I have a 2005 G35x with 125,000 km on it.

Tonight for the first time I experienced a problem with the transmission. Specifically, it is very slow to engage reverse. I select reverse and hit the gas and the RPMs just increase, but the car just sits there. After about 4 or 5 seconds, it slides into reverse.

Drive is altogether normal.

Looked underneath, no leaks or drips.

Can't check Transmission fluid without taking a wrench to it it would seem. (Still, if no leaks, where did the fluid go.) (Strange that you can't open the transmission dip stick without a wrench.)

Any ideas as to what this might be??

Don't feel like paying to have the transmission replaced.

I had Infiniti Dealer replace the Transmission oil at 50,000 and 100,000 km, so I have done my servicing.

Only happened that one time?

No, it just started happening, and now it happens each and every time I put the car into reverse.

Just unbolted my Transmission dip stick.

Fluid levels are fine. A tad high even.

Check your fluid again, it should not be high.

With my Maxima I had a similar issue happen twice while in drive. Starting off at a light the RPM's increased for a couple seconds before the transmission finally engaged. I had the tranny flushed and fluid replaced with synthetic and I noticed it happen once more. The first one was around 100k miles and the second around 120k. I traded the car in at 158k and it was still fine.

I have had the fluid changed twice since buying the car new. (At 50,000 km, and at 100,000 km)

The car is now at 125,000 km.

Oil is not a nice cherry red by any means. Kind of brown looking. No unusual smells though.

I have to admit, that although I had the transmission oil changed at the Dealer, I have to make the leap of faith that they actually did the work. We've all seen the videos on Youtube of the fast lube places that sell the Transmission flush and fills to the customers and never even do the work, just tell the customer that the work was done. Now I'm not saying that that is the case here, however, I have no way of really KNOWING whether they did the work or not. They won't let you watch. I'm naturally not a trusting fellow. I have always subscribed to "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself"

The ATF fluid I am used to seeing is cherry red. Maybe the Nissan stuff is more brown, I dunno.

But....

Just took the car for a spin, pulled into my driveway, put it in reverse and it just sat there. No reverse at all. Hit the gas, still no reverse.

Put in park, shut off, restart, put in reverse - 5 seconds later - it has reverse.

Something is definitely F'd up.

If this transmission is shot, I'm going be seriously Pissed off. SERIOUSLY. There is no way in hell that this should even be happening. Not with this car, at this mileage, and with me servicing it correctly.

Hmmm.....I would think if it were an internal seal issue or physical problem then reverse would simply be out. Sounds more like a control module or solenoid of some sort that may get initially reset if you shut the car off.

I have an appointment next Thursday with the Dealer

Strange, I called them back and they tell me that all their techs work on Transmissions, that having "a Transmission specialist" is a North American thing.

Personally, I think this is BS.

Pulling a transmission apart is not something for the ordinary mechanic. I don't care what they say about them all "being trained". I've been laying under cars since I was 8 years old and I've done frame off restorations, rebuilt many motors and I would not be taking an automatic transmission apart. No way. I leave that to the guys who do it day in and day out.

Once the thing engages into reverse, it's fine. The problem is engaging reverse.

I'm still mad though. This should not be happening at this stage of the life of the car. Especially not one that has been serviced regularly by the Dealer.

I'm going to take it to the Dealer, but if it needs a full rebuild and they refuse to accept at least some of the responsibility in this, I'm going to tell them to drop the car and I'll find a Transmission pro shop in Toronto somewhere that can fix it.

I think you took them by surprise by asking for a technician that works on transmissions. The normal procedure is to have the car looked at by the tech, and if he needs help, the more experienced techs will help/do the work. If it's under warranty or an extended warranty, just let them handle it.

Very good news - and ending to the story.

Took the car to the dealer and they tried flushing and filling the oil to no avail. A gentleman I had never seen before comes over to me and tells me that something like this happening is very rare and that they can see that I've been servicing my car regularly with them since it was purchased new and continue to do so. As such, they said, "we'll take care of it for you" I wasn't sure I heard correctly, but he repeated, "we'll take care of it for you".

Wow, just wow.

They gave me a loaner and told me to come back tomorrow to pick it up.

I'm so impressed. I was figuring that I would have to fight this one because the car is out of warrantee (not by much mind you). Instead, no fighting, no getting upset, just "we'll take care of it for you"

Holy cow am I happy. Hats off to Infiniti for standing by their products. I will definitely be buying another G37x in the near future and from this dealer.

Hi, Can you post what the dealer repair involved?

My 2005 Pathfinder is doing the exact same thing, and:
1. it is long out of warranty,
2. dealers are stating that it is a dead transmission (it shifts fine while driving, and has no problems shifting into "D" from "P"), and I think they don't know what they are talking about.

glad there was a good ending to this... no way a tranny gets messed up and you flushed it twice in 100,000 miles. Most people only flush thier tranny once in owning their car.

When/if you upgrade to a G37 you will see that the tranny is "Maintence free", still makes me uncomfortable... but im at 81k miles and havent had any tranny issues past software stuff.

Probably replaced transmission. Worn bands can cause those symptoms.

audtatious wrote:Check your fluid again, it should not be high.

You would be surprised what being slightly overfilled will do to these. 1/2 quart can cause shift problems.

Without seeing it in person I do not want to condemn a trans, but it is uncommon for it to only feel like it is slipping in Reverse. There are some problems you would only notice but they are all internal hydraulic issues. A line pressure test and stall test would be required but actually with the clutch and band chart these are actually pretty easy to diagnose. The computer oversight is not keen on hydraulic faults but it will log a fault if it commands something and it does not occur.

james t kirk wrote:Very good news - and ending to the story.

