I purchased this car on 3/15/2004. I have less than 5000 miles on it

Never thought I'd have transmission problems. I thought that problem was solved.

I also keep hearing comments like "IT IS A GOOD TRANSMISSION FOR UP TO 600HP."

......B U L L $ H I T !!!!!!

Purchased this car 3/15/2004. I have less than 5000 mile on it.

I was downshifting from 5th to 4th. Trans stayed in 5th, shifter moved to neutral and would not slip into any gear.

Stuck in 5th, I managed to limp home.

I removed the shifter boots and made note that the shifter goes straight into the transmission. There is no external linkage.

The nearest dealer sent a tow, and now I'm told it will take at least one week to REPLACE. Dealer was NOT AT ALL SURPRIZED. They said I am #10 (with a smile).

Okay, who is saying that a -Z- is supposed to be of higher quality and have less problems than a (newer) Mustang or other domestics (this is my first foreign car)???

Who is saying this trans is good for 600HP ???

This is ......B U L L $ H I T !!!!!!

 

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck with the new Tranny.

 

That sucks, sorry to hear of the trouble. Ask them for a loaner in the meantime, and good luck

 

Just got my March 03 G-35 6MT back today. 9 days for new tranny, 6th gear syncro had gone out @ 12000 miles...

 

Over the last couple of weeks I noticed that changing gears (shifting) was getting "notchy". It was as if shifting from gear to gear was a two click process. One click out of gear, and then another into the next gear.

I was thinking and wondering about why shifting was NOT smooth. The shifter should slide easily from gear to gear.

If you notice this shifting degradation on your Z, be prepared for a transmission failure!!

 

Sad to hear.

My shifter has been notchy from day one, especially going into second when cold, but after 2 years and 41,000 miles (and 5 trackdays) I have not really noticed a change.

I hope I'm lucky and not just getting closer and closer to failure.

I hope you are able to get yours replaced relatively painlessly and that the new one lasts and lasts and lasts.

And lasts...

Good luck!

-D'oh!

 

The 6MT is a rail shifter. That means the mechanism, other than the shift lever itself, is inside the tranny case rather than external (as was typical for domestic cars of days gone by). The good aspects of this are that the mechanism is bathed in tranny lubricant, and protected from road splash and debris. The bad aspect is that you have to pull the tranny from the car to replace a worn or broken shifter part. (It was trivial to replace parts of the old style external shifter mechanisms when they wore out or broke.)

The silly thing is that Nissan is paying dealers to replace the entire $2,000 tranny instead of the $5 worn shifter part. Any halfway competent transmission guy can open the 6MT and replace the shifter rail in under half an hour.

Replacing worn or damaged synchros takes longer, about two hours, since you have to pull the input and output shafts, but that is still way cheaper than replacing the whole tranny, and the repair is just as good.

IMHO, the reason they want to just pull and swap the tranny is that halfway decent transmission guys are hard to find at dealerships these days. (Good mechanics of any sort are hard to find at dealerships these days.)

 

wow that makes me think twice about modding the drivetrain, like finla drives and Flywheels, nismo flywheelis nothing compared to tilton, wow. No more Fn. Bye bye Z i'm actually going to get rid of it now, isn't that hilrious, can't have the fun be spoiled, i'll get an MR. And hopefully it won't be the same, oh and i won't drop its clutch so i hope it'll be fine.

 

Dealer comments on the transmission problem:

- Is it stuck in 5th or 6th ? (instead of: What is the problem?)

- Nissan used to want the damaged transmission back. Now that they have so many, they do not want them back anymore.

- The junk yards do not want them either (evidently for the same reason).

- Your transmission will be sold for scrap.

- It MUST be approved by Nissan before we can do anything.

- Is the engine or drivetrain modified in any way?

 

wow! sorry to hear about your tranny problem. Hopefully it will get replaced quickly. I have a 2004 G35, and right from the beginning, I noticed terrible clutch chatter, hopefully I won't also have transmission problems. Funny thing is that this is my first import car as well. I always hear things like Camaro's rattle like crazy, unreliable, blah blah blah. My camaro has never rattled! But my G35....rattles more than any other car I've owned. It drives me crazy because I can't tell exactly where it's coming from(sounds like the parcel shelf), and the famous seat belt rattle. My camaro's stock clutch was awesome, smooth(I replaced after increase in HP). Transmission is a notchy though...but I can live with notchy. I'm not going to scare myself though, if my tranny fails on the G, I'll let them replace it. I'm going to trade it in for a C6 Corvette in 2006 anyway(I never buy a car on it's first year) oops, sorry to hijack this thread. Good luck.

 

Many folks justify their decisions to purchase a Nissan or whatever by fooling themselves it is and will be the best decision possible.

I tend to be critical of my own decisions by evaluating them over and over.

Hey, I like the Nissan, it is fun, attractive, and I look forward to driving it.

But if stupid things break, sqeak, or keep happening to the car, I'll sell it and get something else !!