I have a 04 base 350z manual and it does'nt go into gear as smooth, its as if its kinda hitting some gears when i shift into 2 or 3. my friend noticed that when i shift when i drive by he can hear me shifiting and he says its pretty damn noticable as if its making a clacking sound everytime i shift. plus when i drive on the freeway in 6th gear, my shift **** rattles and it rocks forward when i accelerate and rocks back when i let go of the pedal. is this a problem or is this normal?

 

Yeah this happens to me too, I was just about to open a thread about this.
(NO, Zkid951 and I didn't post this just to hear someone say "search.")

I've searched, and I could not find these specific conditions being discussed yet:
1) When shifting, there is a rather noticeable "clack" sound.
2) I feel the shift **** (in 2nd) jerking forward when accelerating by about 3mm.
3) The shift **** comes back 3mm when I release the gas pedal.
4) Shifting into 2nd and 3rd doesn't feel smooth, there is a feeling of brushing past something along the way into the gear.

Mine's an 04 base Z as well, I just got it used a few days ago.

By the way, this is my first post lol.

 

I've exerienced the shifter **** moving in other manual cars as well, including the Z. As for clacking when shifting, alot of people have this happen in 2nd. Mine has done that in the past, now its getting much much better and only happens on occasion. Same thing with 3rd gear. Although my 5th scrapes something on its way in. This hasn't went away.
I'd say this is pretty much normal what you guys're experiencing.

 

Thanx Miko.

I drove all my friends' cars, (S2K, 05G35 coupe, type-s, WRX, civic) and none of their shift ***** did this. Also, my old car (MR-2 spyder) didn't ever do this. So I thought something might be wrong. I'm glad these symptoms are not problems.

 

You are welcome to bring your Z in and I can have a tech drive the car... If the trans is bad we can get it taken care of for you!

Drop me a PM so we can make an appointment...

 

Thank you Jason,

As of now, I don't think the tranny's going bad.
I still 2+ years and 30K+ miles left before the powertrain warrenty expires.
Once it starts grinding into gears, I'll take it in.

Thanks for the post!