Hello all! I just bought an automatic 2003 Infiniti G35 with only 55k kms! It was in great shape but needed the engine oil and transmission oil pans replaced. I had it done at a local mechanic just recently. Just after I got it back,a buddy told me that these cars are picky with their transmission fluid and that it should only take Infiniti S-matic transmission fluid. I called the mechanic and he said he used a multi-vehicle transmission fluid but he says he looked up to be sure it was compatible. On the invoice it shows they used 4 quarts of the transmission fluid.

Do I need to be concerned? Should I have the dealership drain it and fill with the S-matic fluid? Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thank you

 

Well your mechanic did a drain and fill and not a full flush. The transmission holds a little over 10 quarts. I recently had to top off my fluid using castrol import transmission fluid after a radiator change. You'll probably be fine but just know that you should do at least two more drain and fills over the next few thousand miles to flush out the old fluid and replace it with matic s. I wouldn't do anything more than top off the level with anything else but nissan fluid. It's as easy as an oil change

 

Find out EXACTLY what fluid he used and post back here.

 

As long as it is compatible you're fine. People say that with Honda too but a big problem with the Z1 ATF they recommended was it had too many friction modifiers for soft shifts which actually contributed to their early demise. Soft shifts = slippage. In fact, Z1 was so bad, Honda no longer even carries it and their new DW1 ATF is backward compatible. And Redline D4 works great in them too.

If you want the exact shift feel Nissan/Infiniti give stock, then use their fluid. Otherwise as long as it is compatible it will be fine, just may not have the exact same shift feel.

 

Even major company's like AMSOIL recommend not using anything but Nissan AT fluid in our transmissions! So why would anyone trust using anything but what the manufacture recommends? Now, you may need to do a flush to remove what your mechanic decided to use!
Gary

 

Exactly what Gary just said:

 

I asked the mechanic what fluid he used and he said something like "multi vehicle SF QTF" but I didn't fully understand him. He said I could come in to look at the label, but I don't think I'm going to risk it and will get it drained and replaced with the S-matic fluid soon. What should I watch out for in the meantime?

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Odd shift points, slow or fast gear engagement, any shuddering or vibration, high fluid temp, noise.

Chances are you'll be fine as long as you get it completely flushed out Soon™, the Nissan dealership is actually very fairly priced for transmission flushes.

 

I was doing some reading and I thought I read flushes were bad for these transmissions and they only recommended draining?

 

There's two schools of thought about automatic transmissions depending on what time and era the transmission was built.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away automatic transmission fluid used to suck pretty badly, it wasn't ENTIRELY the fluids fault because the transmissions themselves were pretty shitty too. They generated a lot of extra heat, machining tolerances weren't all that precise and the overall design left many void spots where the fluid could pool, become even more heat soaked, and eventually break down.

The old fluid, when subjected to this harsh environment would eventually lose it's ability to effectively STAY a fluid, it would begin to gel and coagulate in the far corners of the transmission, eventually becoming blockages large enough to catch inside the tiny passageways of the primitive mechanically driven valve bodies these ancient wonders used to control shifting. To make matters worse, folks would literally NEVER change the fluid.... like EVER.

So fast forward a hundred thousand miles and someone decides to do a transmission fluid change, new fluid is pumped into an incredibly gelled system and BEHOLD IT DOES ITS ****ING JOB and begins once again to break down solids the way it's detergent was designed to do! Except the hard crusty jelly chunks of the old fluid don't break down very rapidly, instead it just washed a motherload of chunky **** into the valve body...

Transmission failure ensues.

People blame the transmission fluid change because OBVIOUSLY it happened right after that.

Not even considering that perhaps ignoring manufacturers recommended service intervals for a transmission fluid change every 30k miles to remove degraded fluid was the ACTUAL culprit.

And thus the legend began...

...

...

So now we've moved out of the dinosaur age of carbureted engines and into The Future™, manufacturers have discovered that no matter HOW HARD they try to convince the buyer that they need to change the fluid in their automatic transmission some people SIMPLY WILL NOT EVER DO IT! So they designed fluid that has these colossal-godlike detergents that can withstand even the harshest of abuse for about 100k before they're bad enough to START forming deposits and even then it takes about another 100k or so to truly bring the fluid to it's breaking point.

