I was wondering if anyone has done a simple drain and flush on one of our vehicles? Mine is a 2012 M37S, how much fluid did it take and is there a drain and fill plug/bolt? Thanks again I have search and not found any info on this.

I'd recommend against this...it's best to use the machine.

Either way, perhaps someone can provide the info you need.

Ilya wrote:I'd recommend against this...it's best to use the machine.

Either way, perhaps someone can provide the info you need.

Thanks man. Believe or not my Infiniti dealership said they don't recommended to use the machine? that is why Im just planning on doing a drain and flush. I guess everybody has a different way of doing things.

Vini wrote:

Ilya wrote:I'd recommend against this...it's best to use the machine.

Either way, perhaps someone can provide the info you need.

Thanks man. Believe or not my Infiniti dealership said they don't recommended to use the machine? that is why Im just planning on doing a drain and flush. I guess everybody has a different way of doing things.

How many miles on the car? After a certain mileage threshold the machine could do more harm than good because of the pressure it uses...

Vini wrote:I was wondering if anyone has done a simple drain and flush on one of our vehicles? Mine is a 2012 M37S, how much fluid did it take and is there a drain and fill plug/bolt? Thanks again I have search and not found any info on this.

Checkout the transmission factory service bulletin in the How To & FAqs thread. Look up your year and model. It is the TM.pdf file which explains the procedure for changing the AT fluid. It's more of a "drain and fill" as opposed to "drain and flush". There is a drain plug and an overfill plug. If you do it according to the bulletin, you'll use 3 liters x 2 because you'll fill it and drain it twice. The third time you'll add the 3 liters plus an extra 1/2 liter after you run through the gears. Read the manual, it explains the procedure.

So I'm near 40k miles. I'm a believer in changing fluids. In fact I'd like to change out differential fluid now too. But... Had Infiniti change tranny oil. They really didn't want to. There explanation was that it has long life fluid in there already. Synthetic fluid. Well. I don't care. Change my fluid out anyway. So. Now was the question of use machine to flush out all 10-13 quarts? Can't remember exact amount. So service rep said just let it drain and replace what came out. Which is approximately 4-4.5 quarts. So I just let it drain and replaced that. But I heard the machine flush does put unwanted pressure on certain parts of the transmission. But service rep recommend that. So I went that route. And I was Leary about just adding new fluid to old. In other words cross contaminating new with old. So I just may do another drain after another 20k miles with Infiniti so at least I have a record of over maintaining the car in case I sold her.

I asked the dealer about having my trans fluid flushed at 30k and he said it is not recommended and is for the life of the car. imagine that, they wouldn't take my money...lol.

PostalsQ wrote:...So service rep said just let it drain and replace what came out. Which is approximately 4-4.5 quarts. So I just let it drain and replaced that. But I heard the machine flush does put unwanted pressure on certain parts of the transmission. But service rep recommend that. So I went that route. And I was Leary about just adding new fluid to old. In other words cross contaminating new with old. So I just may do another drain after another 20k miles with Infiniti so at least I have a record of over maintaining the car in case I sold her.

I guess I'm confused as to what your service rep is recommending. Sounds like he's saying two different things. Also, there is more to it than just draining it and replacing it. You're not just adding new fluid to old fluid. After you drain the old fluid and add the new fluid, you have to lower the car back down and run it to a set temperature window, then drain it...then fill it up again...then run it again to the same temperature...then drain it again. Then add new fluid again (the third time) then run through the gears then add about 1/2 liter to top it off. This is the procedure my tech recommended, as this pretty much flushes the old fluid out. BTW, if you had the timing chain recall work done (M56), the AT fluid is changed as part of that process.

armybrat wrote:

PostalsQ wrote:...So service rep said just let it drain and replace what came out. Which is approximately 4-4.5 quarts. So I just let it drain and replaced that. But I heard the machine flush does put unwanted pressure on certain parts of the transmission. But service rep recommend that. So I went that route. And I was Leary about just adding new fluid to old. In other words cross contaminating new with old. So I just may do another drain after another 20k miles with Infiniti so at least I have a record of over maintaining the car in case I sold her.

