Service Report: Serious Or Not?

[greenpool]

Hi There,

I got a nissan 350gt (v35). Recently I took it for a service and the mechanic came back with the following feedback:

1. Auto transmission oil discoloured brown. (I believe its meant to be red?)

2. Both front lower rear link arms inner bushes worn - Large Bush on subframe

3. Slight power steering oil leak from Pinion seal

Now i'm wondering how severe this is and how soon should i get it fixed. And does anyone know how much it would roughly cost?

Any comments are appreciated.

[SMOKEYV35]

none of that is imminently life threatening - to you or the car.

1. trans fluid will discolour naturally - highly likely it's never been changed. for peace of mind its always good to do all the fluids when you get a new car. trans fluid isn't cheap though, budget a few hundred for a full flush.

2. trailing arm bushes - only worry about it if it starts to make any large knocking noises on acceleration or deceleration - also watch your rear tyre wear. beyond that - just put it on the list of 'to do' when you can afford.

3. p/s leak - depends on how much fluid it's dropping. check under where you park. if you don't give a sh1t about your driveway then it's really only a case of keeping the reservoir topped up. If you let the levels get too low you'll stuff the p/s pump. If it gets to the point where it's coming out faster than you're putting it in - that's probably when you need to look at getting your rack replaced.

all pretty much as you'd expect of car of this age - wouldn't stress.

only thing i'd point out is that if you've just bought the car recently - items 2 and 3 are road worthy items - if you bought it froma dealer i'd be asking for a 'please explain'.

[greenpool]

@SMOKEYC34: thanks mate.

yup had it for about 3 years now. Do you think its good idea to have another mechanic check it out n give me a second opinion?

[Nick033]

Are you happy with the mechanic you've used? if you are, why not save the money used getting a second opinion on fixing the stuff listed.

If the trans oil is getting old and brown it is old and brown, change it. And as smokey said if your power steering fluid leak and trailing arm bush wear are manageable then you can get away with still driving your car. Just plan to do them later on.

[GTR-N1]

@SMOKEYC34: thanks mate.

yup had it for about 3 years now. Do you think its good idea to have another mechanic check it out n give me a second opinion?

No need for a 2nd opinion if the mechanic is trustworthy as Nick mentioned.

How many Kms are you doing/yr? And how many Kms has your car done in total?

These answers will indicate whether or not you should attend to the above at the next major service or even before.

[StevenCJR31]

def get a full flush on the trans if its cactus, did this at home in my driveway on my R32 gtst with some simple handtools and two car ramps, piece of piss

[SMOKEYV35]

def get a full flush on the trans if its cactus, did this at home in my driveway on my R32 gtst with some simple handtools and two car ramps, piece of piss

There is a difference between a transmission flush and a dropping/filling the fluid.

Trans flush gets all the old fluid out of the torque converter - needs to be done with the right equipment.

[nickperth]

If you plan on doing the auto trans by yourself you can still get the old fluid out of the torque converter however when filling the fluid up you have to get it exactly 100% right when filling it, it cant be just under or just over

[greenpool]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I'll look into it as SMOKEYC34 pointed out.