WTF fluids and smoke?

I took my 350 ('04) to get a 60k ATF trans and diff fluid change... now it is leaking a fluid causing smoke; I am not familiar with (first AT I have owned... but the DOT put me on probation so it seemed like a reasonable solution to the "have to hit the proper shift" problem). The question is why is there fluid leaking? Is this common on ATF 350's? How do you check the fluid, the manual say "see a Nissan Service Center". It has been smoking some... not much. Got this done on 11/04/2010 by Downtown Nashville Nissan and have driven 300 miles since..

It did buck on me a few times when I hit the gas.. but how the "f" do you check the fluid? Stealerships suck

D

 

And the smoke is coming from where?

 

Drivers side rear of engine bay... I am paranoid and do my own maint. (never worked with an AT)so before I took it the the shop I checked and and went over all fluid levels and components (had more than 1 shop try to "sell" me into somthing). Looks like a blow-off valve faces in that general direction... Oil filter area is dry.. so is the oil pan... not a lot of smoke but smells of plastic burning. Fluid is from tire to tire right around the lower half of the rear firewall.

 

maybe a plastic bag under the car? had a similiar problem and it was some plastic bag stucked to my test pipes.

 

happened to me too awhile back

 

Somebody spilled fluid on the exhaust and now it's burning off. Try taking it to a DIY car wash and use the high pressure water to blast under the car.

 

Seems like it would be burned off over the course of 300miles.. but worth a try.

 

Yes, I have had this happen... believe me this is not a plastic bag. I lifted it and dropped the PSG to check where the "leak" source was... with the guard of I couldn't source the problem still. So, I left the guard off, wiped some areas off the suspension and wiped up the floor. Started it... got it good and warm, while monitoring the oil pressure, and all the fluid levels applicable.

Low and behold a small puddle formed but I see no apparent leaks and all fluid levels are the same as when I checked them before I let another person touch my Z.

thekinn - I concur.

Anyone have an opinion that is not obvious?

I f'n hate when I know not to trust another human on "good faith"... what is wrong with people?

 

So took into dealer... they said High/Low pressure power steering lines were leaking... I needed to replace them and the whole steering racK... and I developed a valve gasket leak..

So 50-> 100 miles out of the shop with a 27 point full inspection and all I get a quote for $1.7-1.8K for parts... without labor!!!

F-that noise... whatever they did they are fixing for $free.99 and in the mean time they are also comp'n a "rental" Altima....

 

"whatever they did they are fixing for $free.99 and in the mean time they are also comp'n a "rental" Altima...."

Is that your wishful thinking, or is that's what's actually going to happen?

 

That is what is happening. I am in a '10 2.5 Altima that is not bad, but not impressive.

They are covering the High/Low pressure PS lines and the Altima... after they get the part in they wil "reevaluate" the steering rack they told me I needed to replace.

winchman - I need you to fill one hand with hopes/dreams.. and the other with $*** and see which one fills up first. It is people like you that get taken for a ride by a "professional" making it harder on the rest of us, so if you have doubts I can give you VINs Part #'s etc...


I don't BS that is why I don't post much....

 

No offense intended. I just found it rather unusual for a dealer to ante up for fixing expensive problems they missed during an inspection when they didn't do anything to cause the problems. At the most I'd expect them to refund the cost of the inspection.

Perhaps dealers charge so much so they can fix your car for free and give you a loaner to keep from having to deal with an upset customer.

I doubt I'm running up the dealer prices. I haven't had anything but routine maintenance (so there's no question about warranty coverage) and a few recall items done at a dealership in over thirty years. I've got a good shop that takes care of my out-of-warranty cars for free, since I do quite a bit of free welding for them. Fortunately, I've not had any expensive problems with any of my vehicles in decades.

 

Yes, got the Z back last night.. they tried to tell me that they did not touch the PS pump when replacing the H/L pressure lines...

I had to argue my point but walked out without a cent spent...

Winchman - There are people you can trust and these are not those people.. I just looked over my car again.

2 brackets loose or not used (ex. coolant o'flow was not in bracket and bolt was loose). On top of that they stripped a bolt (cosmetic on pass side to hold plastic cover on) and left at min 7 others loose to the point I could just turn them by hand and I was just looking over the engine bay.... taking the PSG off this weekend to make 100% sure they didn't "forget something"

If you have a trusted dealer/shop; by all means use them. I lost all credibility in this shop... I can do better work than they do... I know cause I have never taken a car to a dealer for work before... always had my pop (PHD in civil/environmental engineering and both my older brothers are engineers as well…. One is working on his PHD in computer/electrical engineering).

Pops owns his own firm… and the mentality was if they make a tool to do it, we can do it ourselves.

But the part of this the PO me was… I own a Nissan, my brother owns a Nissan, My dad owns a Nissan, My mom has owned 3-4 in my life, and I own 2 (one I just bought from the same dealer 3 weeks ago 2011 Murano SV for the wife). AND THE SERVICE PARTS MANAGER had the audacity to tell me I do not CARE about Nissan as a Corporation since I change my own oil, belts, filters, etc.....


What do Gates V-pro belts have anything to do with how much I like Nissan, and how would that even cause these problems?

That dealer sucks... they tried to f-me on my window motors THREE TIMES as well... they even told me to take my car to the Smyrna, TN production facility to get it fixed... Z's are not made in the US, Not Smyrna, TN/Canton, MS or the engine plant in Decherd,TN.

The biggest kick in the face was the Manager of the service center telling me that the 27 point inspection was worth less than the paper it was written on....