Badgerman

Hi,


The other night i was driving on the highway when all of a sudden the revs jumped and car started slowing. Depressing the accelerator acted as if the car was in neutral, simply revving the engine but no moving the car forward, except for the odd jerk...


I limped off at the next exit (with some nasty high revving) and stopped on the down ramp. Got towed to Infiniti.


Infiniti (I actually trust this garage - they have been excellent in the past and even given me free services/repairs as i've had a few issues with this car) inform me that the transmission fluid hose came off, dumped the transmission fluid which then cooked the transmission. They say a replacement transmission (5 speed auto) is $7500 (Canadian) including all labour and tax. Ouch.


Question: The fluid was still pouring out of the car when i had stopped (although there was smoke and what smelt like burning 'clutch'). Is it possible that just refilling the transmission with fluid for the considerable lessor sum of $300 might get things moving again (at least enough to drive the car to another garage and trade it in for something else?!) or would you say the transmission is definitely finished in any case as drive was lost (meaning the fluid issue is just incidental)? The garage admit they couldn't tell for sure without trying, but i sense they'd prefer if i spent over seven grand (of course!)


I've searched the web and haven't found anything about the transmission on this car completely failing... just minor gripes about downshifts etc.


Any thoughts/help welcome!


Thanks


A very frustrated (and likely soon to be broke!) owner

drkay

I'm curious as to when your last transmission fluid flush was? Those hoses from the transmission to the radiator need to be removed and hooked up to an Infiniti flush machine to get the job done. They are on there pretty tight with an additional metal crimp to hold them on. (Not that it would not likely make a difference; the garage is not gonna take responsibility.) Did Infiniti actually pull the pan or take any of the transmission apart to determine if it was "cooked"?

Also start checking out used transmissions that you could get cheaper and Infiniti could install.

Badgerman

Thanks DrKay - great questions.


I think they said that it 'smelt' burnt, and only charged a couple of hours diagnostics so i doubt they took it apart fully. I'll definitely ask them to confirm. Is it a long job to do that?


And that's an interesting question about a used transmission too...