I took my EX in for the recall work and to get my oil changed. They called me back a little earlier and said that ALL of my fluids look "dirty". The maintenance plan says that transmission fluid should be changed at 30K and that brake and power steering should be inspected. I am a woman but definitely a car person. This is the second car (Pontiac G6 before) that they are telling me 30K for trans fluid. My parents have had lots of cars and Dad changed at 50K. They also said the trans fluid is a synthetic so that means it should last LONGER!!!
Has anyone else had to change these fluids and at what milage? :
PS Called the Customer Relations and got a girl that just read the maintenance schedule!!
Fluid Changes
Re: Fluid Changes (EXLuvr)
Sounds like a service sales pitch to me. Nissan sets the fluid change intervals, you should follow the normal tables.
If you are going to keep your car until the wheels fall off then over servicing the fluids may be worth it. If not why waste money along with increasing the amount of waste created by your car?
If you are going to keep your car until the wheels fall off then over servicing the fluids may be worth it. If not why waste money along with increasing the amount of waste created by your car?
Re: Fluid Changes (EXLuvr)
Go along with the schedule. The dealer is trying to make extra money.
Re: Fluid Changes
I had them do the brake fluid change out but I am going to do a little more research before they change anything else. I am also going to get them to show me what mine looks like compared to the new.
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SteveTheTech
- Posts: 3751
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12 Infiniti G37x Coupe
-Formerly-
05 Mazda 6 L3 Sport
95 Infiniti J30
94 Nissan D22 - Location: Chantilly, Va
Re: Fluid Changes (EXLuvr)
I would first off like to Welcome you to our little group here and congratulate you on your purchase of an EX.
Almost all dealers have some third party contracted fluid replacement company. I know the one that my dealer uses has some serious financial incentives to stock and sell their products. Everyone benefits from these types of service except the customer, I personally miss out on the revenue of potential upsells but I cannot in good conscience recommend someone put something in their car that I do not think is indeed a direct replacement.
Infiniti has taken a hard stance against these (potentially because their hands are not in the cookie jar) types of fluid replacement with universal fluids. Although there are exceptions to this, the brake fluid flush is one thing I do recommend as the benefits of that can be seen if done correctly and the kit is more practical than buying multiple bottle of OE brake fluid.
In my honest opinion I usually recommend a brake flush when the first set of brakes are replaced, either front or rear. If you inspect the color and notice it is no longer light yellow and has become dark almost black color, replacement would be justified. Things like power steering fluid can go for a good decade and 150+k with the original fluid. The racks and pumps that are used on all modern Infinitis are of great quality and although there is nominal fluid degradation over, I do not think the products on the market work well enough. Although logically they would exchange the fluid, I have achieved the same results from removing the low pressure line from the rack and letting gravity do the hard work. Fill the system up with 2 pints of fluid and I doubt you will ever hear anything out of it.
Replacing the differential and transfer case with the correct fluid is something that could be done in place of premature some maintenance items with generic fluid. A cabin filter and alignment are things I would do yearly followed by periodic adjustment or replacement like parking brake and wiper inserts.
There are some people that swear by maintenance schedules, and others that don't change their oil...ever, one usually comes out on top. The key is knowing what actually needs to be done and what is strictly mileage based. There are allot of buzz words used in the sales pitch, but if something is really needed getting it done is a good idea. Noticing things that wear progressively may be difficult and every once and a while a minor peak under the hood will answer any questions.
I am sorry to rant a little maintenance is one of those things I get a little long winded about. Below is a picture directly from the Service Manual Maintenance section.
Almost all dealers have some third party contracted fluid replacement company. I know the one that my dealer uses has some serious financial incentives to stock and sell their products. Everyone benefits from these types of service except the customer, I personally miss out on the revenue of potential upsells but I cannot in good conscience recommend someone put something in their car that I do not think is indeed a direct replacement.
Infiniti has taken a hard stance against these (potentially because their hands are not in the cookie jar) types of fluid replacement with universal fluids. Although there are exceptions to this, the brake fluid flush is one thing I do recommend as the benefits of that can be seen if done correctly and the kit is more practical than buying multiple bottle of OE brake fluid.
In my honest opinion I usually recommend a brake flush when the first set of brakes are replaced, either front or rear. If you inspect the color and notice it is no longer light yellow and has become dark almost black color, replacement would be justified. Things like power steering fluid can go for a good decade and 150+k with the original fluid. The racks and pumps that are used on all modern Infinitis are of great quality and although there is nominal fluid degradation over, I do not think the products on the market work well enough. Although logically they would exchange the fluid, I have achieved the same results from removing the low pressure line from the rack and letting gravity do the hard work. Fill the system up with 2 pints of fluid and I doubt you will ever hear anything out of it.
Replacing the differential and transfer case with the correct fluid is something that could be done in place of premature some maintenance items with generic fluid. A cabin filter and alignment are things I would do yearly followed by periodic adjustment or replacement like parking brake and wiper inserts.
There are some people that swear by maintenance schedules, and others that don't change their oil...ever, one usually comes out on top. The key is knowing what actually needs to be done and what is strictly mileage based. There are allot of buzz words used in the sales pitch, but if something is really needed getting it done is a good idea. Noticing things that wear progressively may be difficult and every once and a while a minor peak under the hood will answer any questions.
I am sorry to rant a little maintenance is one of those things I get a little long winded about. Below is a picture directly from the Service Manual Maintenance section.
Re: Fluid Changes (SteveTheTech)
Very objective response Steve. I agree brake fluid can take a beating and should be changed with brakes or every couple of years.
At 60K if I figured I was going to put another 60K on the car I might consider a simple drain and fill for the automatic fluid. If I lived where it was scorching hot I might change the rear diff juice while I was at it. I would politely say no thanks to power flushes, injector cleans, combustion chamber cleans, and etc..
At 60K if I figured I was going to put another 60K on the car I might consider a simple drain and fill for the automatic fluid. If I lived where it was scorching hot I might change the rear diff juice while I was at it. I would politely say no thanks to power flushes, injector cleans, combustion chamber cleans, and etc..
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SteveTheTech
- Posts: 3751
- Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:20 pm
- Car: 15 Nissan Sentra SR
12 Infiniti G37x Coupe
-Formerly-
05 Mazda 6 L3 Sport
95 Infiniti J30
94 Nissan D22 - Location: Chantilly, Va
Re: Fluid Changes (jmess)
I am reluctant to encourage a drain and fill of the transmission for one main reason. The original fill fluid was Nissan Matic-J and that has been replaced by the new Matic-S as a direct replacement getting a correct fluid exchange using the machine actually works fairly well in completely exchange almost all the original fluid. A D&F only gets about 3 qts in the pan.jmess wrote:At 60K if I figured I was going to put another 60K on the car I might consider a simple drain and fill for the automatic fluid. If I lived where it was scorching hot I might change the rear diff juice while I was at it. I would politely say no thanks to power flushes, injector cleans, combustion chamber cleans, and etc..
That is something I would recommend at 60k-ish, however there are those that get them done at half that and that is fine too. Some people do not mind excessive maintenance and I do everything in my power to make sure they get everything they are looking for out of their cars.
Intake and combustion chamber cleaners are not intended or recommended by Infiniti. I feel the investment does not equal the return. If you are running premium as recommended the fuel cleaners in high quality fuel are usually sufficient for the injectors in these cars. I will post pics on a car that I know has not had fuel cleaners run through it.