MaxMike93

I've posted this on a different site and I think the I30/I35 section, but never really got many responses. Anyway, the shifting in my I30 (same VQ30 powertrain as the 5th gen Maxima) can be harsh, but mainly in certain instances. After sitting overnight, especially in the cold, the 1-2 shift is not very smooth whatsoever. And the 1-2 shift at high RPM (usually at or close to WOT) is atrocious, with the car sitting at redline for 1-1.5 seconds before pretty much slamming into gear. This occurs unless the system has been running for a long time (I'd say at least 20 minutes of driving). 2-3 shift can cause a small flare-up when it's cold, but that is completely eliminated after a short period of driving. Since all the issues pretty much resolve themselves once everything is warm, I'm thinking its the ATF. A while ago a guy at the Infiniti dealership said since the car is so old and has low miles (got it 2 years ago with 22k) that the fluid could have thickened and isn't flowing optimally, which does make sense for the situation. My dad took it to his friend's shop back in March and they drained and refilled the pan, when I told him about pumping it out through the return line from the cooler to the transmission, and the shifting may have been better, but the usual 1-2 harshness continued. He did say that the fluid there looked good, but I'm thinking it just isn't flowing through well enough. I want to do the method where you pump it through the return line one day, and I'm hoping a more complete fluid change will help. Any other ideas for this? Car currently has just below 50k. Thanks for any advice!

MrEous

iTrader: (11)

#1 - quit tearing your tranny up by racing (high rpm 1-2) when its cold

Only 50k and having these issues? Something is wrong or you just aren't giving it enough time to warm up the transmission. What fluid did you use last time?

D.Stillwell

I used to have a 2001 I30 (same VQ30) auto, in which after abusing it for years and years the tranny finally started giving in and slipping. I ended up getting rid of that car right around the time of the tranny crapping out, hit and run came at the right time I guess.

Thing is though, my old I30 was NOT maintained well at all, it was one of my first cars and back then I really was a horrid POS of a car owner who didn't care for his cars. I did regular oil changes and all the regular maintenance stuff while I had it, but the ATF was never ever changed.

So to make my point, I abused the living **** out of my I30, drove it hard as I could, basically neglected it and didn't care about it and just was waiting for it to break down on me so I can get a new car. And without any ATF changes ever, the tranny ran to 150k and I'm telling you I really destroyed that thing.

You said you bought your car only 2 years ago with 22k miles on it? And it's a 2000? I would be VERY concerned about that line, something seems not right about a 10+ year old car with only 22k miles no? Maybe you should look into that first, maybe the car you bought actually had more like 122k miles?

Sometimes the ATF can cause problems, like if it has never been changed for 100k miles and then you change it, that can cause slipping as the old fluid was holding it together. If you have such low mileage as you supposedly do, I just can't see the tranny going already, even if you abused it real hard it's still kind of early with that mileage.

My first guess, however, is that your odometer is lying to you.

Nawlinsboy2006

iTrader: (3)

Have you tried using Lucas transmission fluid?

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

The only fix for your trans is:

1. Let your car warm up to normal operating temp.
2. Transgo shift kit

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

3. Check and replace busted motor mounts.


On my max, even after the Transgo kit, my shifts got worse. It was my electronic motor mount. Replaced that, shifts smooth as butter.

These trannys are known for 1-2 slippage by design and only worsened further by age and abuse. So inspect and replace bad mounts, then if you are going to further rag on the car, get the Transgo kit.

MaxMike93

I've stopped giving it full throttle unless it has been driven for the time usually taken for it to run properly. It's just that if its around this time of year and I start driving after it has been sitting, it is much better than if I get in and drive when it's much colder out (say January). Even if its around 3000RPM or a little more after a really cold start, I'd get a bit of a jolt from the shift. But it goes away after a while. Used Matic D when it was done. I have another 9 quarts of it so I don't need much more to actually change all the fluid out.

I don't think that's the issue. Infiniti dealer service records show that it was only driven 22k miles before I bought it, and even if a digital odometer can be rolled back, I wouldn't know how easily. I don't think it's going since once it has time to get warmed up from driving it performs perfectly. It just seems that it takes way too long for it to reach that point.

Nope.

I usually don't beat too hard on it much anymore. More just that it is very unrefined when it has it's first shift of the day and after driving it gets much better. I'd estimate the point at which it's good, but not perfect for a high-RPM upshift is after a few miles of highway driving like on my school commute. Mostly in the winter, I'd notice that at 70mph the RPMs sit a little above 2500, but after the few miles it drops perfectly to 2500.


So maybe my issue is that these transmissions just take an extremely long time to warm up? I'm still thinking of the full fluid replacement to try and get as much old stuff out as possible. When my dad dropped the pan, he said the fluid in it still looked good, but I just don't think it is performing the best it can.

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Don't discount the motor mounts. It sounds counter intuitive, but bad mounts make for harsher and poorer performing shifts.

MaxMike93

Maybe I'll give that a shot. I'll have to check about that. Is there any timeframe that they would absolutely need replacing?

MaxMike93

Something just keeps telling me it has to deal with how long it takes for the system to be completely warmed up, whether due to the transmission's design or the fluid age. Just noting since it was been hot in NJ for the past few days, and yesterday I had to merge onto one of the major highways in the area. I had driven it for less than 20 minutes on backroads before having to get on the highway, and then went WOT to merge with seamless shifting through all gears. Once someone posted (I forgot exactly when and on what forum) that the knock sensor could be causing it, but I don't get how that could be a culprit.