G37S 7 speed automatic transmission feedback
08-12-2009, 01:25 PM
#16
My car was also made 09/08 (XS sedan) and it does the engine braking thing you are talking about. It does nto bother me one bit and I am not reflashing anything. I guess i don't do alot of coasting at that speed so if I am rolling at about 20 I am slowing down and the engine braking is cool. When youa re used to driving stick, having that direct feel does not bother you as much. I think the 7at is a great transmission but its too bad they backed out the throttle tip in on the 09s...
08-12-2009, 01:54 PM
#17
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The 7AT sucks. It was embarrassing driving this car. Your trying to brake gradually and smoothly and the transmission keeps going out of engine braking and coasting. Every stop was a lurching affair.
I have had the tsb, and the slowing is better. However, it is still a jerky transmission. You can feel every shift and it's not pleasant. I understand if you are at full throttle, but just gradually accelerating I am constantly feeling the transmission shift.
The only other auto I have is my 2004 Nissan Titan. Every time I drive that the G37 upsets me more and more. They really screwed up and I'm not buying the "sporty" argument. Tell me how luxury is jerking back and forth on even very mild shifts. What a piece...
I have had the tsb, and the slowing is better. However, it is still a jerky transmission. You can feel every shift and it's not pleasant. I understand if you are at full throttle, but just gradually accelerating I am constantly feeling the transmission shift.
The only other auto I have is my 2004 Nissan Titan. Every time I drive that the G37 upsets me more and more. They really screwed up and I'm not buying the "sporty" argument. Tell me how luxury is jerking back and forth on even very mild shifts. What a piece...
08-12-2009, 04:05 PM
#18
All my 7AT does is a little engine braking. I do feel bad for people that are having trouble with their 7ATs but from what I have been reading the sensations people describe are very subjective. My 7AT is perfectly fine the way it is, it downshifts the way i would downshift a stick so its always ready to roll. I guess maybe some people would be happier with a manual or maybe even another car like a lexus (My GS430 had a lethrgic transmission never wanted to do anythign but coast), but trashing the car and the transmission based on some slight shifting sensations maybe a bit over the top, no? Didn't you guys test drive your cars before you bought them? I drove mine for like 20 minutes.
08-12-2009, 04:30 PM
#19
All my 7AT does is a little engine braking. I do feel bad for people that are having trouble with their 7ATs but from what I have been reading the sensations people describe are very subjective. My 7AT is perfectly fine the way it is, it downshifts the way i would downshift a stick so its always ready to roll. I guess maybe some people would be happier with a manual or maybe even another car like a lexus (My GS430 had a lethrgic transmission never wanted to do anythign but coast), but trashing the car and the transmission based on some slight shifting sensations maybe a bit over the top, no? Didn't you guys test drive your cars before you bought them? I drove mine for like 20 minutes.
08-12-2009, 05:09 PM
#20
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All my 7AT does is a little engine braking. I do feel bad for people that are having trouble with their 7ATs but from what I have been reading the sensations people describe are very subjective. My 7AT is perfectly fine the way it is, it downshifts the way i would downshift a stick so its always ready to roll. I guess maybe some people would be happier with a manual or maybe even another car like a lexus (My GS430 had a lethrgic transmission never wanted to do anythign but coast), but trashing the car and the transmission based on some slight shifting sensations maybe a bit over the top, no? Didn't you guys test drive your cars before you bought them? I drove mine for like 20 minutes.
08-12-2009, 05:11 PM
#21
When driving a stick it is much easier to smooth out the engine braking than the way the 7AT does it.
The 5AT holds 3rd until you are almost completely stopped. When I want to engine brake more aggresively, I click the paddles (or use the stick). If the 7AT would do that it would be great. However, perhaps the gearing ratios for the 7AT makes it more necessary to downshift when coasting to a stop. But that makes for a more jerky stop when you don't really need engine braking.
In the loaner it felt like I was dipping into a small pothole every 3 or 4 seconds. It's much worst for the passenger than the driver because they are not anticipating it.
With all that said, i think that folks are over the top with the bashing. The G37 is still a great car.
The 5AT holds 3rd until you are almost completely stopped. When I want to engine brake more aggresively, I click the paddles (or use the stick). If the 7AT would do that it would be great. However, perhaps the gearing ratios for the 7AT makes it more necessary to downshift when coasting to a stop. But that makes for a more jerky stop when you don't really need engine braking.
In the loaner it felt like I was dipping into a small pothole every 3 or 4 seconds. It's much worst for the passenger than the driver because they are not anticipating it.
With all that said, i think that folks are over the top with the bashing. The G37 is still a great car.
08-12-2009, 08:20 PM
#22
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>> Didn't you guys test drive your cars before you bought them?
Yes, I did, but... The test driver is often overwhelmed by the amount of new stimuli coming at them. There's this new high performance car with all the high tech gadgets, the new car smell, the paddle shifters, the meters on the console, and the salesman next to you, plus the traffic. There's a lot for a test driver to absorb in a 15 minute test drive. Most Infiniti dealerships are in dense urban areas, and the opportunity to come to a coasting/rolling stop from 40 mph without being rear-ended are few are far between.
In any case, back to my problem....I was finally able to convince a different Infiniti service consultant to take a look at the forum thread that describes the TSB fix. I had taken my car in on Monday for servicing, and handed his partner (there are two service consultants) the actual TSB (talk about making it easy for them) and in spite of this, the one told me on Monday that the TSB was not relevant and there was nothing wrong with my car. Then after picking up the car and finding the same downshift issue, I pleaded with the second service consultant to visit myg37.com and follow the relevant thread. Today I got a phone call from the 2nd guy, and he started out by saying, "Forget everything you heard from my other service technician" (meaning, my buddy screwed up royally and didn't know what he was talking about). In short, he was saying his partner made a mistake and the TSB was relevant and that my TCM was flashable. I have an appointment (again) for this Friday to have the TCM reflashed. I'm hoping that I will see an improvement after the visit.
