I am on my second tranny, and this one also has problems with the third gear. It grinds when I shift too fast, indicating problems with the sychro bearing.

 

Are you kidding? That's totally f**king ghey. Where are you in the VIN range and when did you get the tranny replaced?

Tell me something. Was your tranny grind and subsequent failure preceeded by any notchiness when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, or 3rd to 4th, kind of like the shifter "catching" in the gate as it passed through neutral on the way to 4th?

 

VIN 2809. The first tranny was notchy, THIS tranny is notchy. I just had it replaced 2 weeks ago! At least now I dont have any gear whine. I guess for every individual problem, you have to get a whole new tranny. Oh well....Im gonna wait a year, maybe theyll have re-engineered te damn thing.

ps. Nizl's third gear synchro is sucking *** as well.

 

I just had my tranny replaced.

Did they replace the Clevis pin?

You don't have any gear whine? Did they tell you if this new tranny was any different than the previous ones?

Thanks,

JD

 

dont know about the clevis pin. But Im sure that anything having to do with the third gear synchro and front main bearing was replaced along with the new tranny. The new tranny is the same tranny since the beginning. They have not made ANY changes as of yet, and still claim that these problems are freak assembly problems and not design problems.

 

YES YES my tranny is tempramental sometimes its fine other times it grinds going into 3 from 2, and other times i cant get it to downshift from 5-4 or from 4-3.

If you all describe your problems i will print this out and take it as proof for my dealer to fix my shiznit

 

The only proof your dealer will need is to have your Service Advisor hear the issue for themselves. They call Nissan Tech and describe the issue. Nissan Tech will advise them to replace the tranny most likely. Unless Nissan has stopped that process. But to do that, they would have had to come up with a different solution.

JD

This has been discussed several times. Do a search and you will find more than a few testimonials, esp in Tech forum.

 

I talked face to face with a Nissan Technical Engineer, and this problem IS in fact due to the clevis pin needing replacement (particularly on some early vin models like mine). For those of you who have had 3rd gear grinding problems (like myself) a new clevis pin will solve this. Nissan is aware of this fully.

Now, the only reason they were also giving people a new tranny is because they wanted to check the old one and just in case (was told unlikely) there was damage to the old tranny from the old clevis. So in most cases, Nissan was nice enough to replace the clevis,, and also put in a new tranny.

If the reason of your initial tranny replacemnt was NOT the third gear grind (as I think you mention), then Nissan would not have been aware to change the clevis,, so it should be a quick (few hours) process for the dealership to do.. I would just request that and tell your dealer Nissan is aware of this problem and the fix for it... Good luck.

RaymanZ

 

What is "gear whine"? That rustling sound when you shift hard from 1-2? i hear it sometimes, but i don't find it to be that annoying.

 

the gear whine was something wrong with the front main bearing in the tranny. It has been a rare occurence....I believe internetabyss had the same problem.

While the tranny was spinning, there was a loud whining. During acceleration, the whine actually resembled a constant turbo. The whine would go away with clutch depression. (not to be confused with a throwout bearing prob.)

 

and no problems thanks to the new cleavis........................... Make sure they replaced it..

 

I'm trying to gauge whether "grinding" as described by many is similar to, or the same as the "notchiness" I feel in my tranny, especially when cold. Is the grind a high freqenzy "ZZZZZZ!!!" sound, or more of a "kachunk!" sound? I have the latter. However, if I try to "baby" the tranny by shifting slowly when cold, I will sometimes get a quick knock-knock-knock-knock senation/sound that I consider a slow grind of sorts. Is this at all related to the infamous 3rd gear grind? Or am I descibing something different?
Thanks,
mika

 

the third gear grind that we are referring to is due to a synchro bearing problem (usually) but the problem is the same:

when you shift, notice that you are prevented from entering any gear for a very brief moment. This is normal. This pause gives time for the tranny gears to line up... if you listen close enough you can hear the previous gear "winding down" and then "snick" the shifter slips into place. This is the normal shifting.

the grind comes in when my so called "pause" is not there going into third. Instead of the fraction of a second pause that is normal, the shifter goes right in to the gear. See where the problem would arise if the gears are not given the chance to align? The shifter slips in premature and of course there is a grinding of gears. This is alarming, as if you mis-shifted.

Notchiness is another problem. the notchiness is an extra step beyond the pause. When shifting, the shifter moves, catches, then moves then there is the pause then you go into gear. This does not seem to be a "problem" in the sense that something is broken, its just more of a sucky design IMO. Its just not smooth and slick, its "notchy". This is what I hated about my 300zx turbo. So I think its just a design thing that Nissan does for some reason.

The gear whine is self explanatory if youve ever heard it. If the tranny is spining, then the front main bearing is whining semi-loudly. It SOUNDS like a problem, and you can think of nothing but fixing it as you warm the car up in the morning.