Transmission oil change

E

embdenb

Member
Location
Weeki Wachee
Car
2005 FX35
Some years ago when I purchased my FX35 I took it to the dealer for a transmission oil change. I was told that they do not do a simple oil change. I special machine had to be attached to the transmission that would pump and change all the oil, including the torque converter.
Last week I took the vehicle back to the same dealer for transmission oil change. I watched from the waiting room as the mechanic drained the oil from the transmission pan and added 5 or 6 quarts of transmission fluid. No special pump used, just a normal transmission oil change. when I questioned the service adviser he said that was the normal recommended transmission oil change. The complete flush and fill was only recommended when there was an issue with the transmission. BTW the charge to drain and fill with transmission fluid was $171.00 US. :eek.:

Is the complete flush and refill no longer recommended?
 
well it was a great marketing gig to make money initially. But all the mechanica and some service advisors frowned upon this so called flush. I get it if the trannny is new under 20k miles go for it but when you have so many miles on it its not recommended it will damage the seals eventually.. Most german manufac. dont even recommend to change th tranny oil.. So most honest service advisors wont recommend it.
 
Sounds right an price is actually fair. I would only do drain and fill on the tran on older cars. Power flush actually may done more harm then good to the trans because of the heavy concentrate of detergent in new the fluid.
 
As a rule of thumb, flushing anything outside of the coolant system on modern vehicles is asking for trouble.

Transmission flushes, engine flushes, etc. these are all known to have created problems previously, highly recommend you stay away from people who tell you that you need them.

In terms of pricing, 171 bucks for a drain and fill isn't bad. The fluid would have costed you about 50 bucks alone, and although the process is easy, I can see it taking them an hour to get the car into the shop on the lift, and then go through the motions. So overall 200 hundred bucks (after shop fees and taxes) isn't an outrageous number.
 
STIBungy said:
Luxury car, luxury service pricing. Hope they had good coffee and snacks.
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To be honest, not really.

My toyota Camry costed me 168 dollars for a drain and fill of the transmission, and I would argue it is the most utilitarian car on the market right now.

I dont disagree that Infiniti may charge luxury prices for some services, but 171 dollars for the services rendered in this case actually seems really fair...
 
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If they checked the level afterwards then that adds to the work, and is not easy. From what I remember you need to use the Consult to make sure it's in a certain temp range when you take the measurement and insert the dipstick a specific way for cold/hot. I'm guessing their measurement system for how much came out/went in was more technical than mine as well and could add time.

I bet the fluid costs more through them, so about $10 x 5-6, $80/hr labor right is the normal rate I think, and then tax. It's not cheap, but it's not a terrible price for a service that I can see people not wanting to try for fear of messing up. I would have been in trouble if I hadn't made the extra quart mark on my drain pan.
 
StuLax18 said:
If they checked the level afterwards then that adds to the work, and is not easy. From what I remember you need to use the Consult to make sure it's in a certain temp range when you take the measurement and insert the dipstick a specific way for cold/hot. I'm guessing their measurement system for how much came out/went in was more technical than mine as well and could add time.

I bet the fluid costs more through them, so about $10 x 5-6, $80/hr labor right is the normal rate I think, and then tax. It's not cheap, but it's not a terrible price for a service that I can see people not wanting to try for fear of messing up. I would have been in trouble if I hadn't made the extra quart mark on my drain pan.
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The temp part is not on the 1st gens. Might be on the 2nd gen.

I know for a fact because I've done it on model year 2000+ vw/Audi are gravity fed and the engine has to be within so many degrees. U get one shot to do it right or wait til the engine cools.

If fluid cost us $10 for matic s, it most likely cost them $5-7. Labor for an item like that is a flat rate. Like an oil change is .3-.5 of an hour. But they charge u a flat rate becuase its a lost leader to get u in the door. I can see the atf change to pay roughly the same.

I've never been to a dealership where the labor rate is under $100 in the Midwest. Last I looked my downtown Infiniti was $159/hour and my local Nissan was $129-139. They stopped sending me free oil change coupons so I haven't been there to check.

Sent from my GT-I9505G
 
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Thanks for all the input on the trans change. One clarification, I believe my term of flush was inaccurate. I should have explained that the first oil change they used a machine to pump all the oil out, including the torque converter. I asked the price for this service and was quoted approx $325.00 us
 
Sounds like a flush to me, although I guess if they didn't let the fluid cycle through more than just getting the original oil out then maybe its not really a flush.

Either way, the preferred method on IS is to drain and fill more often, instead of doing 1 full system oil swap at inconsistent intervals.
 
edmarin said:
So change not flush
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Yes changing the fluid is necessary, flushing is most definitely not required, and NOT recommended.

The most simple and least problematic way of keeping transmission fluid in good operating condition is to do drain & fills (which replaces about 1/3 the fluid) at shorter intervals.

The above works for 1st gens quite nicely, I don't know about the 2nd gens, I have heard a lot of different things regarding the 7 speed and its intricacies. Maybe Aaron can chime in on that as I know he has a good understanding and reasonable amount of mechanical aptitude and knowledge of whats necessary on the 2009+ fx's.
 
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