Silver_Racer

Hello,

I have a new 2004 Z with only 900 miles. It is not even through the break-in period. So far I am loving it. I do have a couple of questions on the transmission/clutch. I have tried searching for these questions, but did not see anything specific. I have noticed 2 things with the transmission and just want to make sure that it is inherent with the Z as a car, and not just a defect that I have:

1) When shifting from 3rd to 4th above 3500 RPM, it is very notchy, sometimes feeling like it does not want to engage. It will go into fourth, but it takes a lot more force than any other gear.

2) When comming to a stop, with the clutch pressed in, I can "feel" and "hear" a slight ticking in the clutch petal, that is proportional to the engine rev. This is very slight, but I can pick up on it. It only happens when the engine is winding down at about 1500 RPM.

Perhaps I am being to picky. That is just how I am. Then again, I am comming from a S2000 which had clutch problems and so I am very weary of any perceived issues.

Thanks!

006Roadster

I'm having clutch problems too. I've got 6000 miles on mine and sometimes I can smell the clutch and I have problems getting into 2nd sometimes. I know it's not my driving, my last clutch lasted me 110,000 miles and it was still good when I sold the car. I'm taking mine in for an inspection this weekend. I'll let you know.

Silver_Racer

I am not having the problems you stated, thankfully. Only what is stated above. They are more annoyances than anything else. I was just hoping that others had experienced this and could tell me whether it was normal or the beginning of things to come.

Masterfulks

I've heard of some people reporting problems with getting into 2nd and 3rd gear....

My local Nissan shop has hesitantly admitted that they have replaced a couple 6 speeds due to this....

I would just keep an eye on things until you at least get past the breakin period.

My 2004 Z is a little bit notchy going into 2nd gear sometimes, but it doesnt seem to make me draw attention to it as much as it did at first. Now its sort of rare for that to happen and I have just broken 2k miles on the car.

Silver_Racer

That is what I am hoping. It is just breaking in. Sometimes reading all the threads on problems makes you a "vehicle hypochondriac"!

Jetpilot718

<-- had a problem getting from 1st to 2nd today, first time i missed a gear in the Z lol

Could have been worse I suppose, I could have grinded instead of just putting it in neutral when I thought it was 2nd lol

Jung918

comming from owning a wrx i do not force any gears. if it doesn't want to do in a certain gear i just put it in neutral, rev it and it usually goes in.

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

Exactly. I just finished breaking mine in, and I try not to go in the Repair forum anymore for the same reason.

Zcool

The early build dates of the 350Z had problems with the 6 MT and many were replaced on warranty. Nissan says they fixed the problem but I have never heard what "exactly" was this problem and what did Nissan do to fix it? Does anyone know? And, is this problem in fact fixed?

PoWeRtRiP

the break in period for the tranny is really more like 7000 miles. not that you should baby it for that long but you will notice magically one day around 6500-7500 miles on the odo that the tranny just shifts smoother, the notches go away and it feels like it should have from the start. both of my trannies have been very notchy until i put a few thous miles on them.

Nforce1

iTrader: (2)

See, my problem is... This is my first manual car, So I dont know what exactly "notchy" means? I've never driven any other manual cars so I dont know what to expect from it. Sometimes when I shift I find myself wondering "was that a notchy shift" but to tell you the truth, I DONT KNOW. I dont want to go into nissan and tell them that my shifts are a bit notchy, then when they go drive it they look at me like I have problems...

Is there anyone that could help me in some way to let me know if my cars shifting is a bit notchy?

Silver_Racer

Go test drive a Honda Accord manual transmission and you will see what smoooooth is. After that, you will have an idea of what notchy is, when it happens.

Masterfulks

If you shift your Z and feel any resistance, like a burr is under there..Thats what I call notchy.

You can get some resistance, if you shift semi slow, around the neutral mark, where you sort of feel the shifter going out of gear, and going into the next, but it should still have a smoothness to it.