Why dont they do something...
The tranny just dies and now the gears are locked and I cant even move so basically I have to like... fully stop and knock the gear out... WTF
SIGH...
grinding is kind of noticable in 2nd and 3rd gears...

 

because they probably don't give you new tranny.. but a refurbished one..

I am on my 2nd tranny, and even though it doesn't have the grind on 2nd and 3rd anymore, but it feels funny when entering the 3rd gear shift gate... kind of stuck there a sec, then go in... Not feeling too good about it.

 

how hard do you drive the car? I know that Nissan should do something about this, but maybe if you're driving it too hard or misshifting or what not that may be hurting the tranny more?

 

What year tranny do you have in your Z?

 

Im also on my 3rd (2nd replacement), join the club. My last tranny is good, no problems at all 24K miles. Agressive driving to say the least

 

im on my 3rd, it seems that they gave me a good one this time around. I've had it in for 10k miles and no grinds.

 

Time to contact a lemon law attorney.

 

Using the lemon law is a difficult position. My sister used it for her Kia and won. She ended up just getting all the money she put towards payments and you give up the car. So then you'd be out of a Z. I'd rather keep it but have them fix the problem to begin with. I'm in the same position w/ my alignment on my 2005. I've had 3 alignments in less than 9k miles.

 

Well i shift kind of hard, but I dont think i shift as hard as some other guys here... No powershifting... i mainly do spirited driving so I think it shouldnt hurt anyhting...
I dont really miss shift.. I got good sense of the slots...
I heel toe all the time... its becoming 2nd nature
and i blip well too so it it clicks near perfectly
...

 

When I hear of 350Z owners with tranny problems, specially the ones that had the transmission replaced several time, I have to believe that the problem must be caused by driver in the way he/she launches/shifts the car. I have a 2004.5 ZR with a 6 speed, and the transmission shifts very smoothly. I can tell ,though, that the tranny does not like to be "hurried" into gear, as there is a slight binding of the gears/syncros, most noticeable going into 3rd. Some transmissions are not made to be speed-shifted and cannot take the abuse if you do, and the 350Z tranny seems to be one of those.

 

Please STFU Its certain drivers? Tell that to the THOUSANDS of Z owners with varying driving habits (agressive and very slow) that have had tranny's replaced. The Z's tranny is a well known failure. Some never experience it, some do and dont even drive hard. Your correct some tranny's cant handle hard driving I think if you get a good tranny our tranny's and especially our clutches can. I have 23K on my latest tranny no issues, 6000 rpm clutch drops, powershfting, everything, so there goes your assumption. And if your tranny doesnt like to be hurried into gear its one of three things.

1. You cant shift fast without grinding
2. Your synchros are shot-join the above mentioned club
3. All of the above

 

Truth is hard to swallow for some people. Keep doing your 6K drops and powershifts; good luck with your inevitable 4th tranny.... Oh yeah, and GFY...

 

+1

 

You could point out maybe a handful of guys who MAY have had synchro failures because of shifting fast. I can point out 1000's that have had synchro failure because of defective tranny's. Keep shifting your car slow to hold off your inevitable replacement tranny Truth must be hard for you to swallow if you think "some tranny's dont like to be hurried" instead of saying "my tranny is defective" and doing something about it

 

you're an idiot. Explain to me how after 500 mi on my second tranny i had to turn around and get it replaced again? I was still breaking it in, keeping revs under 3.5k and babying it. When i was breaking in the original tranny, i could tell it was trash after 1k miles. It was damn near impossible to get into second gear. And after all of this, my 3rd tranny has held up for 10k miles, been to the drag strip at least 7 times. Been raced and beaten on plenty since i've had it, yet not a single problem.

 

This is the biggest reason why I am having trouble on deciding whether or not to buy a Z, my other two options are the S2K or BoxterS. Multiple tranny replacements is just plain poor, poor quality and it is a defective part period. Out of all the cars I have owned I have never had a major mechanical problem but then again I have always owned Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus products. I really like the car but I dunno. Sad

Brian

 

To call the guy an idiot because he sights that user driving habits have an effect on transmission life is simply ignorant. I'm sure there are plenty "lemon" trannies out there should be little argument that driving habits/nature have a significant impact on longevity.

trefling

 

dont let us scare you off, chances are you wont get a car with a screwed up tranny. Theres a very small percentage of cars that end up with one like it, and a vast majority of the cars affected are 03 and 04 models.

 

Add me to the list of trannys with problems. I have a 2004.5 G35 and mine is starting to go. I use it in a fairly normal manner. No speed shifting, power shifting or anything fancy.

For the last several weeks its been making a buzzing sound all the time and occasionally howls or grinds. The problem is getting progressively worse and at this rate it won't be much longer before its completely toast.

 

i also remember a road and track article from when the z first came out they bought one. Then they reviewed after a year of ownership and mentioned it went through a transmission.