DIGItonium

iTrader: (1)

ARGH! CURSE THIS FRIGGIN TRANNY!!!!

A 5.0 mustang drove next to me and flexed on me and continued a few feet ahead of me.

This gives me an opportunity to try shifting again. I downshifted to 2nd and nailed it. I could barely pass him. Redline close so clutch down and make an attempt to get into 3rd. WAH? I can't get into 3rd again!?!?! And the mustang is a couple cars away from me while I'm struggling to get into 3rd.

Once the revs went down I finally got into 3rd and nailed it, but it was already too late in the revs to get much power to haul (_|_). So I got so mad I tried to get into 4th, then boom! I landed on 2nd. Hopefully I didn't damage anything. :-/

This is embarrassing. I've driven other cars like the RX-7, S2k, and the 300ZX TT. All of those cars had smooth shifting trannies.

So while I was driving I tested downshifting into 3rd and other gears. I noticed 2nd and 3rd was the hardest to get into and it felt like something was in the way as I pushed the stick into 3rd. 2nd used to be real bad, but it's gotten more smooth.... 3rd is getting worst. The strange thing about this is that sometimes these gears engage smoothly.

Pit Bull

Based on over 17K members and less than 80 members with problems I am hopeful that I will be one of the lucky 99.9% that have not had a problem. It is true that if a person has a problem they will find a car related sight to find out if others have the same problem. I think this is a good thing and I will keep an eye on my 6 speed. Thanks guys for the heads up.

zoasis

I've had 2 tranny replacements so this is my 3rd tranny I've had in the Z. This one is now grinding in 2nd gear AGAIN! I let another friend drive it and he experienced the same grinding as I did. Nissan says they will not replace it again so I am going to have to attempt to get the lemon law implemented. So far, the Z has been a nightmare with the tranny.

SnoopyZ

Please let us know the status of your pursuit for the lemon law... I for one and very interested in that.

I am on tranny number 2... I really need to take it to the dealer... it has been messed up for a while now. I have a lot of resistance getting it into 2nd gear... sometimes even feel the syncros? if I shift slowly. It almost feels like it wants to pop out when I go 1st to 2nd. 3rd and 4th almost require an extra push/ shuv to get them into gear @ times like it is a double gear? Anyone else have this same issue? I also get a pop sound from the exhaust when I start the car when it hasnt been driven for a lil while... anyone else heard of that one?

zoasis

I called 1-800-Nissan-1 and spoke with them, the agent was amazed at all the problems I have had. They said take it to my dealer of choice to get it inspected again so I did. On the first of 20 acceleration runs, nothing happened, it shifted smoothly but I was not getting good traction because it rained earlier in the day. The service manager told me to bring the car back if it started acting up again. I decided to go fill the tank up with gas to allow for better traction, sure enough, on my first acceleration run, it started grinding like crazy between 1st and 2nd at redline. I immediately took it back to the dealer and we went on another test drive. On about the 5th acceleration run, all hell broke loose and the grinding began. The manager couldn't believe how bad it was and said he had no idea what was going on with the tranny since it didnt produce a grind every time. He's going to speak with my NNA agent handling the case and he'll get back with me tomorrow. Considering all the bad things that have happened, I think I'm on my way to a new Z, at least I deserve on according to the NNA agent.

Here are the issue in the last 12 months

3 tranny's bad
window grease
Window was rolling itself half down when I attempted a rollup, window motor replaced
Tire feathering issues-tires replaced

Rob Nance

Wow wow wow. That is all I have to say about my new tranny. This 3rd part number tranny is nothing like the transmission that I took delivery of with the new car. I understand that the 2nd part number tranny felt like the original basically. I just have to reiterate the comments people have made so far about this latest tranny revision. S2K tranny immediately came to mind. Shift feel, shift pressure, shift smoothness, power delivery, everything feels perfect. It feels like a better than new car, I am ecstatic. I just picked it up an hour ago and it is 54 degrees out, and no problems when it was cold, no problems at all.

Wow.


Again, for the thread:

Replaced 10-14-03
South Point Nissan in Austin, TX
December 2002 build car
3rd part number tranny

jehjr68

You don't happen to know the part number history do you ? I had mine replaced a few weeks ago (3rd gear grind) and was wondering what design I got. The new felt great for about a week but now there is a "catch" going into 2nd gear when cold ???

Rob Nance

I will try and find out for you jehjr68. I am thinking the one you got might be the 2nd part number. This 3rd part number one has only been available a very short time. My dealership didn't know about it until it came up in the computer and I told them about it. He did some research apparently, while my car was in, and talked to me about it this morning. He said that technically this new transmission wasn't going to be released for a few weeks or more. I don't know what that means exactly, but it sounded like he was saying that it only came up because he was looking for it in the system, but if he had just looked it up by itself, rather than for 350z tranny, it would not come up.

Anyhow, I'll try and see what I can find.

Grommit

iTrader: (3)

Ugh! This is killing me!!! Are you 100% positive there is a third transmission? heh. kidding. This is good news indeed. Ahh... I am already feeling better about having ordered a 04 Z. Maybe it won't be such a nightmare after all.

