So, my 2013 Infiniti G37x requires a new Valve Body. Dealership is trying to charge me arm and leg for it. I found the part online at fivestarttransmissions from Florida for $624. They are saying that it comes with TCM, Solenoids and is already programmed. I was relieved to find a cheaper part but then most of the transmissions shop around me will not accept a part from Customer. Finally found couple of places, that are willing to do the job. My question is what else(parts) is needed in addition to complete the job? Dealer included a Transmission oil gasket. And, the mechanic I called referred something about assembly connector or sealing sleeve on the assemby connector. Can some one who has the experience please shed some light on it?

Thanks in advance

 

Most shops will not warranty a part that the customer supplies. However, most warranty the labor. You could ask the shop to obtain the VB from your source, but they may markup a little.

You may want to check with these guys as well as they seem to know the transmission well: https://streetsmarttransmission.com/...-valve-bodies/

I've seen alot of people perform G/370Z drain and fills (pulling the pan and cleaning magnets) online and none have changed the pan gasket, only reused the OEM one as it's of pretty good quality based on my understaning.

 

I would get a second opinion. From a transmission shop.
Dealership will replace a whole valve body when all it needed was a solenoid.
But if you do need one, why not upgrade?

https://www.levelten.com/Level_10_PT...cr210-1000.htm

And if you haven't divorced the stock in-radiator-cooler. Do that now!
External cooler is the only guaranteed way to keep coolant out of your trans.

 

The gasket is just a common service item, worth buying oem.

The connector/seal/etc. is the TCM connector/tower/bulkhead. Is the black piece that connects the TCM connector of the harness to the TCM/Valve body inside of the pan. This connector/tower can be really easily to damage while removing, it uses a seal that is pretty stout and being that it can be a bitch to find many re-use this seal and life is fine. I have have not changed this seal in the 10+ transmissions I've done.

Now, the job is somewhat of a simple but messy one. A replacement unit, gasket and fluid should be the only needed parts in this process.

If you wanted cheaper you could go used but being that they do fail over time you might have to sacrifice the warranty the $600 one would offer.

At the moment I'm running a recycled transmission that had a valve body failure- actually internal speed sensor code. When I took the old valve body out it had a bit of metal all around the speed sensor area and valve body electronics.

I threw my valve body in the new transmission and moved on with life. For those with speed sensor/valve body issues, this issue is coming from the speed sensor magnet covered in metal, cannot give an accurate reading and sends the fault putting you in limp mode.

If you have not killed the transmission, a new valve body and closer intervals of fluid changes should buy you a couple of years.

 

Hi @BULL, thanks for the tip on the gasket; I saw a few DIY guys online claim they reused, but I have had my transmission serviced at the dealer because I'm too chicken to lay under a running car on jackstands to save $200 - no firsthand experience. Recall that the dealer doesn't remove the pan when they service. In fact, I just had the dealer do a fluid exchange (12 qts) on my 7AT yesterday at 25K miles/5 years and my advisor of almost 15 years said that she rarely sees any issues with the Jatco RE7R01A in the G, but did mention that the occurences are more frequent in the Q, but said most of them appear to be linked to extended maintenance intervals on that platform and the new way of thinking about "sealed units" and lower cost of ownershih discussed in other threads.

Do you have any thoughts on topic of radiator failures? Like you, I have been around this platform for a while now and have not seen many OEM radiator failures, despite the unit being responsible for A/C Condensation Coil, Coolant and Transmission cooling duties.

I know CSF builds a heavy duty replacement unit: https://csfrace.com/csf_products/dir...finiti-g37-at/ , but unfortunately I have seen more issues with it leaking compared to the factory unit.

Any tips on how to prevent potential failures such as the mixing of coolant/trannie fluid? Or, are the failures corner cases potentially caused by the longer maintenance intervals my advisor cited?

 

This is golden!

 

The oem trans in my car had water contamination from a busted cooler however the rad/cond assembly was all mangled. Being that it's a full aluminum unit it's less prone to failures however I did not want to take that risk.
I found a cooler in a Xterra/Frontier that brings a thermostat halfway down the side. It opens up the second half of the cooler upon operating temps.

Temps for me have been a slow climb to 180F which they stay there for a while until the car is used more and more and then they hang around 195-200F. I dont have any data OEM route.
This has been a practice I have done for years now on all of my automatic vehicles. Usually with the intent that at some point in ownership I'll install a big metal fuel filter in one of the lines to filter the fluid and buy me time on that fluid. 12Q of OEM matic fluid is not cheap in my book and older transmissions like to dirty this oil pretty quickly.

