# Gearbox failure - Opinions?



## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)




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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

there was some more info here:
First GR6 gearbox death - NAGTROC - The Nissan GT-R Owners Club
i have alot of details but i cant share everything.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

I have a feeling there's a lot of details missing, unless by 'some' starts, he means 200(ish). The clutch shoud have gone before the gearbox anyway, no?


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

well, ya i havent told anyone all the details because i was asked to keep it a quiet. all im really going to say its launch control issues in this one case. I belive others will spill more beans on this guys trans before i do. sorry. 

there is annother guy from a dealership that commented aswell. they have seen drivers do only 30 or 40 give or take and had this happen (or something simular to this), so he comments. 

plus i have heard dealers who suggested all the U.S. Press cars lasted around 100 to 200 launchs give or take. some much sooner some later, but majority in that range.

plus there are other reports that suggest that damage like this could be caused by something other than launch control, but i dont have any proof or reasoning on that yet.


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## Scrappy (Sep 22, 2003)

Come on mate, its a sharing community and theres no point letting on if you are unwilling to tell. Theres not much point keeping quiet as the guy doesnt exactly have a warrenty does he?

I will admit im slightly beginning to worry about this GTR gearbox nonsense i will admit.. :bawling:


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

Well, lets just hope the aftermarket can make a stronger set of gears or something. im not sure whats going to limit this issues. can any one educated in transmissions chime in.

i know the trans gets hot. a trans cooler will help reduce temps, but im not sure if that could limit this issue. strengthened gears might help prolong this type of damage, but i dunno anything about that subject.

also zele tested a trans cooler and had preasure issues. alot of american tuners have plans for a trans cooler so we will see if someone figures it out (garage saurus have one but im not sure if they tested anything). nismo and zele both have a differntial cooler (tho nismo doesnt offer one, they used it on the 24 hour race in japan).

will cooler oil and changing the oil after each launch control (or a set number of LC launches) help at all?

is there a way to dissable LC alltogether? (this is an odd question i know, just dont use it is the logical answer, but there are other reasons to dissable it).

a dealer suggested the clutches were much stronger than the gears could handle hence breaking the gears. i dunno any truth in that, in fact it doesnt make sense to me at all, and i really wouldnt belive a dealer if my life depended on it (he commented on annother forum and i copy pasted it to the nagtroc thread i posted above). so weaker clutchs are a possiblity, tho upgraded clutches are requested because the stock clutchs start to slip at around 600hp give or take. 

This dealer i was talking about also said a few of them failed between 30 and 40 launches. and a nissan r35 tech said the car was good for max of 3 launches for life of the car.

also dealers WONT replace the clutchs. they replace the whole trans.

the trans in america costs somewhere around 13k and then labor costs make it around 18k or so, im not 100% sure.

so if anything happens to the trans, its going to cost alot. not to mention its possible this type of damage may be possible to something other than launch control. 

I know that this issue here is due to launch control for sure tho.

alot of talk about the TCU was noted. IT can be adjusted with consult3 and im hoping someone modifies it for prolonged life.


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## Armed English (Mar 18, 2008)

Since your asking for opinions 

I have to say I'm not in the slightest bothered about this. Every single car manufacturer and every model will have parts fail. Even if 5 gear boxes fail this year (everyone shown on the internet no doubt) Its not unusual in car manufacturing. 

When my gearbox went on my Ford Focus several years ago, my first thought was not to go on the Forum and post that my gear box had failed, holy hell! All the gear boxes must be weak or have a problem. Is this just a GTR owner mind set?

Is this an issue? It is for the owner, he needs to get it fixed. An issue for everyone? I'm not so sure.

And Scrappy!! Really buddy? why worry!


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## Scrappy (Sep 22, 2003)

Armed English said:


> Since your asking for opinions
> 
> I have to say I'm not in the slightest bothered about this. Every single car manufacturer and every model will have parts fail. Even if 5 gear boxes fail this year (everyone shown on the internet no doubt) Its not unusual in car manufacturing.
> 
> ...


I know mate, its stupid, but i guess im banking it all on this car if you know what i mean.. Ive had engines fail on me before and i guess if im going to pay that much for a car then i expect it to run properly till i get rid of it. Thing is, after my engine went (dealer service fault) i became very paranoid when driving it soon after and it kind of wrecked the whole driving experience then.:bawling:
Ive got a yeara and half wait for the GTR and hope to hell they have sorted any niggly issues out by then.


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## Scrappy (Sep 22, 2003)

also theres bound to be a way to disable LC as its all intergrated into the ECU. Theres problem a check box you can tick on the mapping software


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

surely this should be covered by warranty??


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## Haywire (May 29, 2008)

Im inclined to agree with Armed English, with cars of this nature there will be the odd failure and we dont really know the circumstances surrounding it.

That said, I would love to hear from the Nissan dealers on this issue. I have no intention of launching my car away from every set of lights but why include LC if you cannot use it without shredding your gearbox.

