the reason i ask if its worth it is because it seems like everyones new trannys have the same problems as their old ones did.... and you lose your car for however long it takes them to install a tranny...

 

Damn it, I just had my first grind into second.

I was accelerating hard into traffic to around 6,000 RPM. I was going as fast as I needed to so let off the gas, depressed the clutch fully and casually shifted into 2nd only to hear the dreaded grind. I wasn't "racing" anymore I was actually totally off the gas when I shifted and I had the clutch pegged to the floor and was smoothly shifting. At least I thought I was, possibly adrenalin was still pumping and I have it wrong.

I rarely if ever punch it like I did that time so had not noticed the problem before. I need to take the car to somewhere that I can safely accelerate quickly like I was that time to see if it was me screwing up or in fact is the transmission/clutch.

 

You know I just did that today... I went for a drive to try and reproduce the grind... and even though it did it a couple times last night I couldnt get it to do it today... so as terrible as it is... hopefully I suck and its me not my tranny.

This all makes me think... how many people with 03's... or 04/05s... DO NOT have any tranny issues at all?

 

I have had this issue aswell, but mine is no matter what rmp I am at. it seems less prone if I am at 4k or above. I agree with the one post that we may be shifting faster then it can engage. I am curious why this is only an issue with 2nd gear though. It also happens much less once the car has warmed up for a bit, and had a number of shifts performed.

 

I own a 04. Got a grinding sound only when downshifting from 6th to 5th and only at low speeds under like 60mph. taking it in tomarrow to see whats up. Any of you guys have any mods(exhaust,plenum,ect) done to your Z that are getting new trannys?

 

I have taken my car to METRO, POWER, PERFORMANCE, EMpire nissan and none of them have been able to reproduce it but sure enough when I'm driving home it does it. It doesnt do it all the time I bet they try once and give up.

As we speak my car is at Metro and I hope they are able to reproduce it because i'm getting fed up. The service manager there told me he has never had any issues with the Z's transmission. BULLSHAT!!! Hes full of it

 

After testing some more I believe it was my fault that one time. I haven't grinded it since.

Also, I did the clutch pedal adjustment so that helps tremendously. My foot now rests where it feels natural to do so when shifting instead of having to lift my knee to the roof of the car each shift.

I would suggest the clutch adjustment to everyone as it really makes the car feel "right." It's also super simple, only took me maybe 5 mins the first time and about 20 seconds everytime afterwards when finding the optimal spot for my car.

 

Just got my car back from the dealership. took a tech for a ride along and guess what, no griding. its just my luck. everytime i downshift from 6th to 5th it grinds but i guess not today. weirddd. he said my mods dont effect warrenty. i have plenum,cai,test pipes,exhaust.

 

^^how many times have you taken it my car is in there today and I will take it every day until it does it. I'm fed up with it

 

The only time it happens is when I forget about it. It never happens when I remember to give the shift an extra little bit of time to engage.

 

Well, this has happened for a while on ours now. But its getting worse. Car is primarily driven by my girl, who is a conservative driver, and doesn't beat the tranny. She can heal-and-toe downsift as well.

In any case, I scheduled an appointment for the dealer, b/c the car did it to me several times on the way home. Odds are she doesn't rev the car high enough to notice this. Although it is probably possible for someone to shift fast enough to "beat" the syncros (not give them enough time to spin up), it shouldn't be this easy in a tranny designed for a sports car. I mean, syncro-manual trannys have been around for nearly 40 years now (Porsche being the inventor I believe).

We just got the tire roar problem resolved (after 3 tries). Been through 3 cd players - they keep breaking/jamming the cd in there. And a few other issues here and there. If this car was newer I'd have a lawyer (lemon law is 18 months). At least it still starts and runs well.

I think Nissan spent all its R&D money in the VQ motor and half-a$$ed the rest of this car (and most others). Its pretty bad when the dealer says "They're killing me. Its not the service, they need to change the product." From one issue to another, I swear.....it never ends. Amazingly enough, the woman still is in love with the car.

 

We have an '03 and an '05 and haven't had any problems.

 

I have a 03 base and when i shift into 2nd it feels like it almost want to pop out everynow and then, I think its just the nature of the tranny.

 

can someone please explain to me more about the Grinding issue?? When the grinding happene does it pops it back out to netural?? or is it a loud sound but still able to get it into 2nd. Does the shifter shakes when grinding happened??

 

How many of you have changed the tranny fluid after the break in period? I am thinking of doing that to take all precautions that I can. I dont have any kind of grind in my tranny.

 

spcemn spiff, you can change them out after breakin, but that's kind of early. I would recommend around 30k miles. Make sure you change it to Nissan tranny fluid.. or else they will void your warranty.

 

Its a sports car. The synchros should be designed to catch up to the fast shifting.

 

I have the same experience... after it warms up, it seems the synchros expand enough to provide enough friction to match speeds just fine. But its annoying to be driving around in a $30k sports car and hear a giant *CLUNK* when you shift into 2nd. When I give it time to catch up it works fine, but I shouldn't have to wait.

 

Don't change it to Nissan trans fluid. Put in the Royal Purple trans fluid. Much better. Also do oil changes with royal purple. I use 5-30 in mine *houston tx*. Everytime i get an oil change it feels like the car is at least 20% more peppy. Later when i need brake work i'll change the fluid from the standard crappo to the synthetic dot5 as well. Doesn't mix with water as much and should last longer.

 

The Mike, I did the same thing, but it didn't help.. if you want to claim warranty, you better change it back to Nissan tranny oil.. I almost got rejected from the dealer after they drain the oil, and questioned me about the color..

I had Royal Purple before and replaced with Nissan tranny oil around 32k miles.. I just got my transmission at 47k miles..