Yeah that's sort of what I meant. You can't really drain from the bottom and fill from the top with the 7AT.

 

^ Very odd, it's almost like they did it on purpose to prevent anyone from doing it.

 

Yeah. But not just Nissan, I know the Lexus 6AT in the IS has the same deal.

 

haha, it sounds a little better than differential.

 

Nothing is really "lifetime" IMO. I'd change it at 60k intervals. I've seen some Euro trannies that had "lifetime" fluid, some owners that picked those cars up second hand (say 50-75k miles) changed out the fluid almost immediately, showed the comparisons to the new fluid and it was amazing.

Planned obsolescence...

 

The fact that the fluid looked different from new doesn't mean that it was degraded or that it wasn't doing its job anymore.

 

So a fluid with 60k worth of wear and tear will protect better than brand new fluid?

Err on the side of caution. If you plan on keeping the car past 100k, it's much cheaper to change out the fluid then replace the tranny.

 

It's like with medicine - the first rule is do no harm.

Unnecessary intervention only increases the chances of damaging something in the process of "fixing" it.

If Nissan says the fluid shouldn't be changed, I wouldn't change it.

 

Transmission fluid replacement is more of a method dealerships use to earn more money at every service. If Nissan wanted you changing that fluid very often they would've fitted it with a drain plug

 

but it has a drain plug i thought. at least according to that diagram it does.

i would imagine getting the rest of the fluid out of the torque converter and then filling it back up.

 

The 1st 30k miles is hell to the trans fluid. I would change after 30k miles, after that it will last for the life for the car.

 

Could you elaborate how the first 30k miles is 'hell' for the trans fluid?

 

I went to the dealer and spoke with the chief tech guy. He recommended replacing the ATF, rear diff fluid and power steering fluid every 60,000KM (37,500 miles). And he said they always flush the trans with a special apparatus to remove most of the old ATF before filling it with new fluid. I followed his recommendation and changed all three fluids.

I did mention to him that the manual does not recommend replacing the ATF for the 7AT anywhere in the manual. He said theoretically that's what Infiniti suggests. But given the road conditions in China, he thinks it's best to follow a more conservative maintenance schedule.

 

This is an interesting thread. I am approaching 35k miles and am wondering if i should go and get these fluids changed?? I have an odd feeling that a stealership will charge an arm and a leg though to change them. I guess it would be cheaper to get this done though, than to replace any mechanical part in this car.

 

FWIW, when I bought my '07 X with 43k miles, I had the fluid changed within the first month since the transmission kept slamming gears on both up-shifts and downshifts between the first 3 gears. Now I, obviously, don't know what kind of trauma it faced before I bought it but the fluid change made gear changes infinitely smoother. Now with 59,xxx miles, shifts are still super smooth. I'm no engineer and I'm certainly no subject matter expert on the differences between the 5AT and 7AT but lubricants degrade, plain and simple. There's not a doubt in my mind that most of us would find metal shavings mixed in with our current transmission fluid and despite there being no recommended service interval for a fluid change, I'd rather not have metal particles causing even more wear on my transmission's internals.