What would cause my trans to become hard to shift into gear after it gets warmed up? My car seems to shift smooth while its still reasonablly cool. But about after 45 min to 1 hour of driving it becomes difficult to enter into gears. I have noticed it goes into gear great if I push in the clutch, pull out of gear, release clutch, push in clutch, and shift into another gear. I was thinking it could be caused by air in the line but why wouldn't it be like this all the time if that was the case? Please, any info is welcome, thanks!

 

Maybe the transmission oil needs to be changed. It could be getting thinner and not performing well when it gets hot. Just a thought.

 

Thats not a bad thought but how would you explain the whole double clutching to get into gear? And after it gets hot it becomes really difficult to get into first gear from a dead stop.

 

Double clutch is a must use shifting technique for a transmission without syncros (such as International Harvester tractor). Since the 350Z is a syncro transmission, you may have problems with the syncros.

I'd like to say that Nissan will fix it, but their standard diagnosis is Cannot duplicate.

 

Transmission problems are a known issue in the 350Z. Take it in to get diagnosed and hopefully fixed.

When my synchros were "noticably worn", Nissan replaced my transimission and clutch withing 24 hours of the diagnosis, free of charge.

Good luck.

 

My guess is that it is not the transmission but the clutch. I would think that worn synchros would give you problems regardless of the number of times you press the clutch. Since you can get it in gear by pumping the clutch, it kinda sounds like there is a problem with one, or both, of the clutch cylinders. My 2¢

 

The stock transmission fluid is notorious for being hard to shift when cold.

 

All previous replys are right on the money. Change tranny fluid to Red Line fluid or any basic SAE Tranny fluid at your local parts store. If you have an 03' or 04', the next problem you should encounter would be a grinding in 3rd gear(or any gear), then you know the tranny will need to be replaced. Hopefully it is still under warranty?

 

If anyone was curious, the mechanic just called and informed me that the problem is my slave cylinder.

 

Well, I hope when you test drive the car, you will find the problem gone. Good luck.