Ok, so my tranny has been getting progressively worse since around 6k miles. It started with some grinding going into 2nd hard, and 3rd gear only when cold (cold meaning the car was not warmed up, even in 100 degree weather). It has gotten to the point where 3rd grinds every time now unless you match revs and shift into it slowly. 2nd is about the same as 3rd. As of Friday night, I can't even shift into 5th gear. No way, no how, nada. I get 3rd no matter how hard I try to get it into 5th. It is hell to get it into 6th also, but won't grind.

The stick while in neutral floats all over the place. There is tension pulling it over for 1st and 2nd, but you can practically blow on it and make it move over towards 5th and 6th. The guy at the dealership was like "that's normal, it's loose". They didn't have any Zs for me to look at, at the time. He told me to bring it back and they'd check it out. This was last week.

Ok, so here is the question. It is my understanding that in modern day, or at least our transmission, there is no shift gates, per se. Is this correct? Is it all just springs that make it act and feel like there are gates? What I was thinking is that because there is no tension pushing it to 5th and 6th, it is not getting lined up properly for those gears perhaps, because the spring is loose, or missing now. In theory, wouldn't that cause the problems I am having?

I am just curious if anyone else has had this problem, or if the tranny replacements have been strictly defect related, or what?

I am taking it in tomorrow to drop it off, but I just wanted to see what you all thought. FYI, I don't abuse my car. I know how to drive and shift with the best of them. It does get driven somewhat hard, at times, but most of the time it is being driven mildly to and from work. When it is driven hard, I would not consider it being abused.

 

Hi Rob, hope you remember me from the 350Z meet at Chilli's. Almost all the ppl that had to get a new tranny had problems grinding in 3rd, 2nd, and 5th. They also said it was difficult to get into 5th and 3rd at all sometimes. You defanitely need to drive the car with a Nissan dealer's tech riding with you so they can see/hear the problem with your tranny.

When the car is still cold, you kinda have to drive the car slow and let the tranny fluids warm up to the right temp for them to do their job. I use to have a slight grinding problemtring to go into 2nd, but everything seems to be ok now at 11k miles.

 

My car has always made a "bump" when going into second when cold, and it has always been a little stiff. I've got 23K miles and the experience has not really changed. I've had a couple track days and a bunch of AutoX's plus a pretty twisty commute where I drive fairly hard (I would also say that I do not abuse the car - I tend to shift pretty slowly - but I do drive hard at times). I can always get into 5th and 3rd easily. My shifter is definitely very positively located between 3rd & 4th when in neutral.

It therefore sounds to me like you might really have a problem. If nothing else, the inability to get into 5th should necessitate some sort of repair.

-D'oh!

 

Yeah, the tranny got WAY worse since that service tech rode in the car with me last week. I have no doubt they are going to fix it, I was just curious what problems people had, and if they were the same as mine.

Thanks for the info.

 

Hmm.... if I shift slow, then I hardly have any problems.

2nd gear used to be a pain... but at nearly 7k miles, it's gotten better. The car hardly jerks in any gear, and the shifter feels smoother.

When I took my car out to track over the summer, I had trouble getting into 2nd after a hard launch. This caused my times to slip from the late 15s-16s range. If I shift slower, then I won't get locked out of 2nd gear and so my fastest time was around 15.6

Now, I have trouble getting into 3rd numerous times. My launch isn't as hard now. I just release clutch slower at 2k rpm in 1st, then shift 2nd, then argh!! I can't get into 3rd?!? I try many times to get into 3rd. Once I got into 3rd, the rpms were around 2k already. This sucked. I tried to show my dad by punching it in 2nd as I get on the highway. Again, I got locked out of 3rd. Once the rpms drop to around 2k, I manged to slip into 3rd. As I dropped the clutch, the car jerked and the tires chirped. This was very unpleasant considering the huge delay getting into 3rd. No grind... just get locked out of it.

I might head out to the track again this Friday, but I'm not so sure about the tranny. I'll make a first run going slow and making sure the tranny is okay at the expense of getting humiliated by many people out there. It was tough enough the first time around. I want to actually beat my friend's s2k time of 15.2, and that shouldn't be a struggle if the tranny was not being such a b!tch.

 

djtonium,

You tranny needs service. Get a Nissan tech in the car with you and do the highway entrance ramp. Don't push it to hard or he will simply say "you're over driving it". Stay in third until 5000 grand with 1/2 WOT. Then simply try to shift to third as normal. He will see you get locked out. This is NOT how the tranny, or any tranny, should function.

My tranny shifts are tight and notchy. I find it a little bothersome, but if I change how I hold the shifter, it does feel slightly smoother. Other than this, I only grind when my own shift timing is off. The tranny is otherwise fine. Sometimes, second is really notchy, but only when cold. If you tranny does not behave like this or better, then you likely have a problem.

 

Hi Rob,
Which dealership did you take the car for service?

I have had bad experiences with two of the three dealership in Austin. The best is just out of Austin.

Will you be at Z meeting?

 

I went to South Point, where I bought the car. I am guessing you are saying you like the Round Rock Nissan dealership? I like South Point, and really don't like Town North. We'll see how this goes at South Point, I am taking it in when I get off work tonight/this morning.