Looooooong lag time shifting into reverse...

D

Dynamo

Member
Location
Austin, TX
My '05 AWD FX35 just developed this issue in the last few days. When I shift into reverse (from any other gear, park or neutral) it takes a long time for the transmission to actually engage into reverse. I timed it tonight, took ~14 seconds before it engaged. Once it is engaged it moves just fine. If I rev the engine a bit then it will engage quicker. Other than that the transmission shifts and behaves as it always has.

Any ideas? Hoping this doesn't mean a transmission rebuild or replacement.
 
Weird. A similar thing happened to me at least 7 times two months ago.
When I would switch from reverse to drive, it would take 5 seconds for it to engage in drive. Revving it would make the process quicker.
Once I did my 90k transmission fluid change, it went away.
 
low fluid or worn out fluid could be the culprit here. check the fluid. a swap is recommended but i wouldn't advise you to switch to completely new tranny oil while you're having this issue. a mix of old and new oil makes more proper sense right now.
 
I bought it in February with 62k miles. It has 77k miles on it now. I believe the printout of service records that Austin Infiniti gave me said the trans fluid was changed at 56k miles but I will check again. I will check the fluid asap. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:24 PM ----------

Ok, I checked the ATF and it is brown, just like in the ATF drain/refill DIY thread. I got out the service history report that Austin Infiniti gave me at the end of this past June. It says the ATF was replaced on 09/24/10 at 56K miles. Seems strange to me that it would be that brown in less than a year. In any case I'm going to pick up some Matic J tomorrow and replace it after work.

When checking the fluid level, the trans dipstick gets inserted backwards, correct? Backwards meaning the dipstick is rotated so the mounting tab is 180* from the mounting point. Does it get insterted all the way in or just until it touches the fill pipe? The service manual is somewhat confusing.
 
*sigh*

Got my FX back from the dealer today. They did as much probing as they could supposedly without tearing down the transmission and could not find a specific problem. They suspect that an internal seal is bad causing the delay going into reverse. Their recommendation? Replace the transmission to the tune of $6000. I just had them do a fluid swap for now. I can't really tell if it made any real difference though it is definitely not worse.

I am contemplating trading it in on a nice '06 they have (RWD, 42K miles, loaded) but it would mean getting into a worse financial situation and of course there's no guarantee that I won't have problems after the drivetrain warranty is up. I will probably just keep my FX and stash away the money to pay for a new transmission when if finally goes. I love the FX too much to switch to anything else. This sucks. :frown:
 
Sorry to hear.

You should get a quote from a local mechanic who specializes in transmission. They can probably rebuild it for MUCH less than $6000.
 
Why dont you go to a dealer & test a different 1st gen FX, or get together with someone on the board & drive both? See if there really is a difference or problem.
Dealer suggestion? I wouldnt jump at that right away.
If it is the tranny, try calling corporate & see if they will give a goodwill warranty. Maybe you pick up the labor, they pick up the parts. I just had that done at Acura on an MDX that's 10 years old, no warranty. They did this deal with me . . & with that, I got a factory tranny out of the box w/ 3 yr, 36K warranty attached. I paid the labor, $1300. This was the deal of the year :)
 
gto said:
Why dont you go to a dealer & test a different 1st gen FX, or get together with someone on the board & drive both? See if there really is a difference or problem.
Dealer suggestion? I wouldnt jump at that right away.
If it is the tranny, try calling corporate & see if they will give a goodwill warranty. Maybe you pick up the labor, they pick up the parts. I just had that done at Acura on an MDX that's 10 years old, no warranty. They did this deal with me . . & with that, I got a factory tranny out of the box w/ 3 yr, 36K warranty attached. I paid the labor, $1300. This was the deal of the year :)
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Mine used to not do it up until a week or so ago. It used to have a nice firm and quick engagement into reverse just like it still does into drive. The lag is very apparent. The '06 I am thinking about trading it for had no lag shifting into any gear when I test drove it today.

