350Z tranny fluid change

Whats the best option to make the Z a bit more smooth between shifts? Havent taken it on the road yet, but I know its something Ill end up doing. I did royal purple in my acura and it worked really well. But apparently royal purple doesnt make the proper fluid for the Z.

I googled it a little and some people are using a mixture of 2 quarts Redline MTL (70W-80) and 2 quarts Redline MT-90 (75W-90). GL4 Fluid, not GL5 since it isnt good for the Nissan synchros (according to a couple sources)

Has anybody changed the fluid on their Z? If so, what did you use and how were the results?

something i have to soon do, would love a good answer as well

i wonder if u can use gm syncromesh fm fluid. its worked wonders in any honda acura product ive put it in

What year Z?

2004 for me.

Oh, I can’t help ya then. I know nothing about the 350z.

Amsoil has a page where they suggest a fluid for your car.

Its expensive, but a lot of people are using it in other cars with good results.

I don’t know about new nissans however.

That was actually extremely helpful. Thats the first straight up (non mixture) synthetic oil said to work for the 350z tranny.

http://www.amsoil.com/scripts/runisa.dll?amsoiloaf:index

I typed in 2004, and scrolled down to nissan, 350z, then half way down it shows this:

Manual Transmission,…GL-4
75W-85[2]
Synthetic Manual Transmission and Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90

That mean I need 2 of them? I thought the manual took 3 for some reason. And at $12 a quart, Im hoping this stuff is awesome.

If you scroll down on that page, it shows the capacities for the car also.

CAPACITIES
Engine, with filter…5.0 quarts[1]
Cooling System, Initial Fill…9.2 quarts
AMSOIL Antifreeze and Engine Coolant
Automatic Transmission, RE5R05A Initial Fill…Not Specified
Automatic Transmission, Total Fill
5 speed RE5R05A…11.0 quarts
Manual Transmission, …6.1 pints
Differential, Rear…3.0 pints

  1. After refill check oil level.

TORQUES
Oil Drain Plug…22-28 ft-lbs
Manual Transmission
Fill Plug…23-28 ft-lbs
Drain Plug…23-28 ft-lbs

i’ve heard good things about BG synchroshift II. alot of people run it in their nissans, i don’t know about the 350s though.

One last thing before I make the plunge (I need a little reassurance). 2 pints to a quart and it calls for 6.1 pints. Would I need to buy 4 or would 3 be enough even though technically itd be 1/20th of a quart short.

So I drove the Z for 2-3 weeks with the tranny fluid it came with. I then changed to the amsoil 75-90 that is on the website. Been driving it for a little bit and I would have to say that its a 30-40% improvment over what was there before. It def shifts a bit better. Its not as substantial a difference as when I put royal purple in my acura, but its still worth the money imo. So for those who were wondering, Id highly suggest buying 4 quarts of the amsoil tranny fluid and doing the switch.

http://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?code=MTGQT-EA

Does Royal Purple make something for your tranny? I’ve heard good things when used on other manuals.

was it hard to drain/re-fill

Royal purple doesnt make anything for the 350z. That was the first thing I checked. And its as easy as an oil change from what Ive heard. But I took it to someone because Im lazy. Only charged me $10 for the drain/fill. Took 10-15 minutes.

I used Motul GL4 for my Z. But the older 350Z trans is not that smooth to begin with. If you have any gear grinding and still have warranty on your Z, then bring it to the dealer to get a new trans for free.

Amsoil, get it from Mike @ Innovative (thats where I get mine)

sadly its got 65k and no warranty. But its a 2004 and I havent noticed any grinding yet. It hasnt bounced out of any gear or anything fishy like that so far. Hopefully itll stay that way if I take care of it.

Also If you ever get the clutch sticking down to the floor, then change to a better fluid and SS lines will cure that.

good to know. Thanks

Out of curiosity, what fluid were you using that contributed to your clutch sticking to the floor?