I have around 43k miles and have yet to get a tranny flush. When i went to infinit, they said i needed one. I didnt ask yet how much they charge. Where do you think the best place to go, i mean i didnt replace my brakes at infiniti. How much is a tranny flush? That means they take out all fluid and then replace it? Whats a tranny refill or something then?

 

I had mine done at Nissan for $159 iirc. They hook up your car to a machine and flush all the old fluid out with new fluid. A drain/refill only gets a few quarts of old fluid out, it doesnt get it all out. Just make sure whoever does it is puts in Nissan Matic J fluid. You may want to get your differential fluid and transfer case oils changed too.

 

FYI these cars take SYNTHETIC tranny fluid

 

Actually they take fluid rated to Nissan Type J specifications. May be, may not be, synthetic.

 

Nissan does not recommend flushing the JATCO 5AT automatic and most manufactuers are starting to recommend the same because of the pressure these systems put on the tranny when it's not running. There is also a concern that particles/debris can be pushed around the tranny lodge themselves in bad spots. I think that's an odd concern, though. What most Nissan/Infiniti shops recommend is draining the tranny every 30K miles or so. This removes about 3.2 QTs of the fluid out of it's ~8 QT capacity. Changing the fluid yourself is quite easy if you take exact measurements of what comes out and what goes back in. I changed my fluid out 2 months ago and I plan to do a 2nd round this weekend. My tranny fluid wasn't changed until 60K so it's had a hard life.

 

Make damn sure they use Nissan J-matic and not some other brand that claims to be Nissan J-matic compliant. It's not worth the risk. The J-matic fluid has a color and odor I've never seen in any other tranny fluid which leads me to believe it has different characteristics. The fluid ain't cheap either at $9 a QT.

 

can i go anywhere? i dont know anything about tranny fluid and what my car gets. ill prob ask around like speedy monroe, midas, mieneke and so on.

 

^ my mechanic doesn't stock the fluid, he has to special order it, most guys don't stock synthetic fluid. just my 2 cents

 

Nissan/Infiniti dealer. No exceptions.

 

now is this different than brakes to take it to infiniti? Why would i pay so much for infiniti to do it when monroe could do it? Do I specifically tell them i need synethic fluid?

 

Nissan can do all maintanence on Infiniti's. The only thing they cant do is perform warranty work, that has to be done by Infiniti. Just make sure on the work order that they are using Nissan J-Matic.

 

Best way to go is to drain and refill your fluid every ~30k. Stay away from the complete flush.

 

so do i need to take it to infiniti or not? Is this just like a oil change, bring it anywhere. i dont think the car will be affected by bringing it to a cheaper place for same thing. Rarely people go to infiniti to get work done, IMO. If not under warranty.

 

Actually the local Nissan dealer only charges me $15 for an oil change on my G when I bring in my own oil/filter.
Think I would bring it to Jiffy, etc. and have some monkey working on it?
Not even our 5 year old CRV.

For more specific mechanical work I would only use an Infiniti/Nissan dealer
OR a reputable independent mechanic with knowledge of your car.
Fortunately have access to one and he saves me money.
He is also a recommended installer for TireRack so that takes care of tires/brakes when I need those too.
Anywhere else is off-limits IMO.

 

If you go to a cheaper shop like Midas, Monroe, Firestone, etc, you're really going to be pushing your luck because these guys will tell you they'll be using Nissan J-matic, but I'm 90% certain what they'll really use is "compatiable" tranny fluid that may meet the requirements of Nissan J-matic. I wouldn't trust a fluid like that though because it's not worth risking that $4,200 tranny.

J-matic is not synthetic, but it is specifically designed to work in the JATCO 5AT tranny in our cars. These trannies are also very picky when it comes to fluid level. You must know exactly how much you drained out and add back in that exact amount. Just an extra 200ml can throw off the operation of the tranny. IMO, take it to either Nissan or Infiniti. This is one service you don't want to cheap out on. Honestly though, why not just get the fluids yourself and buy a hydraulic jack for $60, jack stands for $20, drain pan for $5, and paint measuring cans in ml for $2. The entire process takes about 40 minutes doing it yourself. Same goes for brakes. Buy the OEM pads and install them yourself in 5 minutes after getting the wheel off. I would never buy pads from Midas, Monroe, etc for my G. No way. The OEM pads are mostly responsible for the car's strong braking ability.