Hi,
New to the group. My name is John Lombardo and I'm the owner and founder of IPT Performance Transmissions. I have been in the transmission industry since 1987 and IPT has been in business since 2001.

Glad to be here and happy to try to answer questions in the drivetrain area concerning automatic transmissions.

 

I'm sure there are members here who can benefit from your experience. Welcome to the forum, John.

Just automatics, huh?

 

Thank you. Yes, we're mostly autos and mostly Nissan, Infiniti, Toyota, Audi, VW and BMW but we do almost anything including domestic units for racing and towing.

 

Welcome to the community @IPT_Trans

Your team has assembled an impressive collection of RE7R01A updgrades for the 7AT in the G/Z platform: https://www.importperformancetrans.c...duct_list&c=54

I was just discussing your level of expertise over here in this thread where a member is looking at the various options for replacement valve bodies: https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...placement.html

 

Thank you, I'll take a look. The valve body (more specifically the TCM) situation is kind of not so great out there unfortunately.

 

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom here on the community John.

 

hello John.
i’m from China and i would like to know if i can still buy IPL modified parts like front bumper.

Thank you so much！

 

I've got a question for you
On the RE7R01A, is it a bad idea to change the transmission fluid for the first time at 100,000+ miles?
If you do, will it cause any problems?

Thanks in advance!

 

I'm IPT Transmissions, not IPL. I don't sell bumpers

 

If it's working correctly, changing the fluid is probably a good idea and it's not going to cause issues unless you have them already.

 

@IPT_Trans - IPL was a special edition G37 Coupe that is now sought after because it was produced in very limited numbers. I think the poster confused IPL for IPT.

Regarding the other post you responded to, the user wants to know if it's ok to change the RE7R01A transmission fluid at 100K if a service has never been done prior. Note that the dealers where I live will not perform a service on the transmission under these conditions because they believe it will do more harm than good. Any thoughts on whether a transmission with 100K is no longer servicable based on the amount of clutch material that is supposedly floating around inside?

 

Again, if the unit is in good shape, by all means change the fluid. The whole not changing fluid thing is essentially a myth. In 35 years of transmission repair I can count on 1 hand the times that i have seen it cause an issue in a healthy transmission.

I wrote an article about it many years ago, I'll see if I can find it and post it.

 

Perfect! Thanks for the quick answer.

I don't have an automatic transmission, but just wanted to get your expert opinion.

 

I found the article, it's from 2010 lol

Transmission Flush Myths- Busted!

Anyone who is even remotely involved with cars has heard this type of story- someone that they know got a transmission flush and their transmission failed within weeks or even days.

The urban legend behind this is that the “sludge” is all that was holding the transmission together and once it was removed with a flush, the transmission had no chance of surviving.

The story goes like this:
Jim was having a transmission problem, let’s say that it was sluggish in the morning and would slip on take-off from a stop from time to time when it was hot out.

Now Jim has a brother-in-law named Bob that used to work on cars, do his own tune ups and oil changes, etc. When Jim mentioned the problem that he was having to Bob, his immediate response was, “You need to get that tranny flushed”

Of course Jim not really knowing anything about a car, much less an automatic transmission blindly follows the advice of his brother-in-law. After all Bob surely knows all about cars even though he hasn’t worked on one for over twenty years.

Jim obediently takes his car to the local lube place for a flush and an engine oil change while it’s there. Jim gets his transmission flush, pays and goes on his way.

At first, he notices maybe a slight improvement in performance but his transmission is still exhibiting most of the original symptoms.

About two weeks later Jim is driving to work and he stops to pay a toll. When he tries to pull away from the toll booth the unthinkable happens- the car just revs and goes nowhere, as if it is in neutral. Jim moves the shifter into low and is able to limp his car off to the side of the road and wait for a tow truck to take him to a transmission shop.

What happened?

Here’s a list of reasons why the transmission flush myth exists:

•The myth is propagated by people who claim to be experts. I have even heard of transmission repair shops who contribute to the myth in the hopes of scaring potential customers into having their transmission overhauled rather than maintaining it.

•There are thousands of “internet experts” who promote the misinformation- it’s truly a case of “monkey see, monkey do” on steroids!


•There may have been a time in the early days of automatic transmissions when failure after a flush was more common, perhaps because of antiquated friction material and transmission fluid technology during the 1950’s and 60’s but this was before my time so I’m not able to truly discuss the legitimacy of the possibility. I can, however, say with certainty that it’s not an issue with 99.9% of the vehicles in service today. If your owner’s manual is in the glove box and not painted on the wall of a cave, you are probably good to go.

•“Sludge” is all that was holding the transmission together and when it gets cleaned out the trans in going to fail immediately. Guess what? If you have sludge in your transmission, it’s already bad and in need of a repair.

•Once in a while a flush is performed, usually at a quick lube operation, and the transmission is not refilled correctly- resulting in failure soon thereafter. Of course the incorrect fluid level is not recognized as the culprit- the transmission flush is! Many automatic transmissions have fairly complicated fluid level checking and filling procedures that are best left to a transmission repair expert to perform.

•People have unrealistic expectations. A transmission flush is no more likely to fix a failing transmission than an engine oil change is to fix a major internal engine problem. Both of these things are great to do regularly but they are maintenance- not a fix for a problem.

•The reality is that most people don’t think about their transmissions until the day that they have a problem. Jim’s transmission was on borrowed time- it was going to fail anyway but now that it has, he is going to perpetuate the myth. If he ever hears someone mention a transmission flush, he’s going to proclaim, “I had that done and my transmission blew up within a month!”

I have been in the transmission repair industry since 1987 and can honestly say that I can’t recall a single time where I saw a healthy transmission get a flush or a fluid change and subsequently have a problem. A transmission flush is the best maintenance that one can do to extend the life of your automatic transmission, don’t miss out on the benefits because of the nonsense that exists surrounding changing your transmission fluid!

Anyone can feel free to repost this as long as you leave the "about the author" part intact.

About the author:
John Lombardo is co-owner of <a href="http://www.importperformancetrans.com">IPT Performance Transmissions</a> and has been in the high performance industry for over 20 years.

 

Thx John and welcome to the forum.

There's a belief that a "flush" is more harmful than a "pan drop and replace fluid" because the flush uses pressure to move the fluid. I've been told that flushing a transmission over 100K miles is not recommended, instead just do a pan-drop with a refill.

Can you put to rest when you should do a flush .vs. a pan drop and refill?