I think I will contact Infiniti consumer affairs tomorrow. It's ridiculous that it should fail at 77K miles, just out of the drivetrain warranty period too. Dealer records show that the tranny was serviced at 56K miles which was just a couple of months before I bought it. I would gladly take a deal like you got on the MDX, heck I'd even pay half of what the dealer wants. We'll see.
 
like pmaliu said, take it to a mechanic who specializes in this. Also you can try different dealers opinions, or a good shop. 6k is way up there, thats 1/3 what you probably payed for..
 
me too

i noticed backing out of my parking space at night. i start the car, put it in reverse and back out. when i shift to drive there is about a five second delay. my tranny fluid was change earlier his year by the dealer. no issues were reported to me, but i will bring it up at the next service. :err:
 
Update: I did end up calling Infiniti consumer affairs and finally heard back from them today. Took them almost 2 weeks to tell me that they couldn't help me. I figured as much.

My FX still has the long lag time shifting into reverse which gets worse the hotter the transmission is. Since it will still go into reverse and isn't slipping once engaged I am going to just live with it until it fails completely. Oh well.
 
Well just great. On the way home yesterday after stopping to pick up my daughter my FX would not go into reverse. I got it home and finally was able to get it to engage by really revving the engine, like up to 3000rpms several times. Up to that point if it wouldn't engage I just had to rev it a little so it's obviously getting worse (much worse). I have an appointment for Tuesday to have the transmission replaced at the dealer. :frown:
 
Last edited:
ocal21 said:
Is Infiniti covering under warranty?
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It's 7000 miles and 4 months past the drivetrain warranty. I plead my case to Infiniti consumer affairs but they said "sorry, can't help you".

I have a "15% off previous estimates" coupon from the dealer so I'm gonna use it to ease the pain a little.
 
I've been sniffing around this evening searching for "slipping". The spousal-unit's '06 FX had a kind of slipping engagement the other day when I was driving it. Going from reverse to forward. A couple days later my wife said it slipped at a stop sign. She moved it to park and back to drive a time or two to get it going.
I noticed in one thread it mentioned the tranny fluid being quite brown. We have had a fluid leak for about a month now. Not a huge one. Several drips or so over night. I pulled the panel off the bottom and it was on the oil filter, dripping down. I just assumed it was leaking at the filter seal/gasket. Now I wonder if, God forbid, I have a tranny seal leaking.
I noticed what appeared to be a "secured dipstick". I will search some more to see if I can check level with that. I'm guessing with car running.
Off to search some more. Will subscribe to this one in case anybody has some specific advise. A $6K tranny rebuild will never be in the cards, although I would never think about having that done at the dealer anyway.
As an important fyi I would think, FX has about 88K miles. Never been flushed as far as I know. Doh!
 
I couldn't ask for much more in a reply than a pic and a link!! I appreciate that!
I've read over the o-ring replacement, which will be a piece of cake. Right at oil change interval too.

Will also warm up the FX Saturday then check fluid level. I imagine I will start with a drain and fill per another write up I located.
We have parked the FX for now, and SWMBO will be driving my old F-150. Ha, have fun with all that......


MTN FX said:
1) Remove the engine cover so you can get to the dip stick behind the engine. There will be a 10 mm bolt to remove.
///7903[/ATTACH]

2) If your oil leak is near the oil filter it may be the oil cooler o ring. It's a known issue. Easy to fix yourself if this is the source of your leak. See this DIY
Click to expand...
 
Dynamo said:
It's 7000 miles and 4 months past the drivetrain warranty. I plead my case to Infiniti consumer affairs but they said "sorry, can't help you".

I have a "15% off previous estimates" coupon from the dealer so I'm gonna use it to ease the pain a little.
Click to expand...

Hi, could you solve the issue? My 08 FX35 started to do this same lag issue the other day after the trans oil change (by Infiniti). Other thing they did was to reprogram the module (trying ti solve the bluetooth communication problem). After a lot if tests and waiting time they replaced the whole transmission under warranty back in october 2012. Then 3 months later is doing it again with the new one.
 
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