My second push for the external cooler is having found that the friction material that the clutch discs inside of many transmissions is an oil-resistant but water soluble glue. That being said going external cooler removes this completely from ever being a problem for you. Getting a cooler with some sort of thermostatic option would be the best approach being that it would ensure temps try to stay as close to oem as possible. Remember that most coolers in oem cars function as warmer/coolers.

You'd need to start logging your transmission average temperatures to see if you see some sort of over heating or events where you start to see higher than 200F. This can help you select a decent cooler. Another thing you could do is bypassing the oem cooler and documenting the changes in temperature. Though it will read higher you'll be able to determine how much really would it warm up. I believe mines is a 10-12 row single core fluid temp exchanger.

Lastly, being that I've been around the used industry for a while, I've collected plenty of magnets from pans, drain plugs. My oil pan has two transmission magnets and the trans pan has 2 external ones + the internal one. Main reason why you dont see many G's in the dealer complaining about the 7at is because many are out of warranty and Infiniti wants $6k for transmission R&R. The many Qs still under warranty.

 

@Bull where can I buy a replacement unit? valve body that incudes TCM and Solenoids. It should be already programmed /transmission flash so that it is compatible with my car. I found only one in Florida. Fivestartransmissionparts. I spoke to them yesterday morning and they said they do have that RE07... unit and can ship it out immediately. But after that conversation, they are not picking up my call or replying to my emails. My car is parked at the dealership and I need to move it out soon to a local mechanic who said can do the job for me.

Thank you for responding back to my original post. Looking forward to your reply! Thanks!

 

There is some truth to that statement. The person I work with has been with Infiniti since the G35, so she has history with all 3 platforms. But as you mentioned, most are not taking their 10+ year old G to the dealer anymore for major repairs.

To be honest, I see very few Gs on the road here in San Diego, fewer in Orange County to the north (not many older cars in general in OC). However, I do see an ocassional G in LA, even a few that were tastefully modified. Most of the resale Qs are in desert and up in the Bay Area. Resale Gs are somewhat rare as I believe many are purchased by people out of state based on lower occurence of rust here in CA. This really clean Lapis Blue coupe will likely get scooped up soon.

 

Any place from where I can get the remanufactured valve body ?

 

I called these guys today since this question comes up alot: https://streetsmarttransmission.com/...-valve-bodies/

They are not only out of stock on remanufactured units, but they can no longer get the parts needed for their R&R service.

Also called John at IPT today and he explained their valve body offering: https://www.importperformancetrans.c...duct_list&c=54

John is an expert on the RE7R01A (35 years in the industry), but he admittedly does not touch the electronics (i.e., TCM) in the transmission. You would basically send him a functional unit and his team would rebuild, which doesn't help here. Good news is that I pitched the community to him, and he said that he'd try to create an account and login and try to answer questions about the RE7R01A transmission, both in the G and Q as he is very familiar with both and can even explain the difference between the version used in the Q (larger torque converter, more clutches, etc.).

You may want to contact these guys as they have inventory and are about $1,000 below the dealer cost: https://www.fivestartransmissionpart...x50-fx505-g37/

"RE7R01A NISSAN PATHFINDER – TITAN- INFINITI EX37 – FX50 – FX505 – G37 – 370Z
THIS IS A COMPLETE VALVE BODY WITH ALL SOLENOIDS AND TCM. THS VALVE BODY HAS BEEN FULLY INSPECTED,TESTED AND GUARANTEED TO WORK. THESE VALVE BODYS HAVE BEEN TAKEN OUT OF PERFECTLY WORKING TRANSMISSIONS! "

I tried calling, but no answer. They note on the site to contact them through eBay. Worth a shot? John did mention that when you order make sure you specify the exact year, drivetrain, trim level, etc as many have issues replacing the valve body because they purchase say an AWD unit and try to install in a RWD car.

IPT has a DIY on replacement of the valve body:

 

They can range from $300 - $1500 depending on if new/used in working order. At the moment possibly nobody local might have one. Another possibility is to buy a used transmission locally and pull the valve body and use it on yours.

 

I can’t go through all that hassle. The mechanic will charge me more for extraction and then I’ve to get it programmed at the dealership. I’m probably better off by buying it at the dealership itself and getting it installed there. I may have to live with this $2500 dent

 

Thoughts on the place I recommended above? They have stock. My understanding is that if you select the one specific to your model, then re-programming is not required.

John at IPT just posted here: https://www.myg37.com/forums/drivetr...rebuilder.html

 

Thanks again- it may be helpful to some members and I'll be updating it with some new videos that I have yet to edit and more that I have yet to film
but here's my Nissan Playlist on YouTube: Posting a link isn't working very well so iptperformancetrans YouTube if this isn't working