Thanks for the information. My problem is that the dealer I went to stated to me that grinding was normal since the 350Z was NOT built for performance. I was dumbfounded when I heard this. Anyways, I'm gonna to take it to a new dealer. Also the old place charged me $47 for inspection fee. I'm trying to find a way to get that money back.

 

Bamyi, you can try the dealer in Sand City, but it must be a very small dealership there, as Sand City is even smaller than Salinas. I didn't even know there were car dealerships there. Anyhow, I would recommend you bite the bullet and take it to a major Nissan dealer, such as Capitol Nissan in San Jose, South County Nissan in Gilroy, or Santa Cruz Nissan. Again, though, the tranny grinding problem is very well known and documented, so any dealership should be aware of it and what's involved to resolve it (transmission replacement). Regarding the $47 they charged you for basically nothing, I would contact NNA and complain about that. Good luck...

 

The dealer should not be charging you for inspection when your car is under warantee. I would have told them to jump off a cliff. I would definitly complain to NNA.

 

Take it to a diffrent dealer and let them know you are informed about the z history of grinding tranys.....the last dealership comments will show up in the history so they may try to bullsh..t you as well......read the thread in my history about grinding in 3rd gear...it has very helpful info about part # changes to show there has been a problem and nisson has changed to help fix the grinding issiue.....good luck...i just got mine back from the dealer last night for the same thing.....new tranny works great..NO grinding at all

 

interesting, I didn't know that. I'm gonna call them tomorrow.

 

Most Honda B series transmissions develop a 2nd to 3rd gear grind when shifted above a certain RPM. When shifting cars hard often it is rough on synchros. When the synchros start going the grinding starts. Unlike most transmissions where a tear down and replacing of the offending synchro is done, the solution for the 350Z for some reason is to completely replace the transmission when only one part is the problem.

 

I finally got a chance to call NNA and make a formal complaint. Hours later, the service manager from the dealer calls me. He wants me to take it in and wants me duplicate the problem with him riding with me, than have another service tec drive it as well.

I'm a fair guy so I must admitt that the manager was really helpful. My luck is that once I take it in, it won't grind anymore. also, I asked about the inspection fee, NNA told me that dealers are allow to charge a fee if no problems are discover. I'll post next week on the update.

 

Make sure to go for a long drive until you duplicate the problem. Should not be too hard in 3rd gear.

 

I took in my Z today and was supose to meet with Mike, the manager. Instead they said one of the reps would help me and that he would come with me. I was disapointed and wanted to talk to Mike but he was not there. Then they told me that only the tec. would ride with me. I was really disapointed by this but now that I look back at it, it was a good thing. The rep. doesn't know much about cars since he was a young kid, and the tec. was an older male who drag race on the side.

Than Murphy's law kicked in, I was only able to duplicate the grinding on 5th gear not 3rd. The tec did hear the grinding and from his statements, it looks like they're are going to replace the tranny but he doesn't have the final say so. We than swap place and I told him to drive it hard, like if he was draging. He was able to duplicate the grinding on every shift to 3rd and 5th. It was a sweet/bitter sound to hear.

I was told by this tec that the last tec was a young guy and probably didn't know the diference between gears grinding and notching shifting. And since the young tec was afraid to drive customer's card "hard" he was unable to duplicate the grinding.

Hopefully they can fix it before the N. Cali T.I. meet if not I'm going to the meet, gears grinding and all. They will call me back today as to what they will do with the car.

Also, they said no matter what the outcome of todays inspection, no inspection fee. The dealer so far is doing a good job.

 

Wow, that's a good dealer. I would of suspected them to say that's a design feature since they duplicated it on another, new Z on their lot.

 

If you pushed the car into the shop with the transmission dragging on the ground, the service manger would look you straight in the eyes and say “That’s normal.”

 

LOL, thats funny, I'm pretty sure they would....but today I have a happy ending to this story. they called me back and stated they would replace the tranny next week. I told them not to do it this week since I have the T.I. Meet.

this time around, they were really nice and helpful. Its amazing the turn around it has when you contact NNA. Anyways, thanks everyone for your post, it was helpful.

 

I called NNA and got the same level of service. They should be replacing my tranny soon.

 

Great news.

 

make sure you pay with a credit card, then do a stop payment

 

Yeah, I should but I took my car in today to have the window stop replace along with the tranny. the guys there were really helpful today and treated me like a king. Rental car? Drinks? car wash?

So I must give them credit. The service manager and staff were EXCELLENT today.

 

Mine does that too. It really is normal, , but it is kind of embarassing. Damn our transmissions!! Haha, I still love my car though.

 

Get it fix b4 the warranty runs out.

 

I'm headed in myself for this. There is simply no way they can not reproduce my 5th gear grind unless they granny it and shift at very low rpms.

Can't wait to hear them try to weezle out of it. Draining the redline out and replacing it with OEM so they don't try that route.

42k and ticking closer to 60k. I hope they give me a new tranny.

 

^^^You have an extended warranty?