I took my 05 6MT in for service on Tuesday for a after-break-in oil change. I also had a list of things I wanted them to take a look at.
Driver's seat was not getting warm with Seat Warmers on
another issue I cant remember now,

and a concern that the transmission made a strange sound, like a clunk clunk, when I shut the engine off with the trans in neutral.

I received a call from my service advisor today, she said that they had a factory service tech coming out to look at the car, and that the transmission will likely need to be replaced - with 1,400 miles on the ODO! She said that the problem was a bearing on the main shaft, and that it wasnt seating properly, though I doubt she knows all the details.

I thought I read on this forum elsewhere that this is a fairly common problem, and that it requires the replacement of a simple part, and that its an easy fix. Anyone else know any details. The SA said they've done this one other time.

Costa Mesa Infiniti by the way - been really accomodating so far.

Any thoughts from those with experience?

 

I wouldn't worry about it. As well as our cars are made there will always be defects of some sort. The important part is that it seems Infiniti is standing behind their product.

My last car was an 04 Subaru WRX. After 3500 mi. one of the pistons had to be replaced due to high oil consumption. After talking to the service manager and members of several other WRX sites, I found that it was this was extremely rare. Subaru replaced the piston and ring set no questions asked. It seems the ring never seated correctly during break-in.

I never had another issue with the WRX although it only had 12k when I sold it to buy my G. My point is, it will be fixed and the world will be right again.

Anthony

 

Update,

Factory Tech approved a new transmission AND entire Clutch assembly. This is crazy.

Now I'm driving a thrashed loaner car, in the end of summer, when I should be enjoying my just-broken in engine!

 

I got my G at the same dealership 3 weeks ago, Think i also have the same problem with the seat warmers too, let me know what happen.

 

dang, this really sucks. i hope that doesnt happen to my tranny and clutch. you know, nissan is coming along well in the market and is doing a lot better than when the company was in trouble of course...but something tells me these cars are just not built like a lexus or acura, haha. yah they have their share of lemons but i almost never hear stuff going wrong with their cars.

 

The seat warmers is a common problem. I brought mine in many times and they keep telling me that the G35 seats just don't get the warm. My problem was that the driver side would get warm but the passenger side woudl barely get warm. After bringing it back a couple of times they claim they still found nothing wrong but it mysteriously started workign better.

 

I don't know, I was truly disappointed with my new 03 TL-S that had two major TSB's. The tranny went at 36k. I was fortunate for it to last that long, others were dropping like flies at 4k, 12k, etc. Customer service was awesome and even with the S/C they covered it. Rotors replaced under warranty at 7k, 12k and 24k I thought I had just had it with the car. But it just showed me all manufacturers have issues at one time or another.

 

Sounds exactly the same as my story, only at 18k miles - brought my car in for a weird tranny sound when leaving from a stop and some clutch chatter. They call me saying they need to replace the whole tranny and clutch under warranty, and I'm like "WHAT?!?" I let them do it, got it back and my clutch was all screwed up and chattered/shuddered like crazy. Brought it back, and they pulled the tranny again to put a new pressure plate and flywheel in, swearing to me it would fix the problem. Well, it didn't, and it still chatters/shudders when engaging the clutch, and the original noise which I brought the car in for is still there!

Last I left it with my dealer they were going to send a factory technician to feel the clutch chatter and determine if they should put ANOTHER clutch in or not. The dealer is trying to tell me the clutch shudder is normal in these cars, and I told them B.S. - new ones don't shudder like mine.

Bottom line is the manual trannies on these cars suck, the clutches are even worse, and my dealership experience has been mixed at best. I've been to 5 different dealerships in 2 states (for various issues and service, not just the tranny problem), and 4 out of 5 have been bad. Actually Costa Mesa Infiniti was the only good one (I used to live in Newport Beach, CA), so you're probably in good hands there.

Needless to say I haven't been too pleased with the quality of this car, nor the dealership service which has been touted as the best in the industry. My experience is most of the dealers haven't been much better than Ford dealers (THE worst in the industry in my experience), just with nicer looking dealerships, reps who wear ties, and some coffee in the waiting room. If it wasn't for the Infiniti loaner cars you get with warranty service (major plus), they wouldn't be any better, IMO.

 

I hear you bro. I have driven manual tranny's from bmw's to civic's and this is the worst tranny I've ever had to deal with. The clutch grabs too hard and fast. Takes too much concentration for a smooth 1-2 and 2-3 shift. Oh well, Im trying to look beyond that but its hard when I have to deal with it so much. I hear some mechanical clinks when i depress the clutch when the engine's cold. You guys ever hold down the clutch and turn on ure windshield wipers and feel some vibration whenever the wipers wipe?

Good luck with the new tranny! If all fails, get an auto...

 

Oh my God! The tranny clutch grabs too hard and too fast? That's ridiculous! And you say it takes too much concentration for a smooth shift from 1-2 and 2-3. Damn! How they expect us to do other things while we're driving?

 

My grandparents have bought several cars from Costa Mesa Infiniti, they highly recommend them.

 

I actually like the feel and shift action of the tranny - its smooth and precise, much better feel than my Z06's tranny. It just doesn't hold up worth a damn and there's been a lot of problems with them. Manual trannies are supposed to be MORE durable and reliable than automatics, not less!

The clutch is my major peeve with this car. It's too small, and too weak for a 280hp engine. I think what happened was they didn't have enough room to put a larger clutch in, so they made the clutch material more 'grabby' to hold better with a smaller clutch. As a result, you get chattering, abrupt clutch engagement, and rapid clutch wear.

I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard the clutches on these cars are very small.

 

man...opinions on forums are all relative, hahahaha. someone says this and then someone says that. IMO, its decent, 1-2 and 2-3 gears are not the greatest, I used to have a type r integra and that clutch was way better but of course its a different car. The tranny is definately loud and 1st can be a little tricky but not bad. If I start to hear trannys on this car being more of a prominent prob, dont be surprised if I sell my G, hahaa.