G37 Coupe

Infiniti service recommended an oil flush, wtf?

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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 01:02 PM
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Infiniti service recommended an oil flush, wtf?

Deleted for reasons that may affect how my car is serviced.

Last edited by jaxtraw; Sep 14, 2010 at 05:57 PM.
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 01:21 PM
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by jaxtraw
I have 23k miles on my g37. Last Tuesday I was driving, around 3500 rpm the car started to stutter, not stall, but just didnt let me accelerate past 3500rpm (about 60mph). I was away for the week, and brought the car into Infiniti Saturday. THe service guy said that the timing cap had shifted a drop and will take a couple of hours to fix, so I can pick it up on Monday (today).

He calls me today and says that he noticed the oil light come on (not when I had the car) and he checked and saw the oil filter is the original. He then tells me that this is what is causing the stuttering and asked if I have the records of my oil changes. I told him I didnt, he said "well that is what is causing the problem, and I recommend an oil flush". Not knowing much abnout cars I told him to go ahead.

That was two hours ago. Now I have been googling "oil flushes" and have only been reading negative things about them. Stuff like it can cause a lot more harm than good etc...Now Im starting to stress it. WHy would he original tell me its the timing cap, then tell me today I need an oil flush. Based on what I read why would any legit company recommend an oil flush for a car with only 23k miles on it?

THanks fellas.
Have you ever changed your oil at all? Don't tell me this is your first oil change after 23k miles
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 01:58 PM
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ha, about 5k miles ago, but no records for it. I dropped the car off at 11am on sat, service guy calls me about 1pm telling me it is the timing cap. Then calls me this morning, saying the cars is low on oil and has a built in safety where it will cut govern the engine to allow you "to limp home". He then proceeds to tell me that he has no records showing when the oil was changed. OF course he doesnt I wasnt going to pay $80 to have them change it for me, now I have been spending the whole afternoon looking at cc records to figure where and when my oil was changed last.

ANyway, he said it will be $155 for the flush, and the "the good thing is your car is not making any strange noise". My question is why a day later is the problem low oil, and not timing cap? When I posed this question to him his answer, "well when I told the guy who was workingon it, that was his guess". Huh? An inifinit dealer makes a guess on diagnosis after having the car for a day?

Then when I tell him I have read negative things about flushes, he says he he does them all the time, and never heard anything bad happen. It just sounds a way for them to make some $$$ instead of just adding oil,
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 02:16 PM
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How many times has the oil been changed on the car?
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 02:31 PM
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i believe 4
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 02:34 PM
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Are using conventional or synthetic oil?
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 02:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Weiboy718
Are using conventional or synthetic oil?
Not sure
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted by jaxtraw
i believe 4
So that means it's approximately 6,000 miles between oil changes. That's not a big deal, but the filter probably should have been changed too.

I'd just get an oil & filter change and call it a day. Engine flushes can be bad news, so I'd avoid them. BTW, if you keep up on your maintenance, the engine should NEVER need to be flushed.
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 03:34 PM
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unfortunately its too late, he is already in the process (the second flush, which he said "i wont charge you for"). I didnt know there could be anything negative coming form it till I just googled it.

Why wouldnt he jsut change the oil and filter, and see how that works?
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 03:35 PM
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So he is just assuming because it has a dealer oil filter its the original one that never been replaced? What a moron....Did he see some special factory only stamped code on the oil filter? LOL

Oil flush my azz....Oil changers at dealerships have no tech training other than to turn a wrench for drain plug and how to remove filter, add some oil and push a broom around. Monkeys could do that...but the monkeys wouldnt feed you BS about a oil flush.
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 03:43 PM
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Originally Posted by jaxtraw
I have 23k miles on my g37. Last Tuesday I was driving, around 3500 rpm the car started to stutter, not stall, but just didnt let me accelerate past 3500rpm (about 60mph). I was away for the week, and brought the car into Infiniti Saturday. THe service guy said that the timing cap had shifted a drop and will take a couple of hours to fix, so I can pick it up on Monday (today).

He calls me today and says that he noticed the oil light come on (not when I had the car) and he checked and saw the oil filter is the original. He then tells me that this is what is causing the stuttering and asked if I have the records of my oil changes. I told him I didnt, he said "well that is what is causing the problem, and I recommend an oil flush". Not knowing much abnout cars I told him to go ahead.

That was two hours ago. Now I have been googling "oil flushes" and have only been reading negative things about them. Stuff like it can cause a lot more harm than good etc...Now Im starting to stress it. WHy would he original tell me its the timing cap, then tell me today I need an oil flush. Based on what I read why would any legit company recommend an oil flush for a car with only 23k miles on it?

THanks fellas.
The oil light is a "stupid light". It only comes on if the oil level is catastrophically low and/or there is no oil pressure.
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 04:09 PM
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Originally Posted by briann510
Oil changers at dealerships have no tech training other than to turn a wrench for drain plug and how to remove filter, add some oil and push a broom around. Monkeys could do that...but the monkeys wouldnt feed you BS about a oil flush.
I have news for you....sometimes top technicians have to do oil changes too. Some dealerships have dedicated lube techs and some do not. Either way, all the techs get stuck with oil changes at one time or another.
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 04:10 PM
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I never saw an oil light go on. I just got off the phone with the guy, he said when he looked at my car, he saw the oil light "flicker", and looked up the code to see what it meant. He then deduced by the symptoms I told him, the fact that it was low on oil, and there was sludge when they looked into the cap, it needed a flush.

Well now after flushing it twice, they took it for a test drive and it is still in "fail-safe" mode, meaning it wont go past 60. He said they will remove the pan ,and something else? to see how much sludge is in there, and told me othjer stuff I really didnt understand. Basically this chit sux. I always wanted three good friends, one a lawyer, another a ticket broker and finally an auto mechanic.
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Old Sep 13, 2010 | 04:16 PM
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There is no code if the oil light "flickers". A code is pulled when you have a CEL.

There was sludge on the cap? Do they have evidence of this? How would a flush get sludge off of the cap?


Quick question: Do you live in an urban/suburban area? If you do, you need to do one of the following:

1. prove that you changed the oil every 3750 miles
or
2. prove that your oil was fine, even beyond the factory recommended interval (via UOA).

Otherwise, if there is indeed sludge, there are grounds for denying warranty work on your car.


Are you using 91 or higher octane?


Where did you get your oil changed? They should have a service record on your car. They should also be able to tell you if they used a synthetic or not.
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