I purchased my first car yesterday, *im 22* and its a 08 350z, with 56k miles and its manual. I got it in Texas, and it was 16,589 *i hustled the price down over 1500.

Ive driven a manual before, but never owned one other than a sport bike. But the two are completely different.
I read up on them before buying it and found the transmissions are notorious for going bad at around 47k miles.
it had one owner and a clean carfax with reports of all the maintenance performed on the car. The salesman was upfront about the past owner, *apparently then went to church together and he showed me a photo of them together with the car, owner traded for a WRX* past owner was 33 and from the carfax took great care of the car, had no reports of recalls or problems, he had it repainted because the 08s had a clearcoat issue

car was sold to me with a full Magnaflow exhaust, sport clutch, air intake and some aesthetic modification.

and after driving from texas to new orleans with it I found the humidity made the clutch squeak, so I oiled it up and stopped the problem, im not the best at driving it yet so ive grinded a gear or two but nothing excessive. and regular driving all gears shift smooth *knock on wood*
shifts and drives smooth, BUT... im not sure if it was going on when i bought it and i didnt notice it, or the fact that at midnight its silent so i can hear every creak or rattle in the neighborhood. But i find the car has a Slight rattle under the car while sitting in neutral. goes away when clutch is engaged. I took a video but it just sound like a car turning over in the video. the exhaust is Very loud and coughs when i shift it at a high rpm

i read somewhere that its the flywheel making the noise while its sitting unengaged.
or it could be a bad tranny.
when i am in first and i allow the gear to help slow down the car it sounds kinda like a jet engine winding down, and stoppes when i engage the clutch. and its half as noticeable in second, and not in the other gears. I hear thats the syncros helping slow the car down?
being that it has everything done to it that i would of done, i feel i could drop 1500-2k on a new tranny. I have a friend with a 370z and he works at a import shop, or did. and maybe he could get it done at a reasonable price.

should i be concerned? what should i do before going all out and swapping in a new tranny? the dealer *certified chevrolet/jk subaru in nederland* had it checked head to toe and reported no issues... but being im a paranoid individual i want to make sure my new baby is capable of lasting me for a good while.

so in short, like i said, it runs good and all my friends who see it *all drive manual* say its a great buy and report nothing wrong. one told me he heard a rattle when i hit a bump, and we found out the spare tire was loose. and that solved the problem.
it will stall, and will roll back easily so i know the clutch will disengage. but like i said i want to be sure nothing is wrong with it. so i feel im going to take it to a shop soon and get its tranny fluid changed again and see if they report errors or issues.
but in the mean time i hope some forum users can assit me on what to do next?

sorry for the long post! i just wanted to make sure i got the entire problem explained!
i am very happy with my z otherwise and hope it lasts for years to come!

 

i tried uploading a photo of the car but i cant figure it out

 

probably just flywheel chatter. nothing to be worried about

 

Ok, a few simple rules here.

Get an account for pics, like FLIKR, I use tinypic.com the use the [IMG] tag feature to post pics of the car.

As for the sound, its most likely a chattery flywheel or a loud TO bearing. Nothing to worry about. These transmissions with a single mass flywheel can be quite loud. That being said as a new owner here is a list of MUST DO THINGS for peace of mind.

1. Trans Flush & Fill (Buy 4qts of Redline MT85) Take it to a shop or do it yourself. This is the best fluid you can use and it should fix any and all issues with the grinding and make the shifting smoother.

2. Oil Change (Mobile 1 10W30 full synthetic Use a Nissan Oil Filter if you can)

3. Change Diff Fluid Out (Another Qt of MT85)

4. Put the car on a lift if you can and get under it, inspect for any damage.

Other than that, everything should be great. Enjoy and looking forward to a pic.

08 is an HR car so you should have he best revision of the Trans, and If there is a dual intake setup. Make sure all your fittings are tight and secure.

From there it's gravy.

 

 

Ok I know Im not the owner, But Ive added a few MUST DOs to the list.

1. Remove Front Plate Bracket ASAP
   
2. Remove Awful Front grille ASAFP
   
3. Not as important but a nice set of Wheels with proper offsets will make this care look unbelievable.

 

does it leave holes when you remove the front plate bracket? i wanted to but thought it would leave holes

and any recommendations for the grille?

 

^ It would, and stock grill

 

If there are holes in your bumper after removal, go get some plastic plugs and some touchup paint. Paint those ***** and snap 'em in. Will look 100x better.

 

The factory grille is behind that one.

Yes you'll have small 10mm holes, get some plugs and paint them to match. It will look a great deal better.

 

Yup, grill, bracket, and wheels have to go. Good luck.

 

oh wow i had no idea that the stock grill was behind the ugly one on it currently!

how do i go about taking it off? do i need to remove the bumper? *total noob i know*

and yea the rims were chrome but for the time being i plasti dipped them to make it a little more bearable while i look for a new set.

ill go to an autozone and pick up some plugs for the front bumper.

and oddly i turned the car on after getting back from work *i take a trolly downtown from midcity to work because its 2$ for 2 hours of parking time and i average 5-12 hour shifts. and the rattle was not heard?
i guess maybe it only occurs after it heats up or something.

but i appreciate all the help and after i do the recommended mods ill upload more photos!

 

oh and i just got an aftermarket shift ****... can i just twist the OEM one off or do i need to disassemble anything?

 

Mullen,

Shift *****... Is it a threaded factory Nissan ****? M10 x 1.25... If not take it back, Universal ***** will absolutely destroy your factory threads.

Also search these forums. There have been thousands of questions asked by people before you... Searching will save you countless flaming.

But yes its a PITA to get the stock **** off it does just twist but it has red lock tight on it. Dont use a big wrench or you'll break something in the shifter cup.

 

Lol I know exactly what noise you're talking about. It happened to my friends Z and I told him get that **** fixed, he said he doesn't care. Long story short, he needs a new flywheel now.
It's not bothersome, but after a while it'll fry your flywheel

 

the shifter is a DRM shifter and was said to be for nissan.

it fits snug now that ive got it on.


and Bruno350z, how could I help the situation before it goes bad?

 

What are you talking about? Flywheel chatter will fry your flywheel?

OP, don't listen to this goof. It'll be fine.

 

You have an 2008 like mine, we have the best transmission revision , dont worry about it.

 

Who said anything about flywheel clatter? Learn how to read before you call people "goof"'s
F*cking people sometimes god damn...

 

Only everyone else in this thread? So yea, learn to read you goof.

OP described a perfectly clean transmission and you are telling him to replace his flywheel. Your mechanical knowledge is nil.

Anyway, enjoy your car OP. Transmission sounds fine - the "winding down" sound is normal in any MT and there is a lot of chatter in these cars.