Hey guys, I just had my clutch & tranny replaced @ 16.5k by Pence Nissan in VA. I have an '03 touring and the original tranny was making what I believed a syncro noise so Nissan agreed to replace it. Now the new tranny is in and today was my first time to try it out without being in rush hour traffic. First problem I noticed was that travel to 5th gear is all out of whack. It caused me to miss my 4th to 5th shift when entering the highway it was so bad. The car will go into 5th with a lot of work however. You certainly can't move the shifter all the way right and up like I am used to. At a standstill moving the shifter through the gears I can definitely feel it binding on something on the way to 5th. Sounds like a shift gate issue or misalignment?

Next problem which is much more concerning is that when the car is reved up moving to another gear results in a horrible low buzzsaw kind of noise. For example, shifting from 2nd to 3rd at (5-6k edit) rpms results in this noise occurring when I simply press down on the clutch prior to moving the shifter into 3rd. This really concerns me and I have no clue what they monkyed up in regards to the noise. During low rpm shifts the noise is not present or perhaps just not audible. Thoughts? Comments? All very appreciated!

 

sounds like something is deffinately not right........i would take it back to the dealer.

 

I don't understand why you're pushing a new transmission so heard without giving it any time for break in? The test above shifting at 6 to 7,000 rpm is pretty severe for a new transmission.

 

Was just out on another drive but you are right it happens more in the 5-6k range (6-7k was off memory). I was aware of engine break-in but not aware of babying a new tranny? How many miles should it take to get things settled? I am still unsure what the noise is. I'd think that at any rate this must be a warning sign of a bad install and not normal?

I still need to have the dealer look at the shifting problems, just need to know if it is appropriate to bring this up at the same time. I'd hate for them to say I was being too hard on it and deny working on things.

 

you should of babied it, you can NOT run a new tranny that hard you just have to take it easy and if you do run it hard it is going to get messed up, you should break it in at least 300 miles if not 500. im surprised the dealer didnt tell you and if you do take it back to the dealer dont tell them you were slamming gears at 6-7rpms.

 

I did one more test and that was running on-ramp to highway in 3rd gear at smooth acceleration to 5k/rpm and then shifting to 4th. Still same noise occurred so just not under quick acceleration.

I guess I'll baby it for a few weeks and take it back in after break in if the
noise persists. Meanwhile I guess I need to call them and make em aware of the 5th gear shifting issue. Thanks for clueing me into the tranny break in period. Still very curious what the darn noise is though (rubbing gears, clutch, ???)...

 

Alrighty, just fixed the 5th gear travel issue. There is a plate at the bottom of the shifter that the stick shift follows for 5th & 6th gears (it's held by 3 10mm bolts). There is a little protrusion on the stick shift itself and making a few adjustments to the bottom plate it needs to travel against has fixed the issue. YEAH!

Just checked owners manual and it states for first 1200 miles no hard acceleration in any gear & keep motor under 4000 rpms. Hopefully the noise goes after break in period.

 

Good luck, I would keep in touch with the dealer. Just let them know that you are having these issues and if they continue take it back in.

 

Doh! My 1st gear doesn't seem to be loud thusfar. The noise I heard was kinda like a high rpm saw cutting metal for about 1 second when I did those upper rpm shifts just not at a sharp shrieking volume but lower. You're right the noise is definatly out of the ordinary adn is concerning! The fact you have something similar is not comforting at all. I have a feeling this may end up as another tranny down the road? Shouldn't the service tech have called Nissan NA about the noise? Keep me in the loop please and I'll do the same, for now I have to break the tranny in.