Beware Nissan part guy advice!!

C

carguy75

Member
Location
alpharetta,ga
Hi Everyone. I stopped by the local Nissan dealership here in my area to pick up some Matic S transmission fluid, so I could do a drain and fill on my transmission this weekend. The problem was that the parts person said yes that he had it in stock for $10.00 a quart, however after i prepaid the sales clerk for the items, he brings out 4 quarts of Matic J fluid. I told him that I did not ask for Matic J, and I wanted a refund if he did not have the Matic S. He spends nearly ten minutes arguing the fact that Matic J and Matic S are the same fluid because they have the same part number, and can be interchanged. Which is true for my year FX, but not the newer FXs. However,he did not know what I was driving. He goes on to say that he have given everybody the same Matic J fluid because it is all he has in stock, even after I brought up that fact that some of the newer Nissans like the 370Z require Matic S. However, I ended up just saying that I am very picky so just give me a refund, which he did. But I do not know if the parts guy was really ignorant to the fact that Matic S and Matic J are different fluids even though they share the same part number, or if he was just trying to push me to buy off the last of his Matic J that he may have left on his self, even though it possibly could damage my car if I had a 2009 or newer model FX. Again, Funny thing is that he never once asked me what I was driving before he said that the two fluids are the same. So, my advice to everyone is be informed when you go to an dealership to buy parts, because some of the part guys do not know what they are doing, which could cause some problems like giving someone with the newer seven speed transmission Matic J fluid, instead of Matic S, which could cause the owner to have a hefty repair bill because the wrong fluid was used.
 
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Matic S and Matic J fluid are the same except Matic S is the synthetic version. Matic S is used on the 2nd gen because the 7 speed transmission on the 2nd gen is a sealed unit since the matic S fluid lasts much longer. Even though they are almost identical I would never put the Matic J in the 2nd gen FX. Maybe the matic J fluid doesnt take the abuse from the 7 speed transmission too well and deteriorates faster compared to the synthetic matic s.

---------- Post added at 11:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 AM ----------

Another thing dealers love to do is get you to pay for the "universal" BG transmission fluid instead of using the Nissan fluid because they dont really profit off the Matic S compared to the BG fluid because they buy the BG fluid in bulk packaging and sell them to customers for a profit.
 
Matic J is forward compatible with Matic S as well. So it won't kill a transmission, it's just full synthetic vs. Matic J which is semi synthetic. But both are made to JASO 1A specs. Pretty much anything compatible with JASO 1A is compatible. Matic J is just rebranded Castrol anyways, other companies rebrand it too.

I'm currently using aftermarket full synthetic Mobil transmission fluid, no problems. It meets JASO 1A spec.
 
shadow191 said:
Matic J is forward compatible with Matic S as well. So it won't kill a transmission, it's just full synthetic vs. Matic J which is semi synthetic. But both are made to JASO 1A specs. Pretty much anything compatible with JASO 1A is compatible. Matic J is just rebranded Castrol anyways, other companies rebrand it too.

I'm currently using aftermarket full synthetic Mobil transmission fluid, no problems. It meets JASO 1A spec.
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I was under the impression that Matic S in compatible with the older transmissions, but the Matic J should not be used in the newer transmissions. I could use both in my 2004 FX, however I do not feel that the Matic J should be used in the newer seven speed, but I could be wrong. I will not attempt to use Matic J when I upgrade to a newer model.
 
As Fireonic was saying, Matic S is probably used in the 7 speeds because it has a longer life being full synthetic vs. semi. But they are both made to the same specifications so they won't affect transmission reliability. It would be like comparing full synthetic oil to standard dino oil. Synthetic is obviously better, but putting conventional oil that is the correct weight won't hurt your motor. It will just need to be changed sooner which is an ordeal on a sealed transmission.

