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I went ahead and dropped the pan today and the magnets had a good but of gunk on them. I cleaned the pan and did 2x drain n fill and added some lubegard red. I can really tell a big difference in how it quick and smooth it shifts my wife drive it and said she could definitely tell a difference as well.
I finally did this diy today after months of reading this thread over and over. The victorys diy pump worked great!! Although maybe I should have gotten the wider tubing then 1/4” it took a while to pump. It was so convenient having it threaded into the fill hole and then closing the valve and leaving it connected during the drains. I decided to drop the pan and do it the right way! I cleaned and dried the bolts and threaded holes and torqued to spec. I was very happy none of the bolts broke on me lol. Fluid was dark brown with sludge on the magnets. My only concern is after doing the math later I think I refilled about 0.75q MORE then I drained. 😬I didn’t think about it while doing it because i measured what came out and then refilled the same amount plus 0.5q cuz I figured it was all going to be draining back out anyway. But yeah after it was done I added it up and seems like I refilled 0.75q more then was drained. But I followed all the steps and on the final drain through the fill hole to level it off with engine on in park I put the plug in after it turned into a tiny stream before it started dripping.
Last edited by Swindler37; 05-23-2019 at 03:58 AM.
...... and on the final drain through the fill hole to level it off with engine on in park I put the plug in after it turned into a tiny stream before it started dripping.
This means you've achieved the right level. Once it starts dripping it's time to close the plug. I wouldn't worry about anything else. In fact, that's the only way to be certain you have the right level of the atf inside the transmission. Measuring in a garage conditions can be a bit tricky. You spill a bit here, a bit there, some transmission fluid was left on the walls of different containers you might had used, some was left in a transmission oil pan that you wiped out with a rag, etc., all causing you to believe you had drained less than you really did.
I used Valvoline Maxlife ATF as it's one of the very few brands that's actually designated on the label as a Nissan/Infiniti Matic S replacement.
Here's some pics of my setup
Hey blnewt,
I'm about 4 years late to the party, but I'm about to have my '12 G37x 7AT trans fluid drained and filled and I have a question for you. While I won't be doing the work myself (shop near me is having me bring my own fluid in and they'll do the work for $60) I ended up buying 2 gallons of the same Valvoline MAXLIFE ATF fluid as you.
Anyway, I read further into this post and on several others about both a power steering flush and trans drain and fill. I noticed that my gen G37 uses Dexron VI ATF fluid in the power steering system. On the back of the Valvoline trans fluid bottle it states exactly that fluid needed in the power steering, but says it's for GM vehicles.
My idea is that despite supposedly being for GM vehicles, do you know if or believe that this same fluid can be used for a power steering flush?
*Jeez that was very wordy, hope you got my point. If not, let me know*
Hey blnewt,
I'm about 4 years late to the party, but I'm about to have my '12 G37x 7AT trans fluid drained and filled and I have a question for you. While I won't be doing the work myself (shop near me is having me bring my own fluid in and they'll do the work for $60) I ended up buying 2 gallons of the same Valvoline MAXLIFE ATF fluid as you.
Anyway, I read further into this post and on several others about both a power steering flush and trans drain and fill. I noticed that my gen G37 uses Dexron VI ATF fluid in the power steering system. On the back of the Valvoline trans fluid bottle it states exactly that fluid needed in the power steering, but says it's for GM vehicles.
My idea is that despite supposedly being for GM vehicles, do you know if or believe that this same fluid can be used for a power steering flush?
*Jeez that was very wordy, hope you got my point. If not, let me know*
I've been using Maxlife in my power steering for nearly 50k miles with zero issues
Hey blnewt,
I'm about 4 years late to the party, but I'm about to have my '12 G37x 7AT trans fluid drained and filled and I have a question for you. While I won't be doing the work myself (shop near me is having me bring my own fluid in and they'll do the work for $60) I ended up buying 2 gallons of the same Valvoline MAXLIFE ATF fluid as you.
Anyway, I read further into this post and on several others about both a power steering flush and trans drain and fill. I noticed that my gen G37 uses Dexron VI ATF fluid in the power steering system. On the back of the Valvoline trans fluid bottle it states exactly that fluid needed in the power steering, but says it's for GM vehicles.
