I drive a Japan spec. automatic roadster, year 2005, I bought it used 12 months ago here in Malaysia.

I went out tonight (dinner->cute transvestite->jealous girlfriend....but that's a different post). So I turned on the engine, put the gear in reverse, the car moved back 5 feet on very slow speed.....everything was normal. Then I stepped on the accelerator a little harder because I was backing out from my garage and there was a very loud thud from the undercarriage and the gear light popped up on the dashboard for 1 second and then went away. I stopped, put the car in Drive, drove around my house for 1 minute, and then tried to reverse again, and again same thing happened............loud THUD when I stepped on the accelerator on reverse and gear light pops up on dashboard for 1 second.......then everything goes to normal.

So then I drove the car around the block.....warmed it up a little....tried to reverse again and the problem went away. Drove all night, every 20 minutes stopped beside the road to test the reverse, and everything was fine after that. The car is also fine on D,......went up to high speeds on the highway with no problem and I could not sense anything wrong at all.

I flushed the tranny 8 months ago, and again drained and replaced 4 quarts 4 months ago. I used the original Nissan J-Matic. Also recently changed the rear diff. oil (Redline 75-90). There has never been any problems with my Z in any form or function until tonight. Depressing.

Does anyone know what happened here tonight? Is a gearbox failure in my near future?

 

How about letting a mechanic drive the car instead of me taking a stab in the dark?

 

Yes I will definitely send it to my trusted mechanic but only on Tuesday ...they're closed on Sunday....Monday is Independence Day here and they're closed as well. 50 years ago we begged the British to leave. I wish we had a cooler more heroic independence struggle.

Anyway in the meantime I'm thinking that I should probably not drive my Z anymore over the next 2 days until my mechanic looks at it for fear of perpetuating any potentially serious tranny problem. Except for beer runs.

 

Don't ever wish for wars.

 

Update:
I sent my car to the mechanic to have tranny fluid replacement (~ 4 quarts).....the old fluid came out black and smelled like burnt cookies. So it looks like my clutch plates are toast. I just don't undertsand why though.......my last tranny flush was 10K miles ago.....then 5K miles ago I replaced 4 quarts and the old fluid came out red which is good......and since that time I've only driven the car on weekends and I don't drive hard at all. I"m really surprised this happened.

So now I'm thinking of sending my tranny for a complete overhauld, replace the clutch plates and gasket and seals. Does anyone know where I can get a full repair kit online? Courtesy parts only sells the gasket and seal kit.

My mechanic advised me not to rush for the overhaul.....that I just continue to drain and replace 4 quarts every 1k miles until the fluid gradually turns red again.......it might hold and and the tranny might still last for a long time.

He told me that if I flush it now the tranny will fail on me on the drive home.