What Is A Transmission Filter And Why Is It Important?
Filters throughout your vehicle are pretty simple parts. The transmission filter is no exception. Yet, the transmission filter plays a very important role in the transmission system.
Some Nissan's have a replaceable transmission filter. If your car or truck has this filter, Nissan recommends a change every 30,000-50,000 miles. So if you own a Nissan that uses a replaceable transmission filter, it's important to know what a transmission filter is and why it's important.
What Is A Transmission Filter?
There are a couple different styles of replaceable transmission filters. One style is similar to an oil filter. For this style, if you look at the area above the transmission pan, you'd find the transmission filter housing. You need to remove the housing to access the filter. The filter element is similar to a replaceable element style oil filter.
The second style of filter is located just above the transmission pan, and is commonly found in Nissan trucks. This style of filter is also known as a strainer. It doesn't need to be replaced as often as the element style filter. But if you use your truck for towing a lot, it's a good idea to replace it on a schedule.
In either case, before the transmission fluid re-enters the transmission, it goes through the transmission filter.
What Does The Transmission Filter Do?
It's important for the transmission fluid to go through the filter first before entering the transmission. It's because the transmission filter cleans dirt, metal shavings, and other contaminants out of the fluid.
What happens if the transmission gets contaminated fluid? The contaminants could damage the gears and other inner components. The contaminants could also affect the fluid's flow. That will also be detrimental to the transmission, as the fluid won't be able to cool the transmission as well.
It's the filter's job to filter out the contaminants so the transmission fluid stays clean. Clean fluid will perform optimally much longer than dirty fluid. Therefore the transmission will last longer.
What Happens When You Don't Change Your Transmission Filter
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If you don't replace your dirty transmission filter with a new one, it'd clog up after a while. As it gets more and more clogged up, the transmission fluid will have trouble going through. The transmission will be slightly starved of fluid. When this happens, the transmission won't be able to function properly. For example, it'll have trouble switching gears because the lack of fluid makes it harder for all of those parts to do their jobs.
Also, you'll see excessive friction between the inner components of the transmission. Due to that and the lack of cooling provided by the fluid, the transmission will overheat. That can decrease the life of the transmission.
Always Replace Your Transmission Filter On Time
The Nissan manual recommends changing the element style transmission filter every 30,000-50,000 miles. That's because it gets dirty over time. So you should always change your transmission filter on schedule just like you change your oil and air filters.
At Nissan Parts Plus, we offer great deals on OEM Nissan transmission filters. We offer free shipping, too. To find the right transmission filter for your vehicle, visit our catalog (which you can find here) and then look up your Nissan model. Here are a couple of our best sellers: