G37 Automatic Transmission Fluid Change, Pan Drop/Clean
 

I had a dealership flush transmission fluid at 15K miles on my 2013 G37x as a preventative measure. Yet, I always felt I should drop transmission pan and clean any break-in metals out for a complete satisfaction. After searching internet high and low for any instructional videos or a post with pics the most comprehensive reference I found ended up to be an FMS TM.pdf page 261.

Now at 22K miles, after reviewing the material and grasping the concept I did my own fluid replacement and transmission pan drop with some minor twists. For anyone interested here is how it went, including observations.

1. Started by lifting only the front of the vehicle in the morning after the vehicle was parked overnight. Ambient temperature was 70F.
2. Opened transmission fluid drain plug and drained 6qt.
3. Removed transmission pan, cleaned it and installed it back. Torqued bolts to 6ft-lbs (it's best to use an inch-lbs torque wrench and torque to 70inch-lbs). Torqued drain plug to 25ft-lbs. Removed lines connected to the cooling radiator and drained about 0.25qt from there.
4. Made sure refill hole plug is withing reach. Filled in 6.5qt using a plastic fitting that came with the oil pump after wrapping teflon tape around the end to create acceptable seal. The fitting doesn't have threads, so it had to be held by pressing firmly against the fill hole with one hand, while pumping fluid with another hand. When done pumping slide a finger over the refill hole as you are moving the fitting to the side, thus allowing as little of the fluid to escape as possible. Then, in the same manner, very quickly, replace your finger with a fill hole plug tightening it lightly with a metric size 5 hex wrench (spec is 9ft-lbs i.e. not too tight).
5. Ran vehicle in P for 3min, with still only the front of the vehicle being lifted.
6. Repeated steps 2 and 4 only this time 5.25qt came out and I filled 5.5qt back in.
7. Before repeating step 5 I lifted the rear of the vehicle until leveled and ran engine for 3 min. While engine running shifted transmission P->R->N->D and back once after parking brake was applied AND firmly holding the brakes pedal down. Vehicle remained leveled, i.e. rear lifted, going forward, for all subsequent steps.
8. With vehicle remaining leveled drained 2qt through the refill hole this time, not the drain hole because I only had 4qt of new fluid left and couldn't risk draining 5.25qt like in step 6. Refilled with 3qt.
9. Started the engine and it ran for about 4min before side of the transmission in the middle, not the oil pan, measured at 95F with an infrared thermometer. While warming up performed shifting like in step 7.
10. While engine still running opened refill plug and allowed to drain until fluid started dripping. 1.5qt came out this time. This gave me a feeling of satisfaction as 6.25 + 5.25 + 2 + 1.5 = 15qt total came out and 6.5 + 5.5 + 3 = 15qt total went in.

I've put about 300 miles on the vehicle since the flush and transmission is very smooth. Parts department at dealership told me transmission filter is not serviceable and they don't sell them. That's why I didn't replace it. I've also reused original gasket, which looked like it was molded to the pan, and both original drain bolt/washer and refill bolt/washer. No seepage was observed after checking several weeks later.

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Excellent writeup, I'm going to move this to the DIY folder and "sticky" it :biggthumpup:
Timing couldn't be any better as I'm at 70k miles and will be doing this very soon.
Did you have any problem w/ that oil pump fitting coming loose when filling/draining through the fill hole? Just wondering if a threaded fitting could be sourced?
Also this may sound obvious but for step 8 you had to lower the rear of the vehicle again to drain the 2+ qts from the fill hole correct?

I like the fact that you removed the pan and got rid of any metal fragments and buildup, sounds like the best plan and will also save some $$$.

Thank you for raising the areas needing clarification/more details. I've updated the original post accordingly.

That is correct, in step 8 and on vehicle remains leveled, i.e. rear lifted as well. I used a level against under body seam to check the accuracy after resting the vehicle on two 6ton jack stands in the rear.

The fitting doesn't have threads and has to be held by pressing firmly against the fill hole with one hand while pumping with another. With teflon tape wrapped around the end there was no issue pumping the fluid in without experiencing any seepage. Since the fitting has a shape of a cone the tip is fitting nicely into the hole. Nevertheless, using both hands while pumping is somewhat of an endurance test. Having that wire wrapped around the clear tube close to the fitting helped prevent hand from sliding upward. Although, originally that wire was intended for hooking up the end of the tube so it doesn't fall on the ground when switching pump from one bottle to another.

I am sure it's possible to find a threaded fitting. That's what I was going to do originally, but once I tested this method and it worked, I thought why bother spending time and running around searching if I already have what I need to have it done. Although, on one of the Z370 forums, I believe, someone said he inquired with a dealership and they refused to sell it to him.

It definitely saves $$$ to DIY. On top of that I personally don't trust the service dept at my local Infitinti dealership. They have this attitude as if they are doing me a favor even when I am paying for a service. When they did ATF flush at 15K the paperwork says they used Matic-D. I asked them about it and they told me no, no, no, Matic-S was used, it's just our computer system is set up to display Matic-D. Well, that alone doesn't inspire a lot of trust.

Another time they kept BSing me about warranty work I wanted them to perform. Took car to them 2 times and each time same story, - let's just wait and see if it gets worse. So, I ended up doing the work myself in my garage eventually. Bottom line, unless it's something I can't do myself, like computer related, I am not going to the dealership.

Thanks for the updates and further clarity :biggthumpup:
Do you think the thermometer is necessary if you follow your running times and similar working temps in your garage?
Seems interesting that they don't have a serviceable filter, or maybe you have to "know a guy that knows a guy" :dunno:

To be honest next time I am not even going to bother with the infrared thermometer, provided the service is performed starting at around room temperature, as you had mentioned. Except maybe form a pure curiosity point of view. As long as the side of the transmission feels lukewarm, which it will anyway after a third 3 minutes engine run that will be good enough for me.

It is somewhat an imprecise science anyway, because right before opening the refill hole plug to adjust the level in the very last step, the side of the transmission in the middle measured at 95F, front side of the transmission closer to the engine measured at 111F, while the transmission oil pan was at 91F. I figured fluid inside the transmission should be a little warmer than the outside measurements are showing, plus engine will continue running while excess is draining, thus warming the fluid up even more.

Nissan 370Z procedure I came across online said 95F to 113F (Always maintain the ATF temperature within between 35C (95F) and 45C (113F) while checking with CONSULT-III when the ATF level adjustment is performed) in this post.

Bottom line +/- 10F will not make any notable difference in ATF volume. It's not like 104F vs 212F operating temperature difference.

Funny thing about inquiring with the dealership about the transmission oil filter. First statement was, - these transmission don't have transmission filters. Then dude agreed to check his system. He asked me for the year of the vehicle and the model. But then it got worse, he asked me if I have a 5 speed AT or a 7AT. I thought we had reached the bottom if his incompetency, but then he tells me the transmission filter is part of the valve body assembly, the filter is inaccessible, and the only way to change the filter is to replace the entire assembly which will run me $2,300 for the part alone.

When I was dropping the transmission oil pan I wasn't expecting to see the filter. I drop the pan and the first thing I see is the transmission oil filter, as seen in the pic above. There are some serious geniuses working at my local dealership.

Thanks again for more details. Lol at the dealer brainiacs. Makes sense to R&R the whole transmission rather than go to all the trouble and hassle of removing those 20 bolts and replacing what probably is a $10 screen.
They probably didn't figure you'd actually have the gall to do this procedure yourself and discover this secret filter cover. Maybe those bolts are also welded on to just in case you dare try and remove that cover :eek:
Maybe with enough digging a filter could be located, I'll see what I can find, although they may take me out to the desert and bury me if they find out.

Here's a few part #s that may be of help~
Pan gasket~
OEM Part Number 313971XJ0A from Nissan - nissancatalog

Drain plug
OEM Part Number 3137731X06 from Nissan - nissancatalog

Drain plug washer
http://www.partswebsite.com/nissanca...026JA00A-.html

Shop those part #s at discountinfinitiparts.com for better pricing on some parts

Just when I thought I was done with engine oil UOAs to determine I want to run Castrol Edge 0w40 going forward, I think I got myself involved into ATF UOAs.

