We own a 2009 Nissan Versa. 5 speed/manual. 30k miles. Bought new, one driver.
DH says: Gotta’ plan on getting the tranny oil changed soon.
I ses: Did the dealership tell you that?
DH: Nope! They said we never have to do that.
M: So, why would we do it?
DH: Well, the guy that changes our oil says it should be done every 30-40, no more than 50K…
I'm not trying to be cheap, but....I have more faith in the Nissan Service Manager than the generic mechanic we take the car to for simple stuff.
I seem to remember Click & Clack saying maybe @ 100+K.......
We have a deal: Whoever is proven wrong will never mention it again.
Thanks!
See the discussions below “My transmission/transfer case has lifetime fluid??”. I think that thread sums up what most of us feel about changing fluids. If possible, change it. Make sure you use the right fluid for your transmission. That may require purchasing from the dealer.
That thread was clear as mud!
Sorry, maybe I’m not reading it correctly.
Maybe I’m just plain stupid or something!
Most of it was about Automatics.
Not trying to be a pain, but:
This is a simple little 5 speed that doesn’t tow anything but our behinds.
I need a simple answer: Does the car need a tranny oil change? If so, when.
If it does, it will go back to the dealership when it must & I’ll never mention it again.
Missed the 5 speed part. I think the fluid should be changed out regularly. That was true when I owned manuals and I still think it is true today. 30K miles for a manual might be a bit premature, but it certainly doesn’t hurt anything. I would definitely change before 50K miles. The lifetime fluid discussion is still relevant, because that is what either the dealer service advisor or the manufacturer is implying. Transmission repairs are very expensive; fluid change outs aren’t. No requirement for the dealer to do the work. Find a good independent mechanic and give him your business. The only caveat is if you can’t really drain the fluid without a major repair effort, and in that case you are stuck with the manufacturer’s choices.
Sales department at car dealership and service department will tell you different things.
My understanding upon doing some search is it SHOULD be changed perhaps around every 30000 miles.
2nd issue is what kind of Transmission service? Flush or Replace/Fill? I have asked similar question but I am leaning towards FLUSH because it will flush out any small metal parts.
I think price difference between 2 services is NOT much but Replace/fill takes few minutes vs some time and energy for Flush so service department try to sell only Replace and Fill type of service.
3rd it what kind of Transmission Fluid. I assume you are dealer service person vs I (I tend to service my car at independent shops to save some $$$) so you will be getting same/similar fluids what is currently in your car.
I’ve serviced manual transmissions for many, many years. There is no filter in your manual transmission, which means the fluid collects and absorbs all the contaminants that build up within the transmission case. As you drive, the gears rub against each other, creating small amounts of particles as the gears wear. When you shift, brass synchronizers rub and wear, also creating small particles of metal. The transmission vents to the outside, so moisture and other elements from the outside air can be absorbed by the transmission fluid.
It is a good practice to change the gear lube no more than every 60,000. I like using 30,000 to 50,000 myself. Oil is cheap. Transmission repairs are expensive. That cannot be repeated enough.
A lot of car makers are touting ‘lifetime’ fluids. Some have been criticized by the transmission makers for claiming ‘lifetime’ fluids. VW was publicly criticized by the makers of their transmissions, ZF. ZF wrote a public letter stating that the claim by VW for lifetime fluid in the transmissions was dead wrong, and ZF recommended fluid changes every 60,000 miles for the very reasons I stated above.
Mated gears in a modern auto transmission are helical gears. This gear design allows for a much quieter operation as the gear faces slide across each other and allow for a near constant gear to gear contact as both the drive gear and driven gear rotate with each other. The point of contact of a helical gear begins as a point, and extends to a line as more of the gear face is meshed to the other, extends to a length defined by the helical angle and gear face profile, then reduces to a point contact again as the mated gear faces unmesh. The reason the gear is much quieter is the point of initial contact of two mated faces begins before the previous mated faces disengage. This allows for a near constant contact of faces of the rotating gear as the mated gears rotate with each other.
BustedKnuckles — "This gear design allows for a much quieter operation as the gear faces slide across each other"
The teeth of all gears, both spur and helical, roll against each other — they do not slide.
Almost all gearing since the nineteenth century have involute gear profiles. (Except for gearing in expensive watches which have a cycloid profile.) The diagram below shows two involute gear profiles. The profile of the gear face is the loci of a point at the end of a string unwrapping around the gear base circle.
For an animation of gear teeth rolling against each other, see
Although I have never recommended scheduled oil changes for manual transmissions, whenever repairs were made that involved procedures that might cause oil to leak it seemed convenient and beneficial to drain the oil and replace it when the work was complete. And over the years the fluid that has been drained has ranged from “like new” to “semi-sludge” to “obviously contaminated.” Of course, when servicing a vehicle, the oil level is checked and if the fluid looks of feels suspicious it is changed. But that is not very frequent. However, if a shop offered to change the fluid for $40. I would recommend it as preventive maintenance for owners who plan on getting their money’s worth out of their car. “Better safe than sorry” comes to mind.
Anyway you slice it there is some friction and heat in a manual transmission as it moves. Over time oil does degenerate. While it might not need to be changed often, a change of manual transmission gear oil can’t hurt. I would just be very sure the new fluid is meets the manufacturer’s specs and for that reason I buy Honda brand manual trans fluid for my '03 Civic. The interval I go with is about every 50K miles.
I do recommend changes, but not often. I go for about 80K or so. Chances are if you never change it (and assume you never have a leak) it will not suffer any noticeable issues during the life of the car, but I do like the idea of an occasional change.
FWIW, Honda recommends a manual transmission oil change at 120,000 miles or six years, whichever comes first. I think a change at 30,000 miles or even 50,000 miles is overkill and a waste of money.
I changed the trans oil in my 2006 Matrix at 21k miles.
Why so soon? This trans seems to have a lot of bearing failures at around 100k.
Lots of complaints can be found on the web.
Two quarts is cheap and I wanted to see how the old oil looked.
If it looked and felt healthy I would run the next batch a long distance with confidence.
However it was dark with a metallic sheen and a gritty feel. So I think I did the right thing.