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Nissan 350Z Transmission Questions
I have an '05 350Z 6spd touring with 3500 miles on it, and I have only noted some clutch chatter, at times, mainly when it is cold out. Also some notchiness or slight grinding on the 1-2 shift. Otherwise shifting and clutching is primo. I am coming from a 96 240SX with 170k on the original clutch and tranny. The 240SX, when newer, had a very notchy shift, but improved with age (like a fine wine?)...
Anyone else having any early mileage clutch chatter?
Anyone else having any early mileage clutch chatter?
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'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
I took it to Nissan and they said there was a TSB out for the rear bearings. They ended up replacing both for free. Not sure if it affected the 05's though.
Took it back to the dealer and had them drive it to my home and the tech drove it up the driveway without the noise, he claimed that it is all how you push in the clutch. If i push in the clutch very quick it will make the noise, feather it slowly keeps it from happening.
I also have a clunking noise if shifting to quickly from first to second instead of feathering the clutch nicely....does everyone have this problem? I test drove two Z's both stick at two different dealers and they were both the same with the noise while shifting. Wish I would have found these threads earlier, although I love the car! Is there anything wrong with this noise, or is it just normal in these cars???
The clutch chatter is there as well. However, if I keep the clutch depressed at the spot where the gear begins to engage for an extra second or two, instead of continuing to lift off the clutch, the chatter doesn't happen. In other words I am sort of riding the clutch which I know is not a good idea and something I have never done with another vehicle. So in going from 1st to 2nd I never fully release the clutch but raise it enough to engage 1st gear and then quickly depress to the floor to secure 2nd. Result is kind of like speed shifting and vehicle accelerates faster (I don't mean spinning tires).
If you find another solution please let me know. Though I don't smell any metal heating up, likely I'll end up replacing clutch and related parts sooner rather than later. Good luck.
1. All tires needed to be replaced due to feathering causing excessive front end noise. Nissan refused to address the situation until the recall despite my many complaints.
2. Windows would go down automatically and would not return to the up position. Problem occurred 3 times in 1st 10k miles.
3. CD player works intermittently and skips constantly.
4. Finally, the clutch and fly wheel burned out at 16k miles (I baby this car and have driven a stick shift all my life). I called Nissan customer service and they completely blew me off. My own dealer pretended to be unaware of all the clutch problems. Today I paid my $2000.00 to have the car repaired and upon picking it up the clutch once again was not working...problably a tranny problem. A Nissan mechanic who had limited experience with stick shifts drove the car. He stalled it twice and wasn't able to go from 0-5 mph without excessive jerking. Told me the clutch was fine and just need to be broken in. I promptly drove to my nearest Acura dealer and traded this piece of crap in for a 2006 MDX. Even the Acura dealer thought the car drove like crap and only gave me 18K for a trade in on a car with 16K miles, a new 2K dollar clutch and 4 new tires and wheels that cost nearly 6K. Go figure.
Bottom line....I lost my shirt financially, received the worst service and customer support I have ever experienced, and wasted literally days if not weeks of my life dealing with aggravation created by Nissan's inability to take responsibility for their manufactures defects. Do your self a favor and DON'T buy any Nissan products.... especially a 350z. I intend on notifying the BBB, but does anybody know if I have any further recourse on a national level?? (sorry for the long post).
Nissan customer service is a complete waste of time. They have brickwalls setup so you can't talk to any kind of decision makers and they blow you off as much as they can without you harrassing them.
I love my car, I really do I won't get rid of it, but I am severely dissappointed with Nissan as a company and would never recommend anyone buy their products.
At this point I believe I have found a dealer 2 hours away that is familiar with this problem and would be glad to fix it...I'm not holding my breath.
Sorry for all the problems you have been having at any rate.
The front end problem was solved with a Stillen adjustable camber front end. Really neat. I have 15K miles on the new Goodyear F3s and tread wear is normal!
My dealer has been extremely good to work with on these and other issues. And all (except the front end) have been managed under warranty. On the front end, they replaced tires and adjusted. But as the stock front end has no camber adjustment, the fix was only a bandaid.
Problems notwithstanding, this remains the neatest car I have owned ... even including my original 240Z.
Nissan customer service is a complete waste of time. Nobody can escalate issues.
Do not buy a Nissan product - You will be sorry
I have been very happy with this car up until now.
For the past two months, everytime I pull into my driveway,
I can hear a rumbling noise in the back of the car for
a few seconds. The way I pull into my driveway is like this.
As the car approaches the driveway, I slow down enough to
almost a complete stop, and put it back in first gear as I turn into the driveway.
My driveway is on bit of a downward incline.
As soon as the front of the car makes it past the sidewalk,
I can hear the low rumbling noise in the back.
At this point the car is rolling on a downward incline.
Took it to Nissan dealer but they could not replicate the
noise. The mechanic found the tire changing kit not strapped
down and blame it for the noise problem.
But I can produce the noise consistently at home, even with the
tire changing kit strapped down. The spare tire is also
tightly strapped down.
If anyone knows what is causing the rumbling noise please
let me know. You can send me an email at simonlnguyen@yahoo.com. Many thanks in advance.
