Transmission getting replaced...new clutch ordered

[joe603]

Sorry...I merged a few threads so it reads a bit weird.

The short version is that I'm getting a new transmission.

[G_whizz]

Bump for StevetheTech

[joe603]

I've talked offline with him...Thanks Sean!

[oldandslow]

Try Redline MTL trans fluid.It should smooth out Your shifts.

[joe603]

Dropped her off yesterday and got an 07 loaner...man this thing is the fastest 07 I've driven yet! (I've had 3 loaners now).

[joe603]

Dealership just called and I'm getting a new transmission for my 05. Now is the time to replace the clutch!

What have you guys used??? I'm thinking JWT.

Any info will help!!!!!

[Sentientbydesign]

I'm getting the RPS Cyn-R-G flywheel and street clutch installed at Specialty Z on the 15th for $1200 out the door.

Are you going to replace the clutch only or clutch and flywheel?

Fidanza, JWT, and RPS all have replaceable friction material that the factory dual-mass doesn't, but will all chatter. Your call.

Email me or give me a buzz if you want more info.

[joe603]

Update:

The dealer said that the synchros are going...so the transmission's gotta be replaced.

Then they're gonna replace the track on the seat to stop it from squeaking...

Both parts need to be ordered so I have to take it back next week.

Anyway, since the transmission's out, I need to consider replacing the clutch/flighwheel....does the flywheel need to be replaced? They seem to be quit expensive. The JWT one is $500...$100 more than the clutch kit?!

I guess I don't need to replace the clutch now...but it would be cheaper to do it while the trans is out. $190 vs. $800.

She only has 31k miles...and I don't feel it slipping. What do you guys think?

[Sentientbydesign]

I had this same dilema when they had my engine out. $170 for labor to install a new clutch/flywheel.

At the time, I didn't have the $1200 for the clutch/flywheel plus $170 for labor. They said that both were toast and the flywheel wasn't even in a condition that could be resurfaced. I wish I could have seen it for myself.

One of our sponsors has the JWT and RPS combos for pretty cheap. Here's the link. I told them I was staff and they dropped a few bucks/included shipping.

http://www.intensepower.com/drivetrain5.html

List on the site is $769 for the JWT combo and $899 for the RPS combo.

Specialty Z quoted me $800-$850 for the RPS combo. They dropped price plus install to $1200 out the door. I couldn't save myself much by trying to swap them out myself.

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

Im in the same boat Joe..

Im taking mine in for new trans right be fore xmas.

I don't know what to do... I think Im going to leave them until the clutch goes all the way. Why fix something that isn't broken?

DJ

[fbpem1]

the flywheels are so expensive becuase its a dual mass, the springs inside of the flywheel wear out and have too much play not replacing that when you do your clutch you WILL have chatter and lots off it, its the flywheel moving way to much when it unleashes the force stored in the flywheel.

Well on to the aftermarket flywheels i do not like the jwt flywheel, i do not like replaceable friction surfaces for the one reason being expansion from and transfer from the two differant materials, get something that is all one kind of metal i prefer chromoly because of its properties, aluminum is always lighter but expands a bit more than moly and a little cheaper and lighter.

Clutches as far as they go Competion Clutch makes a great clutch, check for tilton if tilton makes one for the G that would be the last clutch you buy they make a killer single disc as well as any others, and you can't really go wrong witih exedy as far as clutches go.

I personally would do the clutch now and get a good aftermarket unit and not really worry about it anymore and probably till you sell the car or total it.

The aftermarket single plane flywheel will chatter but not really a chatter more of a vibration thing since its not absorbing torsional vibration its letting it go straight to the imput bearing of the trans, and i have yet to see that bearing be taken out (****ed up) by having a aftermarket flywheel and clutch installed into that.

The aftermarket lightwieght flywheel is about the only performance modifaction you can do to these cars that is realitivly cheap and works really well meaning you can feel the difference between the car before and after its more responsive and a bit quicker.

Well thats it for this long winded post there will be more to come any questions comments concerns feel free to ask.

[joe603]

It's $800 shipped for the JWT kit...under 1k for the job.

Ohhh...the dealer is charging me $110 because I have an aftermarket exhaust

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

For that I would take it off and drive it their with no exhaust!

DJ

[Sentientbydesign]

I want a lift! DAMN IT!

If I had one, I'd do the job myself and not worry about varying thermal expansion. The RPS flywheel has 4 "pucks" to deal with friction material warpage. It's patented and the friction material cost $35.

fbpem1,

My lightweight flywheel chatters like a mofo. When I first got my G and didn't know how to handle the flywheel, I thought I had a diesel big rig because of how it took off. Keeping the engine above 2k gets rid of most of the rumble.