My idea is that despite supposedly being for GM vehicles, do you know if or believe that this same fluid can be used for a power steering flush?
*Jeez that was very wordy, hope you got my point. If not, let me know*
Yes, this can be used for a power steering flush. In fact, I did the same thing... after my DIY trans pan drop and ATF flush I had left over Maxlife ATF, so I syphoned out and refilled my power steering fluid a couple times over the following few weeks. It was a good move as my power steering fluid was pretty dirty as well. I did both at 40k.
Just wanted to chime in with another success story. About 4 1/2 months ago, I purchased a two owner 2012 G37x coupe with 54k miles. The CARFAX showed that the first owner had religiously taken it to the dealership for regular maintenance but there were no service records for the the three years the second owner had it. So I figured at about 60k miles, I'd go ahead and do the drain/refill process OP outlined*, more out of an abundance of caution than because of any particular issue or anything. Since I was at about 59.9k, I went ahead with the process this weekend. And it's a good thing, too. When I first started to drain it, I almost panicked for a second and had to double-check that I hadn't accidentally drained the engine oil or something because the fluid that came out was straight BLACK. Turns out, the previous owner must have done his own drain-and-fill but he used Royal Purple instead of OEM Matic-S. Being a fairly dark color to start with, I guess it wasn't as bad as I feared when I first saw the color of the fluid. I dropped the pan, cleaned the magnets, refilled, and did two more cycles. The fluid in the final drain looked a LOT better. After buttoning it all back up, I took it for a quick spin and immediately noticed an improvement in the shifts. They weren't really that bad before, but they are silky smooth now. Driven it a couple hundred miles since and verified there aren't any leaks. It may not have been completely necessary to do this process, but I feel like at the very least, I've extended the life of my transmission by several thousand miles.
*OP mentioned that he was getting about 5-6 quarts when he drained, but I never got more than about 4.5 quarts. To be on the safe side, I threw in an extra 2 quarts (6 quarts total) for the last fill and sure enough, about 2 quarts drained back out of the overflow. At first, I thought the difference in volume might have been because I've got an AWD, but I noticed OP does, too. As long as I put back the same amount I took out, assuming it wasn't low to start with, I should be good, right?
How was vehicle lifted? If the trans was warmed up to correct temp (95-100) and you allowed it to drain out of the fill hole until it dripped then I think you're good to go.
We jacked up the front and put it on jack stands for the first part. Then we used the jack to lift the rear and a bubble level to make sure it was right. We put jack stands under the back, but they were about a half-inch to an inch short of level, so we kept the car on the jack and used the stands as a backup safety measure (not ideal, I know). And yes, the thermometer gun measured the temp at 98° and the car was running when we did the final drain through the overflow (fill) hole. As soon as it started to transition from a steady stream to a drip, I screwed the plug back in.
So after all the great info gathered from this thread I decided to give this a go on my 2013 G37X. The car has 62k miles and had never had the transmission fluid changed. I figured I’d change all the fluids if I had it lifted completely; transmission, transfer case, differentials and brake fluid. I used the OEM Matic S I got from Infiniti for $10.99/QT.
I first drained about 5 QT from the drain plug. Once I took the pan off there was an extra .25 QT left along with some break in metal on the two magnets. I cleaned the pan with brake & parts cleaner. Never took off the gasket as it seems really fragile like earlier noted in the thread. Put the pan back on and began to pump. I purchased a M8x1.5 barb fitting for filling. The hand pump from Amazon had a standard quart 1/4 in hose so that didn’t work for the fitting. I then purchased a 1/8 in to 1/4 in barb reducer and a piece of 1/8” (3 mm) hose. This worked like a charm. Pumped in 5.5 qt and warmed up the engine. Cycled through gears like mentioned earlier in the thread and let the fluid warm up. I then drained once more and took 4.25 QT out. Filled with 4.5QT, warmed up and cycled again. Final drain was 4 QT. Filled with 4.25 QT, warmed up and cycled through the gears for the final time. While the car was on I then removed the fill plug and waited until the fluid started dripping instead of rushing out.
Overall, I’m really happy with the job and really do think this was the best way of doing it. The dealers charge a fortune for this and honestly, no one will work better on your cars that yourself.
I’ll attach some photos of the fill contraption! 😂
05-21-2019, 10:07 PM
