I just recently bought my 2011 rwd g37 automatic sedan with 78,000 I just hit 80,000. I went into Infiniti 2 weeks ago for an update and they recommended I got a transmission flush. The original owner never changed it, but they are old and I'm sure they didn't drive it hard, it looks like they stuck to the service schedules and "checked the transmission oil" when needed. Infiniti service department was full yesterday so I got it serviced over at Nissan (plus I could use the savings$$$). I thought they were going to perform a full flush but once I saw they only used 6 qts, I knew they only drained and filled. I drove home from the dealership last night across town and experienced no issues in fact it seemed like the tranny was running a but smother, until this morning.. This morning was a bit over freezing and I left in a hurry and didn't let the car warm up as much as I usually would. When I tried to accelerate out of the first stop sign the car started to go and stopped. It was so weird, I felt like I was driving a manual car a dropped the clutch to quick and stalled out. Right after the car stopped it accelerated normally. Then I came to another stop and the transmission jolted the car while I was at a complete stop. It was very weird, I don't know if anyone could chime in on what the issue is and how to go about fixing it. I had no issues the transmission until now, would Nissan/Infiniti be accountable for this?

 

ok i am not understanding what you wrote. when you accelerated from the stop sign, and the car "stopped," what do you mean? did the trans go into neutral (like the motor rev'ed but the car didnt move)? did the car stall?

and then at the next stop sign the car jolted like it went into gear?

and then did it drive fine for the rest of the drive?
did the nissan dealership do any other work on the car?
no error codes?
any ice on the road or possible debris to cause traction control to kick in?

 

The fluid level might not be correct, I'd take it back to Nissan and let them give it a look.

 

yea when it acts like that usually means not enough fluid is in there

 

This would actually make sense because I just drove it home with no issues at all. It must have been because I parked it on my driveway last night that has about a 5 degree slope, and maybe because the oil is low it wasn't circulated properly. I'm going to bring it in first thing tomorrow to get it topped off. Thanks again for your help! I'll post updates for anyone who has the same problem.

 

you originally stated the dealer charged you for 6 qts of fluid. now the question is did they use matic s fluid or something equivalent, or did they use a fluid that was totally uncompatible is the question you should ask. i doubt its on the low side. during a drain and refill it only takes about 4qts and you check the fluid level as the trans temp reaches 40deg celsius and let the excess drip out. perhaps you need a software update. in any case take it back to the nissan dealer and have them drive it with you so you can show them what is happening.

 

Took her back into Nissan yesterday. They claimed that the level was right and everything should be fine, but because I complained so much the day prior about asking for a complete flush and only reviving a drain on fill, they did a complete transmission flush for no extra cost. I'm happy because I know that all the S-matic they used was well over $160. My g has been running fine ever since.

 

Glad to hear it's performing well. FWIW the factory service manual is based on a 3x drain & fill (which is what I did in the DIY link) and this takes about 14 quarts IIRC. AFAIK there is no FSM procedure for a true ATF flush but there are dealers that are doing this so ???

 

Tsb says not to flush

 

Yeah, well the 3x drain and fill was all I was asking for when I initially came in, I just wanted to get as much of the old fluid out as they could, and all I received was a 1x drain and fill. I guess there veteran 30+ year technician has been doing them for years. He brought in his own equipment to get it done for me. I'm no expert but the service manager said he unhooked some lines to get it done, I think it was the coolant or something, so I'm assuming they didn't 3x drain and fill and actually flushed it completely. I have noticed a difference with performance, she's definitely shifting gears much quicker. Should I be worried about possible leaking or problems down the road because of doing a complete flush?

 

The main concern w/ a pressurized flush is it can loosen baked on sludge/debris and can get into the internals of the AT.

 

The way they flush our transmissions is by hooking into the feed and return lines for the trans on the radiator. I had this done once by an Infiniti dealer on my G37 with 70k ish miles. Any time you do this on a "high" mileage transmission you risk what blnewt said in his post. If you do this every 30k miles or so (from the 1st 30k and beyond) you should prolong the life of your transmission. I recently had to get my trans rebuilt completely. My torque converter was toast and my clutch packs were shot. Drain and fills every 15k miles should be safer than flushes and should do a great job preserving the life of the trans.

 

Sorry to hear you trans had to get rebuild. How many miles did you have until you ran into problems?

 

It was replaced at about 100k miles. Now I am just trying to russle up some more cash to buy a twin turbo kit or a single turbo.