1...Check engine light came on, found out a coil pack was blown.
2...Driver side window motor stopped working.
3...Recall on the gas filler tube. Supposedly they are cracking and causing fires.
4...Occasionally, the car will not start. I put the key in, turn it and nothing. Eventually it will start after I try it 10 or more times in a row. To this day Nissan has yet to diagnose the issue.
5...3rd gear was making a grinding noise. I took this back to Nissan 3 times, finally they replaced the transmission at 50k. During this, one of there idiot mechanics did not place the lift right under the car and cracked the passenger ground effect. They denied this was their doing.
I have attempted to contact Nissan customer service numerous times with no luck. They do not call you back and it is impossible to talk with a supervisor. All the above problems were fixed, minus the no start issue, under warranty.
The rear suspension is really bad in the 03's and causes excessive tire wear. I purchased new rear tires in Nov of 06, when I went for inspection in March of 07, they told me I needed new rear tires. Now mind you I drive all highway and do not race this car. The tire company refused to take responsibility for this issue.
Nissan is a headache to deal with and they DO NOT stand behind their cars. DO NOT buy a Nissan, you will deeply regret it!!
I would think think heavy gear oils would be too thick for good synchro engagement/lubrication.
Also,does anyone know who makes Nissan`s manual trannies? I know Borg Warner made them in the 80s era Z31,but they don`t make transmissions anymore.
Thanks!
Wolffe
Took it in two weeks ago with grinding/sticking going into 5th. Went for a ride with the service manager. It did a nice heavy clunk going into 5th. He went back to neutral and back into 5th, clunk again. He said "Well looks like you got a synchro going that will be a new transmission."
Took 6 days for them to get the part. the 7th day I dropped her off at 8am, had the car back by noon with a new transmission. Other than that only issues I have had are a weatherstrip coming loose and had to have the door on the little storage area in the middle replaced due to the coating coming off.
If you are having problems. Try another dealer if there is another in your area.
Overall I have been very happy with the car and the service. Only got 11k on her so far though. Some of the issues I read here on 03's are known issues. Personally I would never buy a car the first year of its run. to many problems get found.
Later
I bought a 2005 Nissan 350z on 6/9/2009. On 7/10/2009 the clutch went. I have driven a stick since I was 16. The dealer is saying the car was driven "hard", "excesive tire wear" . This is is BS, I don't even know how to do a "burn out". Dealer states ,not under warrenty and wants 1450 to repair, clutch,bearing,fly wheel. People have told me a "blown" clutch has different signs vs. a worn out clutch. I need to fight these guys. I hadn't even made my first payment on the car and had to have it towed to dealer.
This has never happened with any Honda (it would just stall if it happened) I have owned but do notice it with the 2005 350z that has a ton of torque and sounds like a lot of people experience something like this once in a while in this car. So far happy with the car, no major problems. I know how to drive a stick, don't down shift or race the car around like I was 20 years old again but it is sure scared me that the master cylinder or slave cylinder might be going out already or the hoses are stretching badly.
Hoses and such should be checked about now, if you haven't had that done.
Let's face it, a lot of the Zs with manual transmissions were bought by racer wanna-be types and they may have abused the clutch. You know how you drive; you don't know how someone else drove it before you.
My clutch just went out after 52k miles. Dealer said same thing its a Wear item. Ive heard in many forums about this issue in cars with minimal miles. The dealer will tell you that nissan requires a new flywheel to be installed. Do not listen to them. They are just squeezing more money out of you. If you see many blue spots then yes you should buy another flywheel. But buy an aftermarket one at a cheaper price. I found someone to do the install for 150$ flywheel and clutch. I bought a used clutch for 100 lightweight performance flywheel for 150. Its recommended to also purchase the Clutch release bearings the same time to avoid any malfunction in the future.
The person doing the install is a Nissan tech. Came str8 from his mouth. Yes i know people shouldnt buy used but if you know what to look for it ok. Cant always afford new ya know!
Do you have issues with downshift or upshift or both with 2nd gear? If you have downshift / upshift issue with 2nd gear only, it might be related to synchro. You might want to get this sorted out before the 5 yr factory warranty expires!
Positive: I have the Security Plus extended warranty for 1 year (dang it's only 1 year).
Negative: the clutch burned a bit due to the odd clutch master cylinder issue... wonder if Nissan would cover a clutch replacement too? or pay partially for one? I may just ask.
If you hear crunches through out more gear and the making sure that you push the clutch down far enough during gear changes doesn't work, you may want it checked out.
I took it into the dealership today and was able to reproduce the problem... he thinks it's a faulty or leaking master cylinder. Will hopefully have the problem with the hydraulic pressure loss on Friday... unfortunately, it burned the clutch a bit while it was not fully pressurized and I've lost some clutch and trying to see if Nissan will help out on it. I asked for a quote from the dealer for a full clutch package replacement... they quoted around $800. Not sure I trust a non-Nissan mechanic with my clutch... I had an independent garage do my Acura GSR and they messed up the whole car by forgetting to connect the ground on the transmission housing back to the frame of the car... blew electrical stuff all over the place. I'll still look around for better pricing. Thanks for the tips.