I`m a 1996 300ZX owner with very similar manual tranny problems I`ve been reading about here. My Z is on it`s 3rd manual tranny with the notorious grinding issue (and my car has only 58k miles on it). I`ve been doing a ton of searching/reading on all of the Zcar forums I could find. I just got through reading a page on an Infinity G35 forum and they`re having the same problems verbatim to mine. My car is also bone stock with no modifications.

Here`s what mine`s doing:

Bad 1st to 2nd gear grind unless I accelerate in 1st,let the rpms drop to complete idle,then slowly shift into 2nd. If I shift directly from 1st to 2nd,the grind is unbearable. All other gears shift flawlessly. It was doing it intermittently,but now does it all the time. All clutch hydraulics are new and in perfect working order.

That bearing chatter the car makes when the clutch pedal is released,that goes away when the pedal is pushed in. My guess is that the input shaft and/or bearings aren`t being machined right.

You guys have a great forum and I`ve been searching and reading here for a couple of weeks. Even though I`m not a Z33 owner,we`re having the same tranny issues. What has been the outcome of you guys who`ve had new tranny replacements? How are they shifting? I`m guessing the same manufacturer is making our manual trannies,seeing is that the failure issues are identical. Anyone know who makes them?

Thanks everyone for you time!