B L U E S L A T E

iTrader: (2)

That's bullshiet.

vINCe_Inc

few of us have reported some kind of clunking sound when shifting at low speed from 1st to 2nd, but that sounds like something serious.
i would take it in to the dealer and quote them on what their corporate value is... that is to ensure complete customer satisfaction. heck its even printed on the front of the manual.

GregUMR

Yeah, see I'm not convinced it's even coming from the clutch. I'm really more inclined to think it is coming from the transmission. I'm not a car mechanic so I can't be for sure, but it doesn't sound like its coming from the clutch imo. I guess, however, it could be some piece that is connected to the clutch.

The thing is if I released the clutch slowly while slowing down, it doesn't completely get rid of it. And there is still the problem with switching from 1st to 2nd and it being hard to go in and also making the same sound. I'll have to record it sometime this week with my camera. Although the OP sound is exactly what I hear.

JLai

Mine does that noise when i disengage fast/hard from a low roll.

SnD

I'm both happy and sad to see you're in the same position as me GregUMR, including the difficult shifting! How many miles were on your car when you bought it? I was too eager to get my car, and I bought the test-drive vehicle with 400 miles on it. Unless someone took it for a long road-trip, then at least 50+ people banged away on mine...

My opinion on this is that there may be an issue that's common to all G37's, but the symptoms show up stronger in some cars, and less in others. What factors dictate which car you have is unknown to me, but I think it might be related to how the car is broken in.

I would think the Infiniti engineers MUST know about this if the dealers are claiming it's normal. Isn't this the same transmission that's in the Skyline? Or at least similar enough that it should behave the same? There's no way in hell the Skyline would be doing this.

If it's a defect in the design, it might not necessarily be difficult to fix. Perhaps an additional bolt somewhere, or a stronger shaft, or a strap to hold something in place is all that's needed.


One funny thing I can mention is that I went to a different dealer yesterday to test-drive another new G37, and part of the sales guy's pitch was "They re-worked the gearbox from the old G35, and it's been designed to be stronger and much quieter" I was amused, but it further backs my case that something is wrong with my ( and others ) cars.

GregUMR

My car had 10miles ( 2 more then the slip in the glove compartment box). I broke it in fairly nicely ( 4-5krpm at max, very few times in 1200miles). I also went synthetic. That said, I do drive it hard every once in a while on my commute to/from work, but only after the whole system is warmed up and usually only for 5-10 second randomly. When I do get on it 1st to 2nd is smooth and no problems, its the slow speed stuff where it happens the most. Either way, it shouldn't be happening IMO

]\[ /-\ ]\/[

iTrader: (3)

this has been talked about b4...i think there was thread about the tranny chatter

i get that too...hope its ok

UNV-IT46

iTrader: (3)

completely normal. direct link transmissions often make these sounds. Not only does my G do this, my S2000 did, my friends G35 did, and my other friends 350 did.....

SnD

Then you have experience with a lot of screwed up cars. Just because more than 1 vehicle makes a noise like that, that doesn't mean it's alright. I've test-driven different G37's. They DO NOT create such a noise or sensation while driving them. Perhaps they're supposed to make noise, and the quiet ones are broken, but I really doubt that.

fkat

I'm not a mechanic either but to me the noise OP has posted is not the same as the "chatter" I know to be. Chatter is something that's always there when in neutral and foot off the clutch. Depending on how the cluch was released while in neutral you may not get the chatter. Forgive me if I'm wrong but doesn't the gear chatter usually happens when your shims are wrong or the top/bottom bearings are bad or input shaft or the fork is bad?

On the video I hear the noise, some wind but not much exhaust sound. It sounds like the noise happens as he shifts into 2nd and let's the clutch go. It's hard to tell what's wrong from the clip but mine does not sound like that.

SnD

Yes, the noise you're hearing does occur when shifting into 1st-2nd and letting the clutch back in, and it also occurs before shifting into 2nd and you're letting the clutch out. In the video you're hearing a combination of both.

The exhaust was certainly louder in person than the audio shows. The fidelity isn't good on that little camcorder, so I'll chalk it up to that.

UNV-IT46

iTrader: (3)

Once again it is completely normal. Its called Drive Line whined up. It happens in pretty much every manual car that has a direct link. I even had my mechanic here at the shop listen to the video and he said the same thing. we mimicked the sound exactly on my car. Don't worry

GregUMR

According to the information I could find, driveline windup is the result of having a rear and front differential on a car with an all wheel drive/ 4x4, etc configuration. It is a result of the two drive shafts that are connected to the transmission having a push/pull effect.

http://books.google.com/books?id=7hX...3A6BGlt8&hl=en

I've yet to find anything that says this should happen on a RWD only car. Also, when you say direct link transmission, I assume that means something very mundane, as any manual tranny is direct link ( directlink just meaning the tranny and engine are directly linked via the clutch ).

Do you or this mechanic have anything to substantiate the claim? I'm not trying to be a punk about this, I'd just like to see something that really proves or says this chatter we have should be occuring.

SnD

UNV, when you duplicated it in your car, what did you do? If it's driveline wind-up, what piece of metal is slapping around? I'm curious what a direct-link is, I can't find any reference to it online. Perhaps I'm searching incorrectly or it's called something else.

Don't forget there's more to this than the noise. It's also accompanied by discernable movement in the shifter and the clutch ( You could plug my ears and I could tell you exactly when it happened ). It's also accompanied by difficult shifting, and by that I mean it feels like I have to snap the gear into place, rather than slide it in.

I took my car back today, they still claim it's normal and won't do anything about it. Infiniti corporate wants me to take it to another dealer, but I'm too far away for work right now to go between 8:30-3 Mon-Fri as the other dealer requires for anything like this.

On my drive home, I did notice that whatever it is that's slapping around is slowing down as it does so, along with resonating out to nothingness. Doesn't really help me because I have no idea what the transmission looks like or what parts connected to what, but it's another thing I've noticed.

I also noticed that it's definitely increasing in frequency on engading the clutch, and I can also hear the noise on the 2-3 shifts.

UNV-IT46

iTrader: (3)

i just re read your posts and your saying its happening when going from gear to gear correct? This was my mistake then because that is not driveline whine. What i am talking about is while cruising at a low speed in either 1st or second and engaging the trans into N. the car will like make a loud clunk and the trans will shake a little. like a thud clunk sound. it sounds the same as your video. but it should not be happening while going from gear to gear. only from low speed 1st or 2nd gear then going into N...