So I have been driving a lot harder than usual lately and have been noticing what I hope are not transmission issues which I know are unfortunately common in these cars. For the longest time I have been having issues getting it into 1st gear sometimes even when I am at 5mph along with 2nd gear occasionally and I have no idea what this is from or if it is normal. Lately, as I said earlier, I started to push my car a little more than usual (fast shifts, 0-60's, etc.) and it seems as if my clutch is starting to wear out. I am not dumping the clutch or anything but sometimes when the gears start to engage, the car starts to rattle violently which is something that never used to happen. It still goes into gears fine for the most part but today it stopped clicking when it goes into gears and started to slide right into every gear.. I don't know if this is my imagination or not but it also feels as if my clutch got lighter... Maybe i'm just paranoid..

 

Ever car will be different. When my trans starting going out on my 06. It started with a whining noise in all gears at any rpm. Not the normal 350Z whine, but definitely more noticeable and louder. Later on it was 6th gear that started to go. 6th gear would grind unless you shifted slow. The clutch was always light and always had the same release point. The shifter throughout the gears never did anything in any other gear. Like I said though every car will be different.

However, do you have a transmission whine? With every gear engaging smoothly I'd assume your just being paranoid and everything is fine.

 

Well I think you will find the clutch slave cylinder (concentric slave cylinder - CSC) is more likely to be an issue with an 08 Z. Check your clutch fluid to see if you have a leak at the CSC. Also, these transmissions are notoriously difficult to get into gear when the are cold.