I have a 03 6mt with 45k, and I've been having trouble with second gear (pretty frequent grinding sensation/clunking) so I took my car to the dealer, and they said that I need to replace my clutch and flywheel. This was a surprise to me, since the clutch isn't slipping and engages fine. They said it would cost $2200 for the clutch and flywheel. My research on this site has turned up numerous examples of 03-04 transmissions that have been replaced, and I'm not too thrilled about replacing the clutch out of pocket, just to find out that it's actually a transmission issue. Here are the questions I have:

1) Would a clutch cause the problem I've described above?
2) Is it absolutely necessary to replace the flywheel if I replace the clutch? (Word on the street is that the OEM flywheel is responsible for $1k of the $2200 price quote, and I've located an independent shop that will do just the clutch for $850)
3) Would it be worth it to pay more for the clutch at the dealer for future transmission warranty negotiations (if that ends up being the problem)?

Any advice you guys/girls have will be extremely helpful...

 

I had the same going to 5th. They 'could not reproduce the problem' until the 3rd visit when I got a new tranny. They are probably trying to avoid a warranty swap like my dealer. I see a new tranny in your future.

BTW mine got replaced at about 41K. I've got almost 45K now.

 

that sounds more like a synchro issue.

however, pushing for a warranty clutch/flywheel replacement would be a push for a car 3 year old car with 45k miles on it... at least, at a dealership where they don't or can't understand that any decent clutch/flywheel should and will last well past 100k miles.

1 thing you can try is to find a TSB on the gearshift clunk/grind noise. If there is a TSB, I think it would be harder (at least a little bit) for them to deny the warranty work. If there isn't, then you're pretty much done.
the other thing is, and i'm pretty sure this won't fly, but you can try to negotiate with them, saying that if the noise goes away after they install the new clutch and flywheel, then no biggie, you'll bite the pillow. But if the noise persists after they work on ONLY the clutch and flywheel like they claim, they should cover it under warranty.

the other thing would be to call infiniti corporate, and see if the CSR you get is helpful.

in any case, good luck.

 

I don't see why that would be your clutch if it's not slipping and the throwout bearing is performing its function effectively... especially since you say it only does it in one gear.

Sounds more like a transmission problem that the dealer is hoping to have you pay for to fix out of pocket. You need to fight this with all your might and have them explain/show you the actual problem being the clutch assembly.

A flywheel will not cause only one specific gear to have problems or not engage smoothly. Try double clutching and rev-matching when you go into the gear that is grinding.. if it shifts into gear when you rev match perfectly.. your synchro for that gear is probably messed up.

Either way... it sounds to me like it's the transmission, which should be under warranty for your car for another year or 25K miles.

 

Bullsh*t. Its the transmission. If the clutch is engaging fine, and there is no slippage, there's no way its the clutch. You must persist they change out your transmission under warranty.

 

Thanks for the informative replies... Since there is only one dealer within a 200+ mile radius of where I live, it looks like I'll have to get the clutch replaced by the dealer (without the flywheel, since I don't see how it would be at all related to the problem) in order to prove that it is fact the transmission, and hope that I can work something out where they will reimburse some of the cost if the clutch if it turns out to be a false diagnosis. It's frustrating that they can demand I replace a relatively expensive (and seemingly functional) non-warrantied part before they will consider any other possible, and warrantied, causes... and it's also frustrating since everyone here seems to know about the syncro issues with these early transmissions.