It's the best they can do with the current technology, at least the vehicle will be out of warranty by the time Dumbass Owner finally has a transmission failure due to neglect, the dealership has by then "washed it's hands" of the situation and the cost of a new transmission falls squarely into the lap of a slack-jawed-caveman who thought he wasn't supposed to change the fluid because his daddy's daddy said it was bad.

The manufacturers recommendation for fluid change interval of all G35's equipped with the AT is 30k miles, it's erring on the side of caution, costs you about $90 at the Nissan dealership and will ensure your transmission lives a long and healthy life, likely being the final component to fail before it is swallowed up in the abyss of wrecking yard vehicles destined for scrap metal in a Chinese foundry, to once again be reunited with it's brethren as liquid magma steel and eventually be reincarnated as an I-beam or something even cooler.

Here is the maintenance interval for a 2005, it's close enough and I'm sure nothing has really changed. Give it a read and follow the schedule to keep your vehicle in premium operating condition, avoiding pitfalls and roadside repairs or other major costs is WELL WORTH the money invested to prevent failures.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/200...067-41185P.pdf

Hope this was both entertaining and educational!

The End

EDIT: Not the end, fixed a couple typos and I want to clarify that you should never powerflush a transmission unless recommended by the dealership and to only use actual OEM fluid to drain/fill the contents of the pan only, it takes about 4 quarts or so and exchanges roughly 25% of the volume of fluid, thus why it should be done every 30k. Use only Nissan Matic-J or Matic-S, these transmissions don't play nice with aftermarket brands even though the bottle says "compatible with Matic J/S" due to different friction modifiers used in other fluids. Lastly, there is no serviceable filter on these transmissions so no need to remove the entire pan, just open the drain plug and refill from the dip stick tube.

DOUBLE EDIT: Still not the end, changing transmission fluid is also important because as the transmission wears particulates from the clutch packs (yes automatic transmissions uses clutches) and metal from the synchromesh and planetary gears gets suspended in the fluid and pumped through the valve body, solenoids, torque converter, etc. It's important to change the fluid to get these particulates out of the system. They lead to erosion in all the important delicate parts of the transmission over time. There is a magnet at the bottom of the fluid pan to catch the IRON but there is a lot of alloyed metal that is not magnetic that will still be in the fluid. Pumping high speed abrasive material through your transmission is a bad thing and will definitely accelerate wear.

 

Thanks for the great reply! I read something similar, except it was small pieces of metal that had built up which got washed around during the flush. It feels risky to do that on a 2003, even if it only has 55k kms, no? Wouldn't a drain and fill be nearly as good?

 

Just get the service done at Nissan, problem solved, they know how to properly service their own vehicle. The biggest problems happen when you let Jiffy Lube tech flunkies use an overpressured power flush system.

EDIT: I apologize for calling Jiffy Lube techs "flunkies" I'm sure some of them are good... but the good ones don't reside in THIS town!

 

I like you.

 

Everyone says the same about Hondas too, and you know what? It was the Honda Z-1 ATF that was causing a lot of the problems. They had to change their own fluid specs and add in some shift feel to keep from prematurely burning up the clutch packs.

Obviously you shouldn't use some cheap, no name, low spec fluid but the Nissan fluid isn't even made by Nissan/Infiniti, it is made by Castrol. As long as you use a fluid that meets the JASO A1 standards you're fine.

And Amsoil does recommend their ATF for Nissans:

https://www.thebestoil.com/product/a...ion-fluid-atl/

 

FWIW, the builder of the automatic in my Accord used a synthetic Honda compatible ATF in my transmission when he rebuilt it. Zero issues and it shifts better than it ever did with either Honda Z-1 or DW-1. And believe me, Honda automatics have the worst reputation for crapping the bed behind their V6 engines than any transmission Nissan has ever made, including the 1st gen CVTs.