Took the car to the dealer and they tried flushing and filling the oil to no avail. A gentleman I had never seen before comes over to me and tells me that something like this happening is very rare and that they can see that I've been servicing my car regularly with them since it was purchased new and continue to do so. As such, they said, "we'll take care of it for you" I wasn't sure I heard correctly, but he repeated, "we'll take care of it for you".

That is awesome news. Congratulations.
Factory Good Will support was designed to help people like you in the unlikely occurrence of a problem like this on a car that has always been owned by the same person and always maintained at the dealer. They are not always evil.

james t kirk wrote:Very good news - and ending to the story.

Took the car to the dealer and they tried flushing and filling the oil to no avail. A gentleman I had never seen before comes over to me and tells me that something like this happening is very rare and that they can see that I've been servicing my car regularly with them since it was purchased new and continue to do so. As such, they said, "we'll take care of it for you" I wasn't sure I heard correctly, but he repeated, "we'll take care of it for you".

Wow, just wow.

They gave me a loaner and told me to come back tomorrow to pick it up.

I'm so impressed. I was figuring that I would have to fight this one because the car is out of warrantee (not by much mind you). Instead, no fighting, no getting upset, just "we'll take care of it for you"

Holy cow am I happy. Hats off to Infiniti for standing by their products. I will definitely be buying another G37x in the near future and from this dealer.

Hey James,

I have the same problem.. Glad it got resolved for you in a great way. I am in Toronto as well - Can you let me know what dealership this was?
I had a little bit of problem on my 08 G35x. In the morning, the car used to jerk a little bit before going into reverse. I had taken it to the dealership and they found no issues.
A couple of days ago, the VDC and slip lights came on on my drive home. I looked it up and most people said it could have to do with brakes/brake fluid. I took it to a Nissan dealership and they confirmed this. I was there for about 2 hours. After taking my car back (didn't get the work done) - I found that there was a big drag when trying to pull out (drive forward) of their parking lot. I was in a rush and couldn't go back to them at the time. a couple of hours later I was pulling out of work and noticed that I could not reverse at all. I spent like 5 mins and finally it shifted into reverse and jerked back. I took it back to the same Nissan dealership and they said they only checked the brakes and what started happening has got nothing to do with them at all. I argued with them a bunch but they didn't budge at all. Going to speak to the General Manager soon.

401 Dixie Infiniti.

Sadly I sold the 2005 after buying a 2012 and getting married. I had given the car to my then GF, now wife. I also have a 2009 Nissan Frontier for work purposes. So if I had of kept the 05, I would have had 3 cars parked on the street (I live in Bloor West Village and there is only street parking).

I don't think the neighbours would have appreciated one household having 3 cars on the street.

In hind sight though, I wish I had of sold the 2012 G37x and kept the 05.

The 05 G35x was a far superior car. I loved that f'n car. Loved it. I despise my 2012 because it's an unresponsive dog of a car. Infiniti took a stallion in the 05 variant and made it into a gelding.

Hi James, I am also in the toronto area. Could you provide some insight as to what exactly happened and how the dealership fixed it? I have the exact same issue for my 2006 infiniti 35x sedan. not really sure what to do.

A few things from someone who has rebuilt every ATX in every car he's ever owned.

Some cars need fluid changed as often as 30K miles, be guided by the fluid color and not any maintenance schedule. The fluid turns from red to orange then brown and if brown it IS burned fluid. I change at going into orange somewhat. And if only a drain and refill not all of the fluid gets changed, you still have half of the dirty fluid remaining in the converter as they dropped the fifty cent plug that you used to drain ALL of the fluid out with. How they get the public to wear the cars out faster while thinking everything is fine, it sells more new cars.

'...it is uncommon for it to only feel like it is slipping in Reverse.'

Not at all, many cars can do that. Reverse often is the first gear to show issues if only a partial hydraulic circuit fail, because reverse typically needs maybe twice as much pressure to lock up fully, it's due to the way most ATX are designed. Look at how line pressure greatly increases in reverse in many ATX designs.

Bands are usually not designed to be externally adjusted any longer BUT there are ways to still do it as they have to be individually adjusted when the transmissions are built new. For instance on one car I simply added a thirty cent washer to tighten up a band that was slipping very badly, the trans instantly began to work right again and lasted twenty more years. On my Fords they use different length 'band bolts' to adjust, I made up one that was very long to create an oldschool band adjuster that can be infinitely adjusted without the need of special parts. If the reverse on the OP car uses a band they could have simply adjusted it to be back in happy land, it depends on the trans design as to whether that is possible.

As well sometimes valve body wear issues can have one changing a $5 spool valve to make trans back working again, the hardest part of it is finding the separate valve, as most shops want to sell a $400 valve body for you to get the one little part. Nowadays the solenoids can make issues too, replacing one here or there often can have car back to normal in a short time.

james t kirk wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 21, 2014 6:22 pm

401 Dixie Infiniti.

Sadly I sold the 2005 after buying a 2012 and getting married. I had given the car to my then GF, now wife. I also have a 2009 Nissan Frontier for work purposes. So if I had of kept the 05, I would have had 3 cars parked on the street (I live in Bloor West Village and there is only street parking).

I don't think the neighbours would have appreciated one household having 3 cars on the street.

In hind sight though, I wish I had of sold the 2012 G37x and kept the 05.

The 05 G35x was a far superior car. I loved that f'n car. Loved it. I despise my 2012 because it's an unresponsive dog of a car. Infiniti took a stallion in the 05 variant and made it into a gelding.

Interesting that you find the 2012 a dog as it's actually faster 0-60 and 1/4 mile than the 2005. The 2005 may have seemed somewhat more responsive as the VQ37 introduced "swell" in which the throttle transition was not as instantaneous as with the VQ35 but was actually faster overall. Butt dyno may feel that it's slower.