05 Nissan Maxima transmission fluid

[regent1]

I purchased a used 05 Nissan Maxima from a dealer a few years ago. The car now has 80K on it and I noticed the transmission fluid is looking dirty and should be changed. The information on the dipstick and owners manual says to use Nissan Matic -K fluid only. Other brands of fluid will harm the transmission. The Maxima was a lease vehicle and I found the maintenance service record booklet stuffed in the owners manual. All of the service work was done at Jiffy Lube, Sears and Firestone. I found it interesting that at 36K miles Jiffy Lube replaced the Nissan transmission fluid with Valvoline transmission fluid. My question is should I go back to Nissan Matic -K fluid or continue to use aftermarket products. Overall the transmission appears to shift ok. Recently the only thing I have noticed when the transmission is cold 1-2 and 2-3 are jerky. I did not notice any shifting problems the first few years. The fluid has about 44K miles on it and is dirty.

 

[dparm]

Most transmissions shift jerky when cold.

I would switch back to Matic-K, but only after making sure that Valvoline stuff is completely gone...don't know how well they mix.

 

[razel]

You will be fine using aftermarket ATF as long as it says it's Nissan Matic K compatible on the back. My car uses Nissan Matic D and many years ago, the only fluid I could find that specifically stated Matic D compatible was from Nissan @ $7 a quart.

Luckily these days, both the Castrol Import ATF and Valvoline MaxLife are Matic D and Matic K compatible. The good news. Valovline MaxLife is excellent and can be found in 4 QT jugs for $16 where I am.

You may want to do the flush through the transmission cooler line. You'll need more than 11 QT. Check the maxima.org forums for details if necessary. Best of luck.