I guess I'm confused as to what your service rep is recommending. Sounds like he's saying two different things. Also, there is more to it than just draining it and replacing it. You're not just adding new fluid to old fluid. After you drain the old fluid and add the new fluid, you have to lower the car back down and run it to a set temperature window, then drain it...then fill it up again...then run it again to the same temperature...then drain it again. Then add new fluid again (the third time) then run through the gears then add about 1/2 liter to top it off. This is the procedure my tech recommended, as this pretty much flushes the old fluid out. BTW, if you had the timing chain recall work done (M56), the AT fluid is changed as part of that process.

This is why the machine is better...way too much work lol. But yes, if you have a M56 you'll be lucky to get it done at the same time. lol.

Ilya wrote:How many miles on the car? After a certain mileage threshold the machine could do more harm than good because of the pressure it uses...

This is an incorrect statement that has been repeated since the dawn of automatic transmissions.

The problem people report is that after a fluid drain and fill or use of the flush machine, their high-mileage transmission fails shortly after.

The reason is that as the old fluid ages, it's friction properties change. The ECU compensates for the change in friction (between clutch packs) by applying clutches more quickly or more slowly so the shifts are as close to factory-fresh as possible. When the fluid is not changed regularly, the ECU has to compensate by applying clutches very slowly so there's no sudden surge. After replacing fluid with fresh fluid which has renewed friction modifiers, if this slow-clutch application continues, the clutches burn up.

The remedy is to reset your ECU KAM (Keep-Alive-Memory) completely immediately following the fluid change.

In regards to the pressures of the flush machine - they machine does not force any pressure; your transmission provides the pressure. It uses two cylinders, one for "recovery" and one for "new" fluid. As your transmission pumps out old fluid into the recovery cylinder, the new fluid is pushed into the return line at the same rate and pressure.

My car has 46k miles on it. The dealer here in SOCAL said not use the machine just to do a simple drain and fill... I guess I'm gonna have then do it like that just for future problems that might happen to the transmission.

ArmedAviator wrote:

Ilya wrote:How many miles on the car? After a certain mileage threshold the machine could do more harm than good because of the pressure it uses...

This is an incorrect statement that has been repeated since the dawn of automatic transmissions.

The problem people report is that after a fluid drain and fill or use of the flush machine, their high-mileage transmission fails shortly after.

The reason is that as the old fluid ages, it's friction properties change. The ECU compensates for the change in friction (between clutch packs) by applying clutches more quickly or more slowly so the shifts are as close to factory-fresh as possible. When the fluid is not changed regularly, the ECU has to compensate by applying clutches very slowly so there's no sudden surge. After replacing fluid with fresh fluid which has renewed friction modifiers, if this slow-clutch application continues, the clutches burn up.

The remedy is to reset your ECU KAM (Keep-Alive-Memory) completely immediately following the fluid change.

In regards to the pressures of the flush machine - they machine does not force any pressure; your transmission provides the pressure. It uses two cylinders, one for "recovery" and one for "new" fluid. As your transmission pumps out old fluid into the recovery cylinder, the new fluid is pushed into the return line at the same rate and pressure.

Consider me corrected.

Vini wrote:My car has 46k miles on it. The dealer here in SOCAL said not use the machine just to do a simple drain and fill... I guess I'm gonna have then do it like that just for future problems that might happen to the transmission.

It's not very simple on these "sealed" transmissions. It can be done, but if your fluid and temperature measurements are inaccurate, you can ruin a good transmission. There is no dipstick like on transmissions of years past.

I much rather do my own work to my cars and other belongings to save money and have peace of mind, but this is one of only a few maintenance items that I'd specifically leave to the dealer. If it is screwed up by them and leads to failure, you get a factory remanufactured transmission with all new internals, installed on their dime - even out of warranty.