid in one go as the transmission pumps out all the old stuff.

I was told by a mechanic that my ATF fluid is shot and needs to be replaced. The good thing is I was already planning on doing the change myself.

According to my Nissan manual the transmission filter in not accessible on this transmission. I intend to do a straight drain and refill with new Dextron III. I have heard you can only drain about 50-60% of the ATF as the rest remains in the torque converter. I was thinking of doing a second drain and refill after 500km to remove as much of the old fluid as I can. Does this sound reasonable?

One good tip I have read: It is recommended to use a long-neck funnel with a built-in screen when refilling the transmission with fresh fluid. This will help to prevent any dirt or debris from entering the dipstick tube.

This is just based on my own opinion but I would want to filter out any wear metals that might be present in the oil.

I am using Castrol Magnatec mostly because its a name brand I recognise and I pick it up when on special. I am thinking of changing as I heard rumour Castrol have started blending their oil in China... or at least what we are supplied in New Zealand.

As for oil filters I am thinking of going with WIX as they are available here in NZ. Previously I have been using generic Repco branded filters from our local auto parts store. Once you start looking it is interesting how many people complain about FRAM making crap filters.

Check this out for an interesting comparison.

Welcome to the forum. You may find its a little dead right now. But lets try to make the best of it.

The worst part of joining a forum is trying to think of an original title for the first message, "hello" is the most obvious but everyone else thinks so too!

I have been a fan of Chris for many years and we have even had a little correspondence, however for some reason it never occurred to me to join the forum. I think that's entirely down to me being a little slow at times! This is my vote of confidence and appreciation of what Chris is doing.

I'm located in Ireland, I used to drive about 25k miles per year (that has just changed), I do my own servicing on all the household cars and most of the repairs, and I have had a life-long interest in how cars work.

At present the cars in the family fleet are: Nissan Almera, BMW 320d, Daihatsu Sirion, Peugeot 307 and Renault Laguna.

I'm looking forward to an interesting time here.