zMax in my G35 AT (ugh)

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I have a 2006 G35 sedan AT with 89,000 miles on it. I had the transmission flushed with Matic-J at 30k and 60k by an indy stop. Stupid me took it to the dealer today. The dealer reccommended just a drain and fill instead and said that flushing was a waste of money since I had it done at 30 and 60k. So I said fine, go ahead with that.

After I picked it up, I noticed "Auto Trans Conditioner" as a line item. When I called to ask what it was, they said it was zMax
mad.gif


I'm pretty peeved because the reason you bring it to the dealer is to get OEM stuff put in it, not some snake oil [censored]. Any thoughts about potential damage? The local indy guy I had taken it to said he doesn't think it would hurt anything

Thanks all.
 
Wagon Peddler probably promised them huge profits on pushing it with every service.Profits only,not actual performance.
 
Hurt, probably not, but I wouldn't pay for the additive to say the least, since they're trying to rook in profits off selling it.
 
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Go back to the dealer and politely inform them that the manufacturer does NOT suggest ANY additives and have them refill with the correct fluid once again. DO NOT PAY FOR THAT ADDITIVE!

My guess is you look in that owner's manual and it probably states ONLY USE GENUINE NISSAN FLUID!
 
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I would not pay for it since you did not ask for it and i now want a flush to rid the fluid of it( at their cost). I would want to watch them flush it to make sure.
 
Did some more digging - the dealer is owned by sonic automotive. The CEO of sonic automotive is Bruton Smith of NASCAR fame, who also owns........zMax

What a shady piece of garbage.

I called infiniti customer care, and generically described the situation without saying anything about the shop that did it. They said "we can connect you to your dealer" to which I said "I don't think that's going to help"

When I described to the call center person the past FTC lawsuit against zMax and that I went to an infiniti dealer to nissan fluids, he said he'd have a regional rep call me.

We'll see what happens
 
Good going DukeO2

Wow, interesting find about the Sonic Group and zMax, I didn't know that fact even after reading umpteen times in that nasty industry rag
"Automotive News" where they constantly praise Sonic and the owner of it.

Just goes to show you how "inbred" the automotive industry and journalist connections are it seems.

Please do me a favor and look at your owner's manual concerning the auto trans fluid instructions...can you tell us what it says there. I'm guessing that they state to ONLY use genuine NISSAN "Matic J" fluid.


But hey....If they can damage so many transmission with that snake oil they can sell a lot of transmission repairs. Can't they?
 
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correction: Bruton Smith is the CEO of Sonic Automotive and Speedway Motorsports. Speedway Motorsports owns zMax
 
There were some long zmax threads some years back. Did you ok at additive or sign away some aspect of the approval process? I'd complain and cite the OM where it says not to use adds.

That said, zmax is probably about as benign an additive as you can get. It's reconstructed medical grade mineral oil, that may have some slightly better flow characteristic. Is it needed? No. Would I put in as sensitive and unreliable part as an AT? No.

But it is FAA approved for aircraft engines, should wet the metal well, will not negatively effect your viscosity, and is chemically benign... So I wouldn't worry.

But a chat with the service manager would be smart.
 
I thought I saw a uoa that had zmax in it and the lead was extremely high. Not sure how that translates to a tranny but its good to know
 
On the cost front for the additive, I probably don't have a strong case as I signed an estimate for the job, but I never ok'd the use of zMax.

I may just bring it to the indy and have him flush it out and call it a day.

I just reinforced why I normally do my own maintenance.
 
Originally Posted By: Duke02
correction: Bruton Smith is the CEO of Sonic Automotive and Speedway Motorsports. Speedway Motorsports owns zMax


Still smells like conflict of interest and a very shady method too.
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Good going DukeO2

Wow, interesting find about the Sonic Group and zMax, I didn't know that fact even after reading umpteen times in that nasty industry rag
"Automotive News" where they constantly praise Sonic and the owner of it.

Just goes to show you how "inbred" the automotive industry and journalist connections are it seems.

Please do me a favor and look at your owner's manual concerning the auto trans fluid instructions...can you tell us what it says there. I'm guessing that they state to ONLY use genuine NISSAN "Matic J" fluid.


But hey....If they can damage so many transmission with that snake oil they can sell a lot of transmission repairs. Can't they?



From the owners manual

"Use only Genuine Nissan Matic J ATF. Do not mix with other fluids.

Using automatic transmission fluid other than Genuine Nissan Matic J ATF will cause deterioration in driveability and automatic transmission durability, and may damage the automatic transmission, which is not covered by the INFINITI new vehicle limited warranty."

Seems pretty cut and dry to me
 
btw, thanks for all the responses to a newb post. I've been a lurker for a long time, but never had much to contribute. Thanks for helping out BITOG community!
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I would not pay for it since you did not ask for it and i now want a flush to rid the fluid of it( at their cost). I would want to watch them flush it to make sure.


+1

Soo.. They put the zMax IN the trans??

get it out.. I heard that one sucks.......
 
From now on it will never shift right to you and you will feel all sorts of things you never felt before.
If it were me i would be in panic mode, hearing and feeling all sorts of things there were not there before. LOL

IMHO you will never feel right about this until the stuff has be flushed out which will take a full line off exchange to do.
I wouldn't be happy at all. What they did may be criminal as well as against their TOS with the manufacturer for their franchise.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I would not pay for it since you did not ask for it and i now want a flush to rid the fluid of it( at their cost). I would want to watch them flush it to make sure.


I would watch the procedure for sure as there is a good chance that would pee in the fluid.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I would not pay for it since you did not ask for it and i now want a flush to rid the fluid of it( at their cost). I would want to watch them flush it to make sure.


I would watch the procedure for sure as there is a good chance that would pee in the fluid.


I think i'm going to try to get them to give me the equivalent number of quarts and then I'll bring it somewhere i trust to actually do the job
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
From now on it will never shift right to you and you will feel all sorts of things you never felt before.
If it were me i would be in panic mode, hearing and feeling all sorts of things there were not there before. LOL

IMHO you will never feel right about this until the stuff has be flushed out which will take a full line off exchange to do.
I wouldn't be happy at all. What they did may be criminal as well as against their TOS with the manufacturer for their franchise.


Yeah, I'm interested to hear what the regional rep has to say. Unfortunately though, I imagine they will side with the dealer... They make more off the dealer than they will ever make off me.

This may be my last infiniti. It's unfortunate because they make nice cars, but both dealers in my area are scummy.
 
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