EX35 Transmission slipping in low gears ... and LAME excuse.

[Taunton02780]

My EX35 has just over 10K miles on it now and I noticed intermittent transmission slippage from a slow crawl or from a standstill. When attempting to accelerate the engine would rev and 2 seconds later the car would lunge into motion (not every time, it was intermittent). I brought it to my dealership in Massachusetts and both a Sr. Technician AND the Service Manager came with me for drive ... and luckily it slipped almost immediately (the tech's quote in the car: "woe, we can go back to the dealership right now ... there is definitely something wrong with the transmission ... it should never do that"). That was two days ago, I just got a call from the Service Dept and they told me I could pick up the car today. When I asked what was wrong they claimed it was a little low on transmission fluid and that it probably came from the factory that way (??? WHAT ??? !!!). I think the Service Advisor even knew that this sounded like a crock of the brown stuff too. So I pick it up tonight after work and we shall see. I would find it hard to believe that the transmission fluid was low from the factory, that it took 10K miles for this to start, and that fluid that was a little low would cause this recurring slippage between first and 2nd gears only. Has anyone else had ANY transmission issues? I am interested in others opinions! Thanks.

Modified by Taunton02780 at 9:46 AM 3/5/2009
Modified by Taunton02780 at 10:55 AM 3/5/2009

[ayap888]

I hope it is just low transmission fluid and not the transmission. Keep us informed.

BTW, do you do a lot of 'manual shifting' ? Just curious?

[Taunton02780]

Thanks! I hope that is all it is too! The reaction of the Sr. Tech on the demo drive seemed to indicate a more serious issue than low transmission fluid ... and it took them almost two days to come to that simplistic conclusion? You'd think that would have been uncovered in the first hour.

To answer your question ... Nope! I do not do ANY manual shifting. Also, 90% of my driving is all highway.

[gloa2000]

If low transmission oil caused this, you have right to get a new transmission installed, simply you dont know what kind of damages were done to your transmission by slamming into the gears. Visit another Infiniti and let them take it for a spin and see what they say.

[Taunton02780]

FOLLOW-UP: I picked up the car last night from my Infiniti dealership's Service Department. The Service Advisor handling my case had already left so I couldn't really get too much information than what I had been provided on the phone earlier. Well, the EX seems "fine" now ... definitely can notice the improvement in shifting performance and it has not slipped since picking it up. Thank you ayap and gloa for your replies. If it slips again (or causes me anymore concern) I will definintely take it back ... and probably to a different dealer as you suggest.

If there are any changes I will update this forum once more. Thanks

[ayap888]

That's good news. I'm sure they did a road test before turning it back to you. So it was probably just low transmission fluid.

With regards to why it took them 2 days to diagnose it ... I think, on the positive side, they may have tried to look at all possible causes.

Good luck and hope it does not come back again.

[ramprun]

just curious, how do we actually check the level of the transmission fluid. i tried to look under the hood but i only find the engine oil dip stick but not for transmission. i really hate the plastic cover because i can't seem to find anything. i miss the old car setup with no useless plastic cover up.

[googleman]

By slipping, do you mean slight lagging in throttle response every now and then when the car moves from a stopped position, or when you shift back from R to D?

[Taunton02780]

I honestly do not know ... the dealership performed the check and made the discovery.

[Taunton02780]

The car would have an obvious delayed response in accelerating from a stand still (not from Park to Drive ... but in Drive while stopped at a stop sign, etc.). The problem would also happen when the vehicle came to a slow roll as to merge into traffic (in all cases, the engine would accelerate for about 2 seconds or so before the transmisison would engage ... causing a delayed and dangerous lunge forward). The problem is that it did not happen all the time (but got worse and worse) ... and it did not behave this way for the first few months (so if I was low on trany fliud it was not always low as the behavior was new ... and if I didn't leak it then where did it go?). I was lucky I had the Service Advisor in the car when it happened on the test drive ... his acknowledgement was obvious and immediate (and stated that it was not safe to drive).

[ramprun]

so how do we make sure that we have enough ATF. I can't find the transmission dip stick at all. Is it covered by the plastic cover?

[jmess]

The delivery documents you got when you bought the car should have listed what the dealer inspected prior to you driving off with the car. I would assume a transmission fluid level check would be part of the inspections but I could be wrong.

[OneOfOne]

the OP posted 8 months ago and reports no more problems so why is it a lame excuse?

[ramprun]

it is lame because the dealership should check transmission fluid before handing it to customer. there is no way that you can check the ATF level yourself because there isn't a ATF dipstick and the manual doesn't tell you how to check it.

[rontek]

Although the owners manual does not show you, there IS a transmission dipstick located WAY in back of the engine in the center. It is tucked behind the engine cover and you will need a light to see it, but it's there, and you can check your own fluid. At least that's where it is in the AWD model. That being said, I would agree this is something the dealer should check before delivery and as part of any multiplint inspection.
Modified by rontek at 6:08 AM 11/21/2009

[ramprun]

thanks rontek for this info. i have been afraid to drive my EX since i don't know if my dealership had done it probably. i was very surprise that i couldn't find the ATF dipstick where it suppose to be.