transmission assembly replaced???
 

I have had my 2010 370Z 40th Aniversity Editor for about 8 months now, bought it in the fall last year. I took her out of the garage in May and only drive her on the weekends..

I noticed that the clutch pedal was not releasing smoothly all the time, and in fact sometimes it would actual "stick" in the depressed position and I would need to stick my does under it and pull up to release it.

I took it to my dealer in April and they could not find any problem with it at all, they said they drove it and its working normally.

1 month later the pedal is still sticking sometimes, and it got to the point earlier this month where it was getting worse, happening all the time, and then it will not release at all and is stuck in the depressed position. I could not change gears and had to have the car towed to the dealer.

They said they need to replace Master/slave cylinder and some other stuff and kept the car for 17 days while they waited for parts.

They called me on Monday to say its done and according to the Service Advisor it "shifts like butter" I drove away and after a couple of blocks noticed that the gears were grinding when shifting into 2nd, both upshifting and downshifting. There did not seem to be any grinding in other gears only 2nd gear.

I went back to the dealer and took the mechinic for a ride so he could hear/feel the issue. He confirmed that its not normal and I had to leave my car with them again.

The service advisor called me today and advised that they are replacing entire transmission assembly and waiting for it to be shipped in.

I am very frustrated that they did not road test the car properly to ensure that the car was 100% fixed and now I am without my baby for almost 1 month.

Is it normal for a transmission to be replaced on a less then 3 year old car with less then 30,000 kms on it that is only driven for 6 months out of the year?

Do you think I have a lemon?

Any recommendations / suggestions on what I should do with the dealer?

I called Nissan Canada and they told me that all the dealers are independent and that they can't do anything, and that I should speak to the service or general manager at the dealership.

They are paying for a rental car, but its not the same driving a Hyundai Sonata :(

Should they have given me another 350/370 to drive while they have my car for almost 1 month?

Duane

Did you buy it new or used? If you bought it used do you know what its history was? I am thinking driving it with a bummed clutch may have worn out your syncro's and you were now placing much more stress on them if you were shifting with a partially engaged clutch.

I would not go so far however as to call it a lemon and rather a series of unfortunate events. Sounds like dealing with another dealer might not be a bad idea as well.

Hope this helps, goodluck with it.

They're not going to do that. Based on the timeline in your post, it looks like you are the second owner. Who knows how the previous owner drove the car. Once the dealer's done, you'll have a new transmission. I'd be happy about that. I'd also be happy they're covering a rental at all, regardless of make.

I bought it used in the fall, but I knew the original owner and it was never on the track or abused. And I had it inspected by a shop that I trust and they gave it a clean bill of health also.

I just can't believe that a transmission would need to be replaced with less then 30,000kms on the car.

You're not the only guy who's needed a new tranny. You're getting it done without having to play hardball with the dealer and you're getting a loaner car in the meantime. You're coming out ahead on this one. If it were me, I'd buy a heavy duty CSC and drop it off at the dealer.

A clean bill of health doesnt really mean anything with whats going on internally. All they checked was the safety and wear items on the car, how could they possibly tell the condition of the trans?

You took out one of your Syncro's simple as that. Probably from the clutch failing.

I am just disappointed with the dealer, I would have expected them to road test the car before calling me to tell me its done, and I have to waste a day off work and find out its still have problems.

I was considering buying a Frontier as a 2nd vehicle and hopped the dealer would step up and show some appreciation, I do my oil changes with them, I got the battery replaced with them, I probably spend over $1000 out of my own pocket with them already with this car.

They could have given me a loaner of a similar car or even a Frontier as I wanted to test drive one anyhow, but no they just wanted me out the door and off to Enterprise for another rental crap car.

Maybe its normal for Nissan, but when I take my MB to the dealer I always feel welcomed and appreciated for my business there.

What is a heavy duty CSC ?

It's the slave cylinder. OEM ones fail. If they pull the tranny, they need to replace it anyway. Save yourself a future headache and get a good one in there now.

Does Nissan sell a better one that I can upgrade to? Or do I need to wait until they have the car working and take it to a private shop?

Just buy the aftermarket one and take it to the dealer. Have them install it. Nissan doesn't make a replacement, and you have to pull the tranny to get to it. They're waiting on parts anyway.

Nissan does not sell them, you can find them through vendors on here. However you will have to see if they would be willing to put it in, and it would not surprise me if they said no.

Would you have a link or a part number to one that you recommend?
Sorry I don't know much about the mechanics of cars.

ZSpeed Performance Replacment HD Clutch CSC Heavy Duty Slave Cylinder Kit

Give the dealer a call and see if they'll install it. They're not supposed to be reusing the one that's in there anyway. If they're ok with it, bring them this one.

I've always had to go through a rental car place when having warranty work done at a dealership. However, when I bought the Z new, the dealership gave me a Z loaner for a week because the Z I wanted was located at dealership in Oklahoma. What an amazing week :driving:

I spoke to the service advisor, he said to email him the parts that I want changed and it should not be a problem, since it has to be be put back together anyhow, and Nissan is paying anyhow for the labour. He said if there is any issues with the aftermarket CSC that it would not be covered under warranty of course.

I emailed him, so we will see what happens.
Duane

I haven't read of any issues with aftermarket CSCs failing. There's too many stories about oem ones dying to count.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

Unrelated but my 2012 GTI just had a new motor put in Feb 13. Motor had 21000km's. Cars fail all the time. Some major some minor. After owning everything from Lotus Turbo's to Alfa Romeo's etc, the amazing reliable and modern GTI motor failed due to a faulty coil pack(Cyl 4 spark plug electrode broke and played ping pong with the cyl).

Warranty in force, new motor installed. My friend you are doing well! Nissan is doing exactly what they should for you. VW gave me a Sharan mini van. Its just wheels.

Enjoy the car when this is done!

new problems :(
 

So I picked up the car this morning, new transmission is in and it seems to be driving normally.

However now they have broken something else, the drivers side window is not working normal. The one touch up function no longer works, and every time you close the door the window lowers by 1cm, and you have to manually close the window every time you get in the car.

The passenger side window is working normally

I am so frustrated with this dealer and their incompetence!!!! Every time they fix something they break something else, and don't bother testing anything. Its so obvious when you close the door you can see the window lower!!!!

Now I have to take it back yet again for the 3rd time because of the window!!

Dont take it back yet, and don't lose your cool yet. Theres a reset procedure. Look for it here. If that doesn't work, then involve the dealer.

With the key on. Hold the window up for ~5-10 seconds... then proceed to hold down and keep holding down the switch. Once the window is all the way down wait another 5-10 seconds before releasing it. That will relearn it.

They should have caught it, but really its not a big deal.

I never owned a car before that I had to teach it how to put the windows up and down properly, seems like a huge design flaw to me!!

I will give it a try if it saves a trip back to the dealer

It's not a big deal at all. Definitely not a huge design flaw.

Have you ever owned a car that adjusted the windows automatically like the Z and didn't have to be reset when the battery was disconnected? :ugh2:

It's the same principle as your radio presets - battery gets disconnected when dealer does work, no more presets. Easy to correct. Not exactly a design flaw; more like a limitation of electricity...

Man you gotta go have a beer or something and take a step back.

When the battery is disconnected the window "forgets" where it is. It no longer knows what is up and what is down. How should it? Its all measured electronically (thus no mechanical switches to fail, which IMO is the way to go). It takes literally 20 seconds to reset and only has to be done when the battery is removed.

I fail to see how this is a "design flaw". While there are many of them with this car, this is not one of them. Your going to blow a gasket if you ever take a hard turn with only a little fuel left in the tank, I can see it now. haha.

This. You got a new transmission, got a good csc installed, and they gave you a loaner the whole time. You came out ahead here. Consider it a good day.

If that is true then why would the passenger side work fine? My radio presets are all ok also, if the battery was disconnected I should have lost those also?

Just annoyed that they don't see this problem (especially if it is so common as you all say) before they called me to tell me its ready for pick up.

the dealer missed it twice when i picked mine up on two separate occasions. i dont think any other nissan vehicles have windows like ours compensating for the small interior volume by lowering that small amount.

Only you see this as a major issue. Why are you so annoyed by this? The time you've spent here bitching about it greatly eclipses the amount of time it takes to fix.

They lower so that the top of the window does not hit the frame of the car when you close the door. Has nothing to do with the interior volume.

I'm annoyed in general at this dealer for again not checking everything before calling me to pick up. If this window problem was caused by them disconnecting the battery, then surely as they are Nissan mechanics they should know that the window would not work correctly any longer and they should have fixed it. I shouldn't have to deal with it.

Oh, the humanity. You got a new tranny, they put in an aftermarket csc for you and gave you a loaner, and you still found something to complain about. They could have very easily claimed your tranny was toast due to "abuse" and stuck you with the bill. Then it was that the loaner wasn't good enough. Now it's this incredibly minor issue. Your response to this is completely unreasonable. Let it go. It cost you 30 seconds of your time.

They didn't put aftermarket csc in, it didn't come in time, I will have to get it done later.

Its not 30 seconds, it cost me a half day pay on Monday when they called to say it was ready and it wasn't and now that its finally done (after having my car for 22 days) the window doesn't work.

Your saying I am unreasonable to expect a Nissan dealer and their service staff to be professional, check everything before calling the customer?

I also noticed that my gas tank is 1/4 lower then what it was when I brought it in, and I didn't say anything about it at the time as I was just happy to get the car back.

I work in a service industry and I had to have my clients come back to me 3 times because I didn't do my job properly the 1st time, I wouldn't have any clients and be unemployed.

That sucks. It will be extremely expensive if you are not already having transmission/clutch work done :ugh2:

Nope, he's saying the dealer could have screwed you more... consider yourself lucky they didn't break something else while fixing the transmission. It's not uncommon.

That's why I always take photos of my mileage and make sure they know that I'm not going to tolerate unnecessary miles on my car. I took it in for a headliner replacement recently (well just the evaluation) - they drove it 0.3 miles.

Too bad dealerships don't work like that... too many people don't care enough, so the dealers get away with murder.

I'm not discounting any hardship you were put through as a result of the transmission replacement. I am very clearly saying you're unreasonable about several things:

1. You got off very easy. The tranny replacement very easily could have been your cost. It's not hard for them to claim abuse. That would have been far more out of pocket than a half day of work.

2. They provided a loaner and covered the cost. Unfortunately the loaner car wasn't up to your standards. :rolleyes:

3. The window issue is a non-starter. It is, very clearly, NOT A BIG DEAL. It takes 30 seconds to fix. That is what I was referencing when I said it cost 30 seconds of your time.

4. A 1/4 tank of gas? Really? Would you rather they not test out the new transmission by driving it?

No I expected them to test it, I said after taking it back the 2nd time to make sure you test it before calling me. But that is their expense not mine, they should have replaced the gas that they used.

But I get what your saying, it could have been much worse then it was, I guess I have too high expectations to have Nissan do a professional job servicing their 2nd highest end car.

Maybe if I came in with a GT-R they would have done things better.

Nothing's perfect, man. In the scheme of things, you got off light. The cost of the transmission and 22 days of a loaner car > 1/4 tank of gas. They should have topped off the tank and reset the window, but that's dealerships for you. You've got to pick your battles with dealerships. Look on the bright side. You've got a fresh transmission in the car at the cost of a half day's pay and a quarter tank of gas. I don't know how much you make in a day, but my math looks like you came out the winner. Go have a cold one and wash the dealer gunk off the car.

And yes, had you gone in there with a new GTR, you would have probably gotten better service. If you went in with a used GTR with a transmission problem, you might have to sell a kidney.

Yeah I agree with Chuck you did get the better end of the stick. Be grateful you didn't owe Nissan.

I guess I got lucky and have had 0 issues with my 370Z. Well beside the high oil temp. (Easy fix tho)

your not going to belive this
 

So as you know they put a brand new transmission, everything seemed fine I tested it around town, no grinding gears, shifts smooth, etc.

Today I am heading out of town and I get on the highway, get up to about 100km and go to shift into 5th, and there is no 5th gear, the shifter will not move into the 5th position, I release the clutch and try again, same thing. I then try 6th, same thing, shifter will not physically move into 6th.

Even when stopped, I can cycle through all the gears except for 5th and 6th, it won't go into those gears.

So I have a brand new transmission with only 4 gears, do I have the worst luck? or is this dealer clearly incompetent?

What should I do? They are closed today and Sunday so I can't take it back again for the 4th time until Monday :(

Duane