2011 QX56+ Transfer Case drain and fill: Dealership or DIY?

A forum for the Nissan Armada, Infiniti QX56, and beginning in 2014, the Infiniti QX80
PetitFrereArmada
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:11 pm

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I have done a few maintenance stuff on my car and now I wish to do this. But there is something interesting I wish to discuss and find out from other members what they have done.

Have you changed your transfer case fluid? Did you do it at the dealership or do it yourself? How much did it cost at the dealership? If you did it yourself, what fluid did you use? How much did you pay for the fluid?

After calling 5 dealerships and gotten some good and some confusing information, I wish to ask here to see what fluid Infiniti uses and if there is an alternative for this fluid.

OEM transfer case fluid has part number 999MP-TF0870P. I called all 4 dealerships for the cost of 1 quart. The cheapest quote I got was $89.99 plus tax for 1 quart. The most expensive quote I got was $118.99 plus tax for a quart.

I asked some of the dealerships if there is any other alternative fluid to use. They said no. But the last dealership I talked to said that they use the same fluid they use in the transmission to do the transfer case. And the transmission fluid is only $12.99 plus tax. If this is true, then buying this fluid is way cheaper than paying $89.99 or $118.99 a quart.

I wish to do this myself, but was wondering if it is true one can buy the cheaper OEM transmission fluid or the expensive OEM fluid that the car comes with.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who have paid for this service at the dealership or anybody who has done it at home.

I don't know if you went to the dealership and paid for the service, but they used the cheap transmission fluid for your transfer case, instead of the more expensive OEM transfer case fluid. I don't even know how a customer would know if they used the cheaper fluid instead of the expensive transfer case fluid.


PetitFrereArmada
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:11 pm

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I drive a fully loaded 2012 QX56 that I bought about a month now. If interested in seeing pictures, you can go to my thread on the Armada forum;

http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showth ... 929&page=3

PetitFrereArmada
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:11 pm

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And for those interested in DIY, here is my thread about all what I have done so far on my 2012 QX56 as maintenance. It may help some other people. Or if you have any more suggestions for me about maintenance or any other helpful information, I would like to hear your suggestion.

Here is my maintenance thread for my QX...,

http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56441

marctronixx
Posts: 518
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:07 pm

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wassup bro!

i see you are all over the internet. yea club armada does not have a lot of current qx 11+ owners there. this site is good and also infinitiforum dot net.

per the maintenance schedule, i had my transfer oil changed already. it was cheap, and being that it involves the drivetrain, i much prefer to have infiniti do ti so there is a paper trail in case something goes wrong.

you will find most new qx 2011+ owners will get it done at the shop.

PetitFrereArmada
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:11 pm

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marctronixx wrote: per the maintenance schedule, i had my transfer oil changed already. it was cheap, and being that it involves the drivetrain, i much prefer to have infiniti do ti so there is a paper trail in case something goes wrong.

you will find most new qx 2011+ owners will get it done at the shop.
The transfer case oil costs about $100 a quart. We need 2 quarts to fill up the transfer case. That is $200 plus labor cost at the dealership.

Out of the 4 dealerships I have talked to, they have given me a quote of $300 to $500. That does not sound cheap to pay for 2 quarts of transfer fluid change only. That is not including the front or rear differential. Do you by any chance remember how much you paid for it to be changed? I guess you must have paid an amount for many services at once, so maybe you may not know exactly how much just the transfer case would cost. And you may not know if they used the regular transmission fluid or the more expensive OEM fluid for the transfer case.

My concern is that I talked to one dealership and this service adviser said they use regular transmission fluid(which costs about $12 a quart) to do the transfer case instead of the special fluid that costs about $100 a quart. So, I was wondering if anybody who had done this service knows what fluid was used in their car. I was wondering if some dealerships are using the cheaper fluid instead of the more expensive fluid. If the cheaper fluid works, then I would buy that to use for my own.

