I been reading 30k maintenance threads and i still have some question:
As a law student, frugality is key, thus, i was wondering what is essential in 30k maintenance.. Any recommendations? Just replaced air filter and planning to replace cabin filter and oil change tomorrow.

 

I'm in the same boat as you - don't want to spend the $$ at Infiniti dealer for 30k maintenance.

I think you're on the right track though. Replacing the oil, air filter, in-cabin filter, wipers, etc. are all things you can do on your own and save a ton of $.

The rest of the items on the menu (replace tranny fluid since I have a 6MT for example) I'm going to go to Nissan for. They're cheaper and won't give me a loaner but it'll get done.

Good luck!

 

Does the fluid in the 5AT get flushed as well at 30K?

I have my 30K coming up, and i'm mechanically inclined so i can do most of it, but since it will be the dead of winter, something like an AT fluid flush...i might want to just pay the dealer.

 

regards to transmission flush, i told that it was bad to flush @ 30k, instead just go for drain-n-fill. I can't tell you if this is valid, but I am thinking about just going for drain-n-fill.

 

A tranny drain and fill job is pretty easy to do yourself, similar to an oil change. From my recollection, it takes about 4 quarts of tranny fluid to drain out and refill. Be sure to use ONLY OEM Nissan J-Matic tranny fluid, nothing else.

 

I'm pretty sure AT flush is a suggested item, the MT flush is on the schedule.

 

I'd do the differential also. If you really wanted to go all out, I'd flush the coolant and power steering fluid also. Check out the DIY videos by bythebay.

 

I just had my 30k done on my 06 X. $600 total for cabin filter, oil change(with royal purple i brought), rear diff oil, transmission, transfer case oil, coolant flush, and they attempted to fix some rattles and failed. They also did the normal inspection stuff which is worth about 50 cents.

Kinda pricey but I had everything done. Transmission does feel a lot better after having that done.

 

$600 seems like a lot for 30K service (esp. when most of the service items can be done without going to dealer or service shop) but as long as you're happy with the end result, that's all that matters

 

Am I not reading the manual correctly? Schedule 1 or 2, for ATF, Transfer, Differential, it said Inspect at 30k and 60k. However, I've been reading that people are doing them at 30k. Is it necessary?

My car will be out of warranty in about 10 days and will be 4 yrs old with close to 29k. I have yet to do the ATF, Transfer, Differential, or change coolant. Coolant will be on the agenda but should I wait for the ATF, Transfer, Differential or am I taking risk?

 

The manual said 10 7/8 quart. How come it only take you 4 quarts???

 

4 quarts is the capacity of the tranny fluid in the drain pan only. The rest of the fluid capacity (6-7/8 qts) are in the torque converter, which requires a flushing machine (from a dealer, for example) to be specially hooked up to get flushed out. So when you do just a drain-and-fill job on the tranny fluid, you're only replacing with 30-40% of the fluid.

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! This is my first slush box. In the past, I just tell them to change the M/T fluids. Never know the torque converter has the remaining ones. That explains why some people do multiple drain/refill. Because then next time you would drain some of the remaining old fluids out.
Still doesn't explain why the manual said for 30k, 45k, 60k, just inspect the fluids.

 

Did you do the ATF by yourself? I am reading conflicting things. Some said you need two people to do the drain/refill.

 

Yes I did the ATF drain/refill myself. It's pretty much like an oil change, a one man job. The tranny pan is located near the middle of the underbody along the driver side. From my recollection, you need an Allen key (14mm size I think) to remove the drain pan bolt. The bolt may be on there really tight if the ATF has never been serviced before, so a breaker bar may help out a lot. Let me know if you have any further questions.