Now if only they can bring out a new suspension too.

jehjr68

Thanks Rob ... let me know what you find out !

zoasis

Now the idiots at 1800Nissan1 said that the current dealer that I took the Z to said that I was shifting too late at 7000 RPM's and thats why my tranny was grinding. What a load of BS! The bad thing is, the service manager that went on the test drive quit yesterday so he is no longer able to verify what he did or didn't say!!!! They never ordered a repair, even for my streaking windows, now they are saying my warranty may be void since I am abusing my car. WOW, what a turn of events! I even asked the service manager what he thought, he said he had no idea what was wrong with it. What a joke!

DLin05

wow...i hate to point it out but i think our trannys are no good at all! With 1000 miles on my new transmission im starting to get "locked" out of 2nd. its wierd cause it happens when i dont drive it hard....

zoasis

Latest update,
I called the old service manager that transfered to a new dealership. He now states that he never said I shifted at 7000 RPM's, he said it was more like 5000-5500 RPM's. I guess someone is lying, not sure why Nissan doesn't want to step up to the plate and deal with my tranny problems.

Pit Bull

__________________
Nismo R-Tune Flywheel
UR 3 Piece Pulley's
Borla true dual -- use to be Injen SES Exhaust
Nismo Headers
LSD Catless Pipes
Injen CAI
Enkei RPO-2J 17X9 for Autocross with Kumho 275/40's!(In my garage waiting for a race)
Camber Arms
Traction Rods
I-Forged 19X9 19X10.5
Nismo Sway bars F/R
JIC FLTA2 coilovers
Team Oasis Sticker!"

zoasis, I am sorry to here about your problems but based on your mods I don't see how you get the dealer to cover any part of your drive train under warranty??? The minute you modified your engine to put out more power you voided your factory warranty. You are now your own warranty station. Like they say if you can't afford to pay then you should not play. Not trying to be a smart *** but for anyone on this site that does anything that may increase the HP of their Z, they now have no right complaining about any problems with the engine or transmission. Now if your ride is stock then the dealer needs to support you while you are under warranty. JMHO

zoasis

Pit Bull
These are bolt on parts. They have no effect on the transmission. The flywheel was recommended by the dealer.

Which mod are you refering to that may affect my brand new tranny thats grinding???

Also, the dealer has to prove it was caused by my mods, which are readily available in Nismo form at any local dealer. You should do some research before you post about something you know nothing about.

Pit Bull

zoasis, it does not matter if the dealer recommended the flywheel or the headers or the dual exhaust, ect. ect. If they improve the performance of the engine then that can damage the transmission etc. etc. and they can void your warranty and they don't have to prove anything. Read your warranty, they all state if you modify, it is void pretty much industry boiler plate to cover their butt (can't blame them). Been though this with Dodge CTD trucks and if you chip the engine and the VP44 failed or the transmission blew they would void the warranty. They would look for any mods that affected engine performance to void the warranty. Now some dealers would look the other way but when DC came down on them it was all over. I'm not saying that any of your mod's have caused your problems, I'm saying that you have lost your leverage legally agains't Nissan, so you need to be real nice to your Dealer and hope they take care of you. Good luck

zoasis

Pit Bull
These mods don't affect the tranny at all, thats the bottom line. My dealer actually replaced a tranny for a guy tht had a procharger kit. Besides, my problems started before any mods were done. They continue after the mods were done as well.

Pit Bull

Wow, great dealer. With Dodge if you just had a chip they would pull your warranty. Based on all of the posts by members that don't have any power mod's but still had transmission problems I figured your problem was not caused by your mod's. The only point I was making is that based on the written word of the manufactures warranty if you modify any part of your car and it affects the performance of any part of the car they don't have to honor the warranty on that part of the vehicle. Regarding your transmission replacements, logic would seem to indicate that something other than the transmission is causing them to fail, since the majority of owners have not had problems with their transmission. I would think that Nissan would start looking outside of the transmission for owners that have had multiple failures. Example we found that the Cummins turbo diesel injection pump failures were being caused by a failure in the lift pump when it failed or the fuel pressure output was getting down too low. Dodge just kept throwing lift pumps at the problem, but after the warranty was up many members were having their $1400 injection pumps fail on their on nickle. The solution we as a users group came up with was adding a fuel pressure guage to monitor the lift pump and have it replaced (under warranty if your truck was not bombed (better of modified baby)) this saved a lot of injection pumps. We also found that if your truck was running a chip it would cause the lift pump and the injection pump to often die, so we came up with pusher pump applications to add more fuel for trucks that were pulling more fuel. The only reason I mention this is I see a lot of people on this thread having several failures but know discussion about the conditions surrounding the failure. Example - do the member that have the failures tend to shift at red line? Do they down shift alot. Do they speed shift often? Is their a common Mod (Bomb) that the guys with failures have on their cars? Just think you guys with the problem transmission need to spend time looking for commonality??? Hope this helps and I hope I don't join your ranks.

ZGrrrl

tranny replaced 7/03
car delivered 2/03
car mileage 4,500mi

ZGrrrl

btw: my replacement wasn't so smooth the nissan national technical claims rep happened to be at my dealership and looked at my car and initially flagged my vin to nullify my warranty due to an aftermarket injen cai, grounding wires and borla....after some discussion the resultant flagging was reversed but the events left a bitter taste for my love/now speckled with much hate relationship for the Z