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

you know you can buy those lifts for like 1200 bux on craigs list in tampa! They even come out and install them for that price!

[Sentientbydesign]

I have to have a home of my own first (as in own it).

Thanks for the advise though.

[Jacko3]

Joe603:

Congrats!! Wow, I am surprised the transmission was that bad. Are you sure they did not put an 03/04 transmission in your car to begin with? Are all the G transmissions from 03 - 07 the same or not? By the way, my 07 has 34K and I beat the heck out of the transmission and its been great. Anyway, congrats on the new transmission--its like giving the car a new liver and kidney transplant.

[fbpem1]

Joe603:

Congrats!! Wow, I am surprised the transmission was that bad. Are you sure they did not put an 03/04 transmission in your car to begin with? Are all the G transmissions from 03 - 07 the same or not? By the way, my 07 has 34K and I beat the heck out of the transmission and its been great. Anyway, congrats on the new transmission--its like giving the car a new liver and kidney transplant.

Outside the 05-07 trans are the same inside some of the same parts remain but i have seen a handful of the new countermeasure updated trans go bad as well. Even the new 07+ sedan/ 08+ coupe trans go bad. 03 had the worst trans out of all of them and they got better but they can still go bad.

[Jacko3]

Joe:

By the way, I am pretty much done with the OEM flywheels when my clutch finally goes out---too finicky and demanding of perfect state, except if i get another deal on warranty to get OEM flywheel and clutch assy replaced for $500 as I did the last time in August. Other than that, I think next time, I will be going for Nismo lightweight flywheel and OEM clutch assembly---they say they work well together, and all of the cost would be about $900 in parts. I think I can get my tech to do the install for $200 - $250.
Modified by Jacko3 at 7:30 AM 12/3/2008

[Jacko3]

fbpem1:

Thanks. Why do they have these transmission issues to begin with. Is it material or is it the way the transmission was first installed on the car with the engine? I have a funny feeling based on my previous replaced engine that the way they are installed form factory has a lot to do with the issues that exist with them. My current transmission worked terribly with my original engine and once I received the revised engine, it beacme perfect. Though, the link between transmission and engine is tenuous to say the least, but this is what i have experienced so far. What do you think?

[joe603]

I'm still kindof pissed that a $40k car needs a new transmission. I'm going to try and get the dealer to do the clutch for free...and maybe wave the exhaust fee too. This is BS in my book.

Still looking for an aftermarket clutch/flywheel.

[fbpem1]

I'm still kindof pissed that a $40k car needs a new transmission. I'm going to try and get the dealer to do the clutch for free...and maybe wave the exhaust fee too. This is BS in my book.

Still looking for an aftermarket clutch/flywheel.

are you a good customer?

clutch is a wear item sorry no clutch for you.

now thing is since your car is modified they don't have to put a trans in it they could fight it have a dpsm come out look the car over and see how you have been driving the car, by the look of your tires, brake fluid, engine oil, and if they really want to be d!ck split the trans case and take a look at the pfp (primary failed part) only rebuild the transmission and send you on your marry way with essentially nothing. Don't be a d!ck about it please, don't think your entilted to a new trans or clutch because since theres no TSB with them guess what it could be suspected abuse (i throw that term around loosley) and you could end up with nothing having to pay 5k for the trans and clutch and flywheel.

This is the kind of attitude i HATE i think its appauling that customers think everything is the factorys fault YOU have to take SOME responsibility for actions taken with the car and what you have done with it and to it. If you can't do that you need to grow up.

40k car....needs trans....what about 200k+ ferrari's that blow the engine at 3 thousand miles and you don't have a warranty. just becuase the car costs 40k dosn't mean its bulletproof dosn't mean its going to take everything you throw at it. you have a mix of a sports car (i also use that term loosley) and a luxery car. So that trans is NOT the strongest out there it will NOT take everything you throw at it esspecially if you flat foot it, banging gears all the time, its going to happen you gotta pay to play i blew my trans in my car and i was half expecting to pay for it or split cost with the dealer since it was suspected abuse i admitted to them that i dog the car everynow and again but since i was open and honest with them they didn't care pretty much and rebuilt mine under warranty, keep in mind this was at 13,000 miles, and the trans i am talking about costs considerably more money than a G35 trans, about $6,500 out the door parts alone with a new trans.

I have a theory on the exhaust and heres why i think they are charging you since you have a aftermarket exhaust i don't knw what kind it is i don't know if its an H pipe or a Y pipe but you know aftermarket stuff can break when you take it off maybe your bolts are all crap and maybe they will break off in your cat (if you have them) and they have to be drilled out thats a pain in the ***. The dealer is covering THIER *** because we are much more worried about corperate being pissed off at us than 1 customer, becuase a wearable item (clutch) needs to be replaced and your trans is shot dosn't mean the product is crap might also mean that you don't drive correctly.

i know this came off quite d*ckish but oh well this attitude in a customer i can't stand they feel entilted to something and refuse to pay when it could be THIER fault. I just had this conversation with a customer today and when he saw things from my point of view and the dealers and compared them to his own, wow low and behold HE was the one being unreasonable.

/rant.

[Sentientbydesign]

I think the problem is that from the consumer's point of view, the product should be able to deal with normal use. You don't put a 300hp engine into a RWD sports coupe and expect an anemic transmission to be driven "perfectly". Those who completely abuse it are the only ones who should transmission failure. The rest of us should have a long lasting transmission sans issues.

I don't drive my G that hard. The previous owner had a stupid "accident" that wore through the first clutch at 25k. Ok, so maybe that one would have lasted until 35k or 40k, the second (aftermarket) setup that's in there now is also dead. I'm just over 60k right now.

Again, I don't drive hard. I only feather when necessary to avoid abrupt power engagement. I have the same "clunk" issue that Joe has. Is this my fault?

The car isn't even at the powertrain mileage limit and the transmission is on it's 3rd clutch? Come on now.

[joe603]

I don't track my car. I don't bang through the gears enough to warrant a new transmission.

Here's what I think happened.

1. I took the car to the dealer because the clutch pedal would stick to the floor and it would engage with a jerk. I was not having a problem with engaging 1st or the 2nd gear grinding or the wind rushing sound.

2. Got the car back and it seemed fine...I didn't notice the 1st/2nd gear problems until the next morning. The the weather started to get cooler and the noise started.

3. Took it in again (each trip to the dealer is 20miles BTW) and now they say the transmission needs to be replaced. Since I have an aftermarket exhaust, they need to charge $109 to get to the trans...and $190 to replace the clutch.

So basically it's going to be $300 for the labor and $1,000 in parts....all because some tech made an improper adjustment or perhaps a defective transmission from the factory. I don't feel like I should have to pay the $300 if it's the dealer or Infiniti's fault. I agree with you on the clutch. It's a wearable item, so I'll suck it up and pay for it.

I understand you're a bit touchy on dealer bashing, but we're not talking about a cheap car. This car competes directly with expensive German and Japanese cars. With the auto industry in the crapper, you'd think that they would try and keep current customers happy.

[joe603]

Here's the clutch I'm getting:

http://www.forgedperformance.c...age=1

It's a "stage 4" clutch that will handle up to 500HP. So if I do go FI, it will handle it. The guys at Forged Performance recommended the kit over the JWT one. They say that this one will not chatter as bad as the others ones either.

[Sentientbydesign]

Did they mention that engagement on this thing is going to be a *****? The pucked clutches usually don't bite smoothly, they bite HARD.

I had the option of getting the RPS 6 puck "turbo" clutch and I took the street clutch. I'd personally have the transmission rebuilt stronger if I ever went FI. Good luck.

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

so is that kit a flywheel and clutch combo for 750 bux?

DJ

[joe603]

Yup, flywheel and clutch...they are running a special.

[Jacko3]

fbpem1:

I know where you are coming from. But Jacko has his own techniques and rules for getting things done.

1. Befriend the service consultant and be tight with them. I don't argue with them or make them mad. I befriend them. Ipod, cellphones, and blackberries, are making it hard for many to learn to make real human connections with those that can make or break their bank account.

2. Have a reliable and single Tech who works on your car.

3. I drive my G-35 Coupe hard--6,000RPM everytime I step into it. The car can handle it. In fact, the transmission behaves worse when I drive it like a gandma---G-35 Coupe transmission is terrible when you baby it. If you drive the car gently, you will kill it. I have a friend who is even worse than I and the car loves it. Everything runs smoothly once it is being flogged. My car has 34,000 miles on it. G-35 was designed as a track car, and so if you are not tracking the car or pretendinig to be tracking it like me, you will kill the car.

4. I had a clutch system replaced with flywheel in August under warranty for just $500 with labor--flywheel was collapsed.

5. Never had a grinding noise in my car at all. I change the fluids like grandma changes the subject of discussions.

6. I am buying the service consultant and my Tech christmas gifts in preparation for another clutch replacement under warranty next year.

7. If the car falls apart after making my last payment in 2010, then it has been well worth it--no regrets at all. No car has given me so much joy than the 2007 G-35 Coupe 6 MT. I always feel like a criminal when I am driving it. I am not driving my car to keep forever, i am driving it for my joy and personal happiness. So, I can't baby it. if it falls apart, i still have my reliable little nissan.

I love this bunny.

[joe603]

So I talked with the service manager...

no budging on either charge. They must be losing $$ on warranty work. Oh well...I didn't really want to spend a grand on the car right before Christmas...but that's life.