Yes, I did, but... The test driver is often overwhelmed by the amount of new stimuli coming at them. There's this new high performance car with all the high tech gadgets, the new car smell, the paddle shifters, the meters on the console, and the salesman next to you, plus the traffic. There's a lot for a test driver to absorb in a 15 minute test drive. Most Infiniti dealerships are in dense urban areas, and the opportunity to come to a coasting/rolling stop from 40 mph without being rear-ended are few are far between.
In any case, back to my problem....I was finally able to convince a different Infiniti service consultant to take a look at the forum thread that describes the TSB fix. I had taken my car in on Monday for servicing, and handed his partner (there are two service consultants) the actual TSB (talk about making it easy for them) and in spite of this, the one told me on Monday that the TSB was not relevant and there was nothing wrong with my car. Then after picking up the car and finding the same downshift issue, I pleaded with the second service consultant to visit myg37.com and follow the relevant thread. Today I got a phone call from the 2nd guy, and he started out by saying, "Forget everything you heard from my other service technician" (meaning, my buddy screwed up royally and didn't know what he was talking about). In short, he was saying his partner made a mistake and the TSB was relevant and that my TCM was flashable. I have an appointment (again) for this Friday to have the TCM reflashed. I'm hoping that I will see an improvement after the visit.
08-13-2009, 11:14 AM
#23
I understand what you are saying, you are not going to notice everything on a tesdrive. What I mean is that maybe the reason you did not notice it is beasue it is really not THAT horrible?
Anyhow, lots of people have had the TCM reflashed. From what I have read in that sedan thread, it will stop downshifting all the time and be smoother so I hope it makes things better for you.
Like KAHBOOM said you can always downshift for yourself when you want to after the TCM update is done, but for me, I'd rather the car do it on its own. If I was driving a stick, I would be doing the exact same thing (maybe smoother???)... if the car is still in third at 5mph, good luck accelerating quickly until you downshift.
IMHO, where the problems comes in is 7 gears is just too many, and if it was up to me, the 5AT is just fine (or maybe 6). Instead, i would focus on increasing the torque of the engine (not the useless peak rpm horsepower for marketting purposes) and then when the motor has more torque I would space the gears out so that in 5th we would be below 2k rpms at highway speeds. Having 7 gears and still revving 2500 on the highway seems silly to me.
Anyhow, lots of people have had the TCM reflashed. From what I have read in that sedan thread, it will stop downshifting all the time and be smoother so I hope it makes things better for you.
Like KAHBOOM said you can always downshift for yourself when you want to after the TCM update is done, but for me, I'd rather the car do it on its own. If I was driving a stick, I would be doing the exact same thing (maybe smoother???)... if the car is still in third at 5mph, good luck accelerating quickly until you downshift.
IMHO, where the problems comes in is 7 gears is just too many, and if it was up to me, the 5AT is just fine (or maybe 6). Instead, i would focus on increasing the torque of the engine (not the useless peak rpm horsepower for marketting purposes) and then when the motor has more torque I would space the gears out so that in 5th we would be below 2k rpms at highway speeds. Having 7 gears and still revving 2500 on the highway seems silly to me.
08-13-2009, 11:41 AM
#24
Flashed Transmissions usually require repeated flashing... lets hope that this is not the case. That's why I went 6MT.
My last car had this problem and every time I went to the Dealership to flash it and it was $120.00 dollars. I sold that piece o sht Jaguar X-type ASAP.
My last car had this problem and every time I went to the Dealership to flash it and it was $120.00 dollars. I sold that piece o sht Jaguar X-type ASAP.
08-13-2009, 01:33 PM
#26
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>> What I mean is that maybe the reason you did not notice it is beasue
>> it is really not THAT horrible?
It wasn't THAT horrible during the test drive. Correct. But once the vehicle becomes your's, and you've paid $38,000+ plus for the vehicle, and you experience the issue multiple times each day, then it does become an annoyance, and annoyances, like Chinese water torture (a simple, not very horrible, drop of water on your forehead), can over time eventually drive you mad.
>> it is really not THAT horrible?
It wasn't THAT horrible during the test drive. Correct. But once the vehicle becomes your's, and you've paid $38,000+ plus for the vehicle, and you experience the issue multiple times each day, then it does become an annoyance, and annoyances, like Chinese water torture (a simple, not very horrible, drop of water on your forehead), can over time eventually drive you mad.
Last edited by deerpark; 08-14-2009 at 05:06 PM.
08-13-2009, 02:14 PM
#28
Just the same -in an MT most folks I know don't engine brake all the way down to first gear all the time unless they are driving spiritedly. Same applies in the AT.
EDIT: I just read the side effect thread.. that delay he describes in the shifting is not cool... The issue seems like a catch 22.
08-13-2009, 07:50 PM
#29
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>> Lots of people had it done in their sedans but there is a sideeffects thread.
I've just searched this forum for "IT09-032" and read all the threads that resulted, but none are "side affects" threads.
I've just searched this forum for "IT09-032" and read all the threads that resulted, but none are "side affects" threads.
08-14-2009, 12:45 PM
#30
Deerpark, Check these out:
https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...tcm-flash.html
and
https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...nshift-13.html
https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...tcm-flash.html
and
https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...nshift-13.html