When I was researching, I decided to use Mobil full synthetic instead of Matic J because it's full synthetic just like Matic S and formulated to the same specs. I came across several guidelines for transmission shops that just said to use Matic J as a replacement for Matic S if Matic S was not available.

Your part guy was probably just trying to get rid of the leftover stock of Matic J. They haven't made it in a while, so it's probably been sitting there forever.
 
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shadow191 said:
As Fireonic was saying, Matic S is probably used in the 7 speeds because it has a longer life being full synthetic vs. semi. But they are both made to the same specifications so they won't affect transmission reliability. It would be like comparing full synthetic oil to standard dino oil. Synthetic is obviously better, but putting conventional oil that is the correct weight won't hurt your motor. It will just need to be changed sooner which is an ordeal on a sealed transmission.

When I was researching, I decided to use Mobil full synthetic instead of Matic J because it's full synthetic just like Matic S and formulated to the same specs. I came across several guidelines for transmission shops that just said to use Matic J as a replacement for Matic S if Matic S was not available.

Your part guy was probably just trying to get rid of the leftover stock of Matic J. They haven't made it in a while, so it's probably been sitting there forever.
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I hear you. But, I do not play when it comes to transmissions. I will not put a lower grade of fluid than what came from the factory in my car. If my car came with full synthetic, I will use a equal or superior fluid to replace it. That is why I use Matic S in my FX45, even though I could use Matic J. So, I will not recommend that someone do otherwise. The part guy in my opinion is doing people a disservice if he is giving out Matic J ,and saying that it is the same fluid as Matic S to owners that have 09 or newer seven speed transmissions, because the fluids are not the same. Will using Matic J in a new seven speed transmission cause the transmission to break? I do not know or want to find out. You can try putting Matic J in yours when you upgrade ;).
 
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I was told by a Nissan parts guy that matic J is still produced because it is used by the frontier pick ups as their diff fluid.

Either way, as op stated, be careful when buying as you may be given a different item than what you asked for.

Tapatalk4
 
Technically, isn't the 7 speed transmission is more relaxed and less stressed than 5 speed one? And hence the durable type of oil is more needed with the 5 speed?


Sent from my iPad
 
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From what ive heard the 7 speed uses matic S so the fluid last much longer in between transmission oil change intervals. They did this so they could seal off the transmission so outside shops dont touch the transmission fluid and effect a warranty. That way you can only let the dealer change it and no one else. Because alot of outside shops like using other brands of fluid they think is universal. If you notice Infiniti religiously puts labels and notices out everywhere to only use their matic fluid and nothing else.

I dont know if this is true but thats what my dealer told me. Thats why there is no dip stick on the 2nd gen 7 speed so you dont mess with the fluid.
 
Fire0nic3FX said:
From what ive heard the 7 speed uses matic S so the fluid last much longer in between transmission oil change intervals. They did this so they could seal off the transmission so outside shops dont touch the transmission fluid and effect a warranty. That way you can only let the dealer change it and no one else. Because alot of outside shops like using other brands of fluid they think is universal. If you notice Infiniti religiously puts labels and notices out everywhere to only use their matic fluid and nothing else.

I dont know if this is true but thats what my dealer told me. Thats why there is no dip stick on the 2nd gen 7 speed so you dont mess with the fluid.
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No dip stick. How do you check your fluid level in your transmission? I know that a lot of you guys with the newer FXs or QXs do not have to worry about transmission fluid changes any time soon, but I will when I pull the trigger on a used FX50S which may have about 60k miles on it when I get it. So, this is very interesting to me.
 
I think you just trust the system is full. My BMW is a sealed system and there's just a system check, if the fluid is too low, warning light comes on. But it doesn't have an oil dipstick either which is annoying. Only way to actually verify is to get under the car and pump fluid in until it comes out. That's when it's full since the drain hole is basically at the full level. So you need a pump; on some other transmission like GM that are sealed, you can still get a funnel into the fill area even though there isn't a dipstick.
 
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