NISSAN MATIC S

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BISCUT

BISCUT

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My wife's 2010 Nissan Armada is getting close to 30k miles. I will be adding a PML oversize trans pan cover to it and cleaning the screen at that point.

I've consulted a well trusted tranny repair shop owner who actually has a 2011 TITAN (same trans) and his recommendation was to just suck it up and use the Matic S. he said Nissan phasing out the Matic J. His reason was simple: Said of the thousands of tranny's he had to repair/rebuild he can count Nissan on one hand. And he also said they can be fluid fussy.

I've also talked to a very good friend who runs a large Toyota service center who in turn asked their sister Nissan service center about the Matic S fluid. Apparently they also do not recommend using anything other than S (what a surprise).

Question is, is there an equivelant? And does anyone know what Matic S is? Full synthetic? blend, bad [censored] additive pack?? Just wondering.

Dealership charges $14 and change here...service mangr. to service mngr. is $8 a quart! Not cheap stuff and there seems to be little info on it. If anyone know its you guys here!

Thanks.
 
Interesting there is no equivalent..
For what its worth, my parents have a '00 Maxima automatic and the car still shifts like new. Has Dex III fluid in it right now (OK substitute in this application)
 
Seems like its a closely guarded secret whatever it is...but hey, if the obama Halloween party can be exposed so can Matic S!!
whistle.gif
 
I generally like to stick with the OE ATFs, but MaxLife consistently gets good reviews in many different vehicles. Has anyone used MaxLife ATF in place of Nissan Matic S with success? Most on the Frontier forum like the MaxLife but don't necessary say it improves shift quality.
 
Originally Posted by BISCUT


...Question is, is there an equivalent? And does anyone know what Matic S is? Full synthetic? blend, bad [censored] additive pack?? Just wondering...

Thanks.


Nissant Matic S is an LV ATF that is essentially a Dexron VI clone and any Dexron VI and MaxLife ATF can work very well in Nissan Step-Shift transmissions.

I personally use a Dexron VI clone formulation in my 2012 Frontier Pro-4X.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by dparm
Even Amsoil says to use Matic S -- they have no equivalent. Motul's guide also says this.


You might want to take another look:

Quote
AMSOIL Signature Series Fuel-Efficient Synthetic ATF (ATL) is
recommended for transmissions and other applications that require
any of the following specifications:
Aisin-Warner AW-1; BMW 83 22 0 142 516, 83 22 2 152 426, 83 22 2 289 720 (ATF3+);
Chrysler MOPAR* 68157995A, SP-IV; DSIH 6p805; Ford MERCON* LV, SP; GM DEXRON*
HP, DEXRON* VI; Honda/Acura DW-1*, Type 3.0; Hyundai/Kia SP-IV, SPH-IV, SP-IV-RR,
NWS-9638, SP4-M; JASO 1A-LV; JWS 3324; Mercedes Benz 236.12, 236.14, 236.15,
236.41; Mitsubishi SP-IV, ATF J3, ATF-PA; Nissan Matic-S, Matic-W; Saab 93 165 147; Shell
M-1375.4, M-1375.5, M-1375.6, M-L 12108; Toyota WS; Volvo 31256774; VW/Audi G 055
005, G 055 162, G 060 162; ZF S671 090 255.
AMSOIL Signature Series Fuel-Efficient Synthetic ATF is
backward compatible and replaces DEXRON III fluids in older GM
automatic transmissions. (DEXRON VI specification
supersedes the obsolete DEXRON III in GM vehicles.)

https://www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g3110.pdf
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by MolaKule
dparm said:
Even Amsoil says to use Matic S -- they have no equivalent. Motul's guide also says this.


You might want to take another look
Missed the date of that post, huh ? Seven years ago.... I've seen others post this as well so I have no doubt that at one point, Amsoil didn't recommend it but they clearly do today. I doubt Amsoil changed their formulation and it magically now is okay as a substitute so it was probably just a case of them not having analyzed what Matic-S was. Sadly, people do still keep repeating this even today.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I know people rag on Maxlife ATF's compatibility list, but it works perfectly in the 4spd automatic in our 2015 Nissan Versa 1.6 S that calls for Matic S.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
I know people rag on Maxlife ATF's compatibility list, but it works perfectly in the 4spd automatic in our 2015 Nissan Versa 1.6 S that calls for Matic S.


I believe it. If I were to use something other than Matic S it would be MaxLife for sure. While under warranty I'll stick with Matic S. It's easy to drain/fill the transmission in this truck so I'll stick with what was already in it. Plus it works well with the Matic S.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
I know people rag on Maxlife ATF's compatibility list, but it works perfectly in the 4spd automatic in our 2015 Nissan Versa 1.6 S that calls for Matic S.


It might work well for now, but the question is does using it over Matic S shorten the life of the unit in the long run?
 
Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by JTK
I know people rag on Maxlife ATF's compatibility list, but it works perfectly in the 4spd automatic in our 2015 Nissan Versa 1.6 S that calls for Matic S.


It might work well for now, but the question is does using it over Matic S shorten the life of the unit in the long run?
Thing is, people can run 200k miles with Maxlife and people won't give any credit to Maxlife but if the transmission fails in 15k miles, for unknown reasons, Maxlife will get blamed.
 
Originally Posted by buster
While under warranty I'll stick with Matic S. It's easy to drain/fill the transmission in this truck so I'll stick with what was already in it. Plus it works well with the Matic S.

Research Matic-J (or Matic-S) along with Castrol Import Multi Vehicle ATF and see what you find.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
I know people rag on Maxlife ATF's compatibility list, but it works perfectly in the 4spd automatic in our 2015 Nissan Versa 1.6 S that calls for Matic S.

In high-viscosity Toyota T-IV applications, MaxLife has different shift feel. But it does work fine in an old Quest that called for Matic-D/DexIII and in a Fronty that called for Matic-J/S.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by JTK
I know people rag on Maxlife ATF's compatibility list, but it works perfectly in the 4spd automatic in our 2015 Nissan Versa 1.6 S that calls for Matic S.


It might work well for now, but the question is does using it over Matic S shorten the life of the unit in the long run?
Thing is, people can run 200k miles with Maxlife and people won't give any credit to Maxlife but if the transmission fails in 15k miles, for unknown reasons, Maxlife will get blamed.


Can you run MaxLife for 50k-100k miles between changes? IMO if Valvoline added a service interval to MaxLife then it would lend credence to its alleged performance. After all M1 has no problem making mileage claims on some of their motor oil.
 
Quote
Thing is, people can run 200k miles with Maxlife and people won't give any credit to Maxlife but if the transmission fails in 15k miles, for unknown reasons, Maxlife will get blamed.
True that. Though in my observation I read few if any anecdotes of the latter, especially as compared to the former. Speaking of 200K, run ML in an 01 Civic since ~165k miles (Z1 discontinued), now approaching 300k original trans. Just single d&fs, 25-30k miles. And that year model AT, a #1 on carcompliants.com. The Z1 it replaced, was nothing special even though Honda at one time called it Premium Honda Z1.
whistle.gif
Imo and ime, the only thing premium about it, the price.

As for topic which in now almost 8 years old, I'd run ML in Nissan including any of the Matic series listed on it's spec sheet.
 
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