The results have just came in and here is the UOA for the ATF I had drained. Multiplying wear numbers by 5.09 (32000/6282) gives results close to the universal average numbers. There is nothing exciting in the numbers, they are just average. Nevertheless, it will be a good reference point in the future, especially comparing Matic-S to Amsoil Fuel-Efficient ATF.

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Here are Matic-S UOA results posted on BITOG by someone else
2005 G35 | Nissan Matic S 41k | Jatco RE5RO5A | Gear & Transmission Used/Virgin Oil Analysis | Bob Is The Oil Guy

Got this done today, not the easiest DIY, at least for an old guy trying to crouch under a vehicle for extended times. Took me about 3 hours.

I don't like working under jack stands for long intervals so I used my DIY ramps, this didn't give as much clearance as davison, so I wasn't draining as much fluid per interval.

This was a 2 man job for me since I have a Harbor Freight fluid pump and it would have been a disaster trying to hold the fill fitting tight while trying to pump w/ that setup.

I used the HF pump along w/ a universal inline vacuum fitting and w/ davisons' advice about wrapping w/ Teflon tape it was a leak free seal :biggthumpup:

I used Valvoline Maxlife ATF as it's one of the very few brands that's actually designated on the label as a Nissan/Infiniti Matic S replacement.

I bought 4 gallons and drained the following~
1st drain 5.5 qts refilled w/ 5.75qts
2nd drain 4.75 qts refilled w/ 5.25 qts
3rd drain at level 4 qts refilled w/ 4.5 qts
Drained until dripping at level 1.25 qts

So I drained 14.25 qts, filled w/ 15.5 qts and a final drain off 1.25 so a net of 14.25 drained & filled.

I did not drain the cooler lines however.

Was able to reuse the gasket (a quality firm gasket material) and drain & fill plugs.

I'm glad davison posted this DIY as removing the pan is an important step as there is a lot of sludgy buildup around the magnets and resting on the pans' surface.

Here's some pics of my setup

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...538/1P4mNV.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...909/31xBAk.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...538/e1Mgme.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...673/dCgSFO.jpg

Awesome! Thank you for posting your experience and the pics. 3hrs makes you a champion. It took me about 6, while I was figuring out what I was doing in the process. I would too go with Valvoline MaxLife any day.

Hope I am not sounding too silly, but this feels like a historic moment. So much information out there about these transmissions being sealed, not serviceable, or serviceable only by a dealer, using only the Nissan's fluid. And here we are, regular guys, replacing ATF in our G37's on our own.

By the way I made a good use of the remaining ATF to flush power steering.

Blnewt, how many miles on the old fluid? Notice any driveability differences? Years ago I did the trans change on an old taxi cab (caprice). Refill was by dipstick. Was a mess as it involved dropping the pan when changing the fluid/filter. Score one for the MT, ease of fluid change :)

Had 72k miles on the original ATF. Since changing it it seems to shift a bit "crisper" for lack of a better term and a bit more decisive. I'll keep you guys posted if anything changes. Wasn't really a messy situation, just the quick removal of the filler hose and quick replacement of the threaded fill tube bolt. Luckily the fill tube bolt has a decent taper so it's pretty easy to quickly get it threaded.

And thanks again davison, if you didn't provide such a good DIY it would've taken me much longer, or I wouldn't have had the guts to try it at all :)

Wow! Fantastic DIY Davison! And nice job Brad. :) This was not around last year when I had mine done at the dealer. Props to you both and great forum contributions! :biggthumpup:

Infiniti G37 transmission fill adapter
 

I have finally found the part that Nissan/Infiniti did not want to sell to the general public to service the RE7R01A automatic transmission. It is the transmission fill adapter for the over fill plug to pump fluid into the transmission that the stealership has been keeping from us G37 owners. I ordered mine from eBay for $27.00 plus shipping and handling, hope this helps all G owners that want to do the work themselves. See below

VW, Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, Dodge and other Tools for Specialty Applications

The parts number is: #ATF 180

I found that part on a Nissan site when I was researching this DIY, but after thinking it over it seemed like davisons method was easier since you have to thread that fitting on and off each time you want to remove it. But interested in hearing how it works out for you. Post your results when you get it done :biggthumpup: