OK, so when I am driving hard, and shift into 3rd, I can't do so without grinding. Its only when I'm getting it though, not driving normally. This just started yesterday, after I put on a new short ram intake and an upper plenum spacer. Is it at all possible they are related? I also was teaching my girlfriend to drive stick last week and she burnt the clutch so bad I could smell it the next day. Any ideas? Syncro? Clutch? Help!!!!!!

 

need more info.... year? mileage? is the tranmission original? what's "getting it"...redline?

 

2003......49,000 miles. original transmission and clutch. by getting it I mean redline or close to it.

 

my guess would be this is the synchro problem common with those transmissions, usually grinding into 3rd and 5th...is your 2003the "early build" (without the sat prewire and the center armrest)?

Those had far more problems than the 2003.5 with the revised transmissions.

At only 49k miles, I would not expect that to be the clutch.

 

....regardless you should let the dealership look at it, maybe they will warranty it or make an outside warranty adjustment since it only has 49k miles.

 

thanks man. i hope so. i had a transmission place look at it and they think its the syncro. any chance it could be related to the mods i did yesterday? odd coincidence.

 

i'm no mechanic, but i see no way an intake and plenum spacer could cause a 3rd gear grind.

 

agreed. just weird. infiniti did say they may be able to help me. thanks for the tip.

 

I'm certain they're not related, but I'd take all the mods off before going to the dealer if you want any shot at having them repair it in an extended warranty situation. I know it's a pain in the ****, but several people on here have had warranty repairs rejected due to mods even though the car was still under warranty. Yours isn't, so don't give them an easy reason to reject it.

 

It's the syncros. It starts off with occasional grinding then grinds more and more as it wears down until every gear change grinds. You're out of warranty with a 2003, find a good independent mechanic, because the dealer will charge an arm and a leg for this. I wouldn't bother removing any mods since they're not related, and you no longer care about warranty. Fixing this requires removing and partially rebuilding the transmission. The dealerships are ruthless in denying warranty coverage.

Clutch problems have different symptoms. If you feel it slipping when you give the car full throttle, it needs replacing, otherwise it's fine.

 

thanks for the advice guys. i appreciate it. i think an extended warranty may be my best hope now.

 

I have an early model 03' with 55,000 miles. I also have problems shifting into 3rd regardless of the RPM's. I was wondering if it was just me or the tranny but by the sounds of it it is prob the syncros, I guess I will have that checked out thanks for posting!

 

bilodeau24, does your transmission grind going into 3rd gear? A little bit of resistance is ok, but grinding is not.

While my car was still under warranty, I went through two transmission replacements for this problem, once around 12k miles and once around 30k. The third transmission seems to be holding up ok, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th gears have quite a bit more resistance than the original ones.

 

no mine grinds in 3rd prob every 10th shift or so...