Is there a DIY for changing your ATF? I can't seem to find one. Is it just as simple as pulling fill and drain plug and refilling? If so how much fluid do you use and what type?

Thanks

 

The maintenance manual as well as the owners manual detail exactly what to use and how much

 

7AT?

The 7AT is sealed. AFAIK, no dipstick, no drain plug. Infiniti doesnt want us mucking with it

And honestly, after dealing with the horrible tranny in the wifes TL, as long as its covered under warranty Im happy to oblige them.

 

No, its a 5AT. I will look again in user manual didn't see it. So is there a writeup or DIY?

 

The 7 speed transmission is sealed, but your still suppose to change the transmission fluid. Infiniti of Massepequa changed it on mine with the 7 speed. You can change it but there just is no dipstick. You have to lift the vehicle up. Drain the old fluid from the drain plug. Then cut a spare vacuum hose and insert it in the fill port on the tranny fluid case. And fill it up partially with genuine Nissan Matic S fluid. Connect the Consult III machine up and confirm that the tranny temp is operating at exactly 40 degrees. You keep repeating these steps till it's full. The tranny uses 14 quarts of Nissan Matic S fluid.

They say it's lifetime fluid, but it's really not. By 100K miles your transmission will break down and deteriorate, and you will no longer have a warranty and will be left with a $10K repair for the tranny because that's how much it costs and the dealer wont give a **** by then. The only reason they say it's lifetime fluid is because they consider the lifetime of the car 10 years/120K miles by their standard. And because Matic S fluid is synthetic which is suitable for longer tranny fluid change intervals.

 

Oh and these rules apply to both the 5at and 7at transmissions. Their both the same fluid wise.

 

Thats good info, thanks!

My only question is....WHEN should it be done? I dont have a Consult III so its definitely a dealer item in my opinion, but about how many miles/months should I bring it in and have it changed?

 

Well that's worrisome. Where are you getting this information that it breaks down around 100K - 120K? Have there been reports of this happening? Has your dealer recommended it because it has been experiencing this problem?

 

No the dealer didn't tell me that. Everyone knows that technically speaking the lifetime is considered 10 years/120K miles. This whole lifetime maintenance free transmission fluid thing is nothing new. BMW has been using this scam for years too and now Infiniti is. Do you really think transmission fluid will last the lifetime of the car? No ofcoarse not. Nothing is made to last forever.

You don't have to listen to me though. By the time your nearing like 90K to 100K miles and your tranny starts slipping and breaking down, don't be wondering why it's doing that lol. By that time it will be too late and you won't be able to change the transmission fluid at all because the transmission will lock up.

I can tell you right now though that a transmission fluid change is like $330. Nissan Matic S fluid costs like $12 a quart. I'd say have it changed like at 50K miles.

 

That sounds like BS to me. If thats the case, I'm going to give hell not only to the dealer, but to corporate. I can guarantee you that they will tell you that the lifetime of the car is meant to be more than 80k-100k. I'll go back to my salesperson and ask him the same - "you're selling me a car that will only last 80-100k?!". What's worse is that if it needs to be changed, they don't actually make it particularly accessible, nor doable, nor do they even put it in the manual. While I believe you, Fireonic3, I truly hope that you are wrong for all of our sake.

I'd love to hear from some people who have high mileage on their 7AT and I wonder if they are having this problem. I'm sure once the g37 population ages a bit, they are going to be coming in left and right with this issue if what you've said is true. I smell a lawsuit at that point!

 

Not trying to be mean, but it looks like you don't read carefully. When I mean lifetime, I mean technically not literally. Of coarse these cars last past 10 years/120K miles. Just the fluid is not rated up to that many miles.


And you don't have no lawsuit on your hands. In the manual it's listed that you don't have to change it, but in the factory service manual it's listed as "periodic maintenance".


I even spoke to someone from Corp that said your still suppose to change it. The reason why they sealed off these transmissions is not to make money, but to keep people from trying to service these transmissions themselves. People have a habit of using aftermarket fluid a lot which is not covered under warranty. People attempt to have some outside hack shops change it, then trying to leave the dealer with a check for their transmission when it's the owners fault in the first place. If changing the transmission fluid wasn't aloud, then their wouldn't be that big label up under the hood that says use only Genuine Nissan Matic S transmission fluid.


And what do you mean it's hard to change? Actually it's not hard at all. This kind of technology is nothing new anyways. BMW's, Audi's, and so on have been using this for years. And it's basically the same way to change it.

 

The term lifetime has no wiggle room - that indicates the life of the car, not 10 years/120K miles. Period.

I don't have a factory service manual, I bought the car and follow the maintenance schedule, if it doesn't say it needs to be changed, I tend to have a bit of faith in the people that designed the car - I think they know better than you or me. If there is going to be premature failure that is epidemic across the lineup, they will have to do something about it. The vast majority of Infiniti owners are not on this forum and are going to follow the maintenance schedule that all car makers put out. Silly people...

I understand that people are going to mistreat their cars, but Inifiniti can't do anything about that. I can put in dino oil into the car and run it for 30K and claim it was their fault - so why not seal off the engine? If they didn't want people to touch it, they could seal the tranny and STILL put it in the maintenance schedule. If corporate says that it needs to be changed, my question to them is, why isn't it in the manual?

Also, if I remember correctly, they say to change the spark plugs at 105,000 miles or such. In my wife's rav4, they say change the coolant at 110K. They don't say lifetime there either. There is no difference between "technically lifetime" and "literally lifetime" as far as I'm concerned. That doesn't mean that I won't change the tranny fluid after reading this thread, but what says lifetime should be lifetime. There are going to be a lot of angry Infiniti customers.

 

Well anyways I bet most people won't really care that they have to change the transmission fluid. Probably out of the whole time you own the care you'll only change it like once of twice. Since not everyone has a factory service manual, I took the time to show you guys exactly what is done when changing it:

 

Tranny fluid exchanges are something that has to be done by a professional anyway (at least the AT). You can drain and fill the **** all you want, but the fluid in the torque converter is staying in the torque converter unless you use that machine they have to actually "flush" the transmission.

I drive my car hard at times. On my '04 G35 (5AT) I had 45k miles on it when I asked the dealer to flush the tranny. He said, "Nah, you don't even need to think about changing that until at least 60k miles"... I asked him to do it anyway, so he did. When I picked it up, he said "You were right, it was dark and smelled burnt."

I can understand wanting to "seal" the transmission from outside debris, but it still has to "break in" which means metal shavings. I'll be taking mine in at 45k and insisting they flush it, but that's just me. I'd recommend you do the same with the rear differential.

 

Yeah, after my harrowing experience with the tranny in our Acura, I will be waiting at the service department door around 30K miles or so.

Im sure they wont mind taking my $$$ to flush the fluid "way too early".

MACS: nice car....I have an AWD LE, the red leather really makes the whole car!