The tranny on my 03 enthusiast is holding up well at 68k miles, but I imagine I may have to replace it one day down the road. I see used CD009 trannys going for $500-800 and new ones for $1,500, so when the time comes I'll just upgrade the tranny, no big deal. What I'm wondering is, is the updated tranny a direct swap for the 03 tranny or are there any other parts or modifications involved in swapping?

 

Does yours grind at all? Do you drive it hard or just occasional spirited driving?

 

I haven't noticed any grinding. Most of my driving is on the interstate, but I do some "spirited" driving on the back roads sometimes. I am the third owner of this car, and the previous owner said the tranny has never been replaced to their knowledge. I bought the car knowing that the tranny is a potential problem area on 03s, and so far it is doing fine. If I have to replace it one day I'll just upgrade to the newer tranny with better synchros. Replace parts and move on, such is the way of sports cars.

 

I’m not sure how you can look at the car in an auction and quickly/easily determine if it has the new transmission replacement. I suppose that you could request maintenance paperwork that verifies this. Maintenance records should be available, and this adds value to an auctioned vehicle.

One thing I would point out is that the newer/replacement transmission is much better than the original transmission. Even if you do not have a problem with synchromesh on the older transmission, the new transmission shifts much better, making the car a lot more fun to drive

--Spike

 

Like shift smoother? I may wait and find an 04.5 or 05. Are those the years that started the newer transmission (009 I'm assuming)?

 

I'm not sure when Nissan began equipping the Z with the 009 transmission. Hopefully someone reading your thread can help with this.

For sure the 009 transmission is much better. Nissan swapped out the transmission in my 2003 Performance model a couple of years ago.

My original tansmission felt OK (but I didn't have anything to compare this to). The replacement transmission is so much better. The orginal transmission was notchy and had poor synchros; the new transmission is silky, shifts smoothly, and never grinds.

--Spike

 

Ah I see. Well I'm coming from a Ford Ranger 5speed truck, very notchy :/. Appreciate the help Spike.

 

When you swap them out all you have to do is switch out the transmission mount (i went with an aftermarket solid mount), some of the wire harness clips, and a couple other small things from the old transmission. No need to buy anything else except i highly recommend changing out your clutch, flywheel, pressureplate, clutchline, pilot bearing, throwout bearing and A STEEL PIVOTBALL...while its down and you dont need to pay anyone else to do it for you and you get added performance and reliability. I added the Revo Tecnika short throw shifter which i find very suitable for the new transmission.