For a car like this, I do see very many people preferring to take their cars to the dealership for service. And that is very understandable. But I believe there would always be a few people who would do some maintenance stuffs by them self. Usually to save on cost or just because they happen to have the tools and know how to do it.

marctronixx
Posts: 518
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:07 pm

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there are thousands of these cars on the road so no doubt there are many who are DIY'ers. most of those cats dont come to the internet to post though, and only they post when they needs to pose a question.

but the demographic of this car, yeah, those cats would rather have a service center do the dirty work whilst they go off and have a round of golf or take the missus out shopping.. ;)

zba2a
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:54 pm
Car: Infiniti QX80

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Hello everybody I just purchased a 2014 QX80! I am going through some maintenance on the vehicle, and I saw that the transfer case fluid is right at $100 per quart! That is insane! Did you all end up going with the Nissan ATX90A? I found this product from Ravenol called Ravenol TF-0870. It says it is a substitute. it is a quarter of the price of Nissan fluid. Let me know what you all think!

Zach

zba2a
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:54 pm
Car: Infiniti QX80

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[quote="PetitFrereArmada"]And for those interested in DIY, here is my thread about all what I have done so far on my 2012 QX56 as maintenance. It may help some other people. Or if you have any more suggestions for me about maintenance or any other helpful information, I would like to hear your suggestion.

Here is my maintenance thread for my QX...,



PetitFrereArmada that is a great post! I have been using it alot to do some DIY on the QX80 I just bought! Do you think servicing the transmission had something to do with the solenoid failing?

Thanks

Zach

PetitFrereArmada
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:11 pm

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Hey Zach,

I just responded to this on your other thread. Thanks for the compliments. I did my maintenance thread and posted so it cold help some other people. I think that is the purpose of forums like these; to basically help each other and some times for entertainment.

You know I was tempted to buy that Ravenol fluid from Poland. But after debating with myself, I decided not to. But I am sure that fluid will work. And it looks like a high quality fluid.

If you order it from Poland, no telling how long before you get it. But if you can keep me posted if you buy and use it, that would be great information.

As for your question about if servicing the transmission affected the solenoid to fail, I really will not know for sure. I truly cannot tell. But I guess everything happened when I had that serviced at the dealership. But I am glad it is all fixed. It is advisable to get extended warranty on this car if someone is buying used with high miles and you qualify to buy some good warranty. Because at high miles, if this car was not kept good, then higher chances of things failing and the price tag of anything on this car to get fixed is high. After all, it is considered a luxury car. So, therefore cost of maintenance is usually high.

zba2a
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:54 pm
Car: Infiniti QX80

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Thank for the reply! I haven't made up my mind on the transfer case fluid, but I will probably end up going with the OEM fluid. I would rather err on the side of caution.

zba2a
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:54 pm
Car: Infiniti QX80

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Just ordered some of the Nissan transfer case fluid ATX90A and Amazon had it marked down to $75 per quart. :gotme I guess that is better than $98 per quart.

PetitFrereArmada
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:11 pm

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Good find to buy it cheaper. Post pictures when you change the fluid.

It is truly ridiculous how much Nissan charges for this fluid. I have a road trip planned for the whole of next month where I will put my QX to some real work. When I come back, I plan to buy the RAVENOL transfer Case Fluid TF-0870 @ $30 per quart and do my transfer case. Just for the fun of changing my fluids again and keeping the fluids fresh. Not that the fluids are really due for a change. I specifically want to try this REAVENOL. It says it can be used where the Nissan fluid is recommended. And it is made in Germany, so it may be good. I may be giving it a try, if I decide to change my transfer case fluid after my trip.

zba2a
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:54 pm
Car: Infiniti QX80

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I will definitely post pictures. I am curious to see how the fluid looks. When I changed the differentials, there was a lot of metallic build up on the magnets. I will probably do those again soon to see how they look.

zba2a
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:54 pm
Car: Infiniti QX80

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Also, keep us posted on the Ravenol! I would like to start using that as well moving forward. Even at $75 per quart ATX90A is a racket! Haha

anwallac
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:45 pm
Car: 2012 qx56
2010 g37

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Excellent info for DIY - I plan on using RAVENOL transfer Case Fluid TF-0870 to save $140!

Can someone provide me part numbers for transfer case fill/drain plug gaskets? - I cannot find it in infiniti's parts diagrams.

Also, any recommendations for alternatives for "Genuine NISSAN Differential Oil Hypoid Super GL-5 80W-90 in the FRONT differential"?


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