6mt transmission issue? or normal?

Nissan 350z / Nissan 370z general community discussion forum
magenta_hearts
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:29 pm
Car: 2003 350z touring 6mt, diamond graphite , black leather, all stock

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Hi , I just got my 03 350z 6mt touring with 68k miles on it. Its super clean and previous owners only had it serviced at Nissan dealerships its whole life. I have noticed that the manual transmission is really finicky. Seems rough shifting into certain gears sometimes. It will lock me out of 2nd a lot especially when cold. Now 2 years ago I owned an 04 G35 6mt coupe and drove it daily for 4 years and can remember having a hard time with the transmission then. just remember it being really finicky as well but maybe not as bad as this car. It never got any better or worse in the entire 4 year span of having it and putting almost 50k miles on it. and I was willing to live with it. I did end up changing out the clutch on it literally right before it's demise from a leaking head gasket and didn't really get a chance drive it much to notice a difference, not even broken in yet so i am not sure If I can attribute anything to that. I have heard transmission issues are common for these. I just want to know if its something to worry about or not while I still have a 30 day warranty on the car lol. I searched the forum and couldn't really find this specific topic, mostly about auto trannys so Any input would be great! thanks :biggrin:


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evildky
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Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2004 9:23 pm
Car: 71 240ZT, 87 300ZXN/A-T, 06 350Z GT, Tundra TRD RW
Location: Louisville, KY
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Have you checked your fluid? Could be something as simple as low fluid level, of course that would also mean there is a leak or it was previously serviced and not refilled properly. Do you know what fluid is in it? If someone changed the fluid and used something thicker than the spec'd that can make for tougher shifts especially when cold. Also "Baby it's cold outside", if it's abnormally cold where you are this will thicken the fluids and make shifting more difficult, the solution is quite simple, give the car more time to warm up before driving, as the engine idles even in neutral (foot off the pedal) it's spinning the input shaft on the trans and that means it's spinning the gears inside the trans warming the fluid. How's the clutch master and slave? I had a bad master and replaced it with 2 bad masters before getting a good one and actually restoring full travel to the slave. If none of these are the case, then you you might have worn synchro's, used transmissions can be had for less than the cost of a trans rebuild.

magenta_hearts
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:29 pm
Car: 2003 350z touring 6mt, diamond graphite , black leather, all stock

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The fluid level is good. I'm not sure about if they used a different viscosity than specified by the manual. I do let it idle most of the time before driving it in the mornings. I recently went on a long 100 mile trip in it most of the way crawling in traffic and I noticed as the transmission was getting hot the problems returned and even an episode of grinding. Once there was a pick up in traffic pace and air flow got through it for a mile or so it was better. I'm not versed enough to know what to look for with the master and slave clutch cylinders. I'm really hoping to not have to replace the transmission as I have financed the car and I am stuck with it for 5 years and then I'd be stuck with another car in front of my house that I can't sell but also can't drive because I doubt I could afford to replace the transmission.

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evildky
Posts: 14713
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2004 9:23 pm
Car: 71 240ZT, 87 300ZXN/A-T, 06 350Z GT, Tundra TRD RW
Location: Louisville, KY
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If it's a slave/master issue usually holding the clutch in longer makes it worse, like sitting in traffic, try driving without holding the pedal down any longer than needed to shift, then try holding the clutch at stop lights. If holding the clutch in longer makes the issue worse it's a master/slave issue.

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BusyBadger
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Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:20 pm
Car: '92 240SX, '05 350Z, '13 Juke
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My problem was a little difference and a little similar...

...here's what I did about it.


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