I plumped for a GTR having only considered either an M3 or C63 and I cancelled my order to wait on this car, I wonder whether the increase in performance will be at the cost of reliability and very high running costs... I hope not.


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## thb_da_one (Nov 30, 2007)

Haywire said:


> Im inclined to agree with Armed English, with cars of this nature there will be the odd failure and we dont really know the circumstances surrounding it.
> 
> That said, I would love to hear from the Nissan dealers on this issue. I have no intention of launching my car away from every set of lights but why include LC if you cannot use it without shredding your gearbox.
> 
> I plumped for a GTR having only considered either an M3 or C63 and I cancelled my order to wait on this car, I wonder whether the increase in performance will be at the cost of reliability and very high running costs... I hope not.


It's the same for all cars with lot of torque. It's not only about launch control. Let's say that you hard launch your BMW M3 M/T at each red light the results are gonna be the same. But perhaps DSG type gearbox are more likely to wearout faster. Make some research before considering another car.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

Frankly I'm amazed how many people out there do say 50 launches with a new car. They obviously think they're still playing Gran Turismo. People need to upgrade their head not the gearbox.


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

its a very popular car. and alot of people dont care about the internet or what people say and people who import them have no idea about the car because dealers didnt tell them this or that, and some dealers dont know or care either.

so when they get a popular car they want to show off the launch control and whatever. people will be people. uneducated people will continue to be uneducated and when it happens they will find out the hard way i guess. (not uneducated as in stupid, but uneducated on the subject matter).


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## Armed English (Mar 18, 2008)

R33_GTS-t said:


> Frankly I'm amazed how many people out there do say 50 launches with a new car. They obviously think they're still playing Gran Turismo. People need to upgrade their head not the gearbox.


Well said :smokin:


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

Don't do a 100 launch control starts. You should be fine. I would suspect the hard parts failures are almost all due to about 100 launch controls. 

Something has to give eventually. There will be a fix... will it be disabling launch control ? Reprogramming launch control ? Limiting launches ? Maybe Nissan won't care as they are making money off the broken boxes in many cases, as they will be able to show the car was not under warranty. AKA VDC off.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

tyndago said:


> Don't do a 100 launch control starts. You should be fine. I would suspect the hard parts failures are almost all due to about 100 launch controls.
> 
> Something has to give eventually. There will be a fix... will it be disabling launch control ? Reprogramming launch control ? Limiting launches ? Maybe Nissan won't care as they are making money off the broken boxes in many cases, as they will be able to show the car was not under warranty. AKA VDC off.


Out of interest, am I wrong in thinking that most stock AWD cars wouldn't fair so well after 100 hard launches? Am I being daft here? I wouldn't even consider 1 with my own car personally.


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

R33_GTS-t said:


> Out of interest, am I wrong in thinking that most stock AWD cars wouldn't fair so well after 100 hard launches? Am I being daft here? I wouldn't even consider 1 with my own car personally.


Heavy car and all wheel drive. Not a lot of give in the driveline, so what breaks ? The transmission.

Rear wheel drive cars don't break too many transmissions. They end up breaking other things, rear ends, axles , etc. 

I think even a high hp GT-R may do something similar. Some wheel tramp.... now sitting here thinking about it... probably whats killing them. I have heard the wheels hop on a LC launch. Wheel hop kills lots of things in the rear end.

I snapped a bunch of transmissions in my GMC Typhoon and Syclone. Couple good hard launches and we would kill them.


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

sticker tires would help reduce wheel hop? im not a drag expert by any means. if it were up to me i would remove launch control all togehther.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

Turns out the guy in question had done 70+ launches. Do people seriously expect to do this 70 times with no issues:

» Nissan GT-R R35 Launch Control Video - DragTimes.com Drag Racing, Fast Cars, Muscle Cars Blog


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## tarmac terror (Jul 16, 2003)

R33_GTS-t said:


> Turns out the guy in question had done 70+ launches. Do people seriously expect to do this 70 times with no issues


Clearly....
I agree with you that its just plain crazy to hard launch a car THAT many times, especially a new car IMHO.

While I wouldnt go so far as to say they deserved a broken 'box I think they are asking for trouble.

TT


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## Cornhoolio (Sep 26, 2005)

mindlessoath said:


> sticker tires would help reduce wheel hop? im not a drag expert by any means. if it were up to me i would remove launch control all togehther.


Stickier tyres is the last thing you want in this situatiuon, it will just move all the massive loadings somwhere else along the drive train. The more grip you have on the road the worse the situation will be......................

At least if you have some wheel spin this is power being lost that is not winding up the diff or gearbox somewhere.

Why not put in driveshafts that will sacrificially fail (safely of course)before any of the major components let go, surely that would save a lot of heartache :thumbsup: Daft suggestion I now but possibly a relatively simple and inexpensive fix


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## johnsy_GTI-R (Aug 26, 2008)

if you launch it , it will break. arnt nissan renound for chocolate gearboxes


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## Fuzzy (Jun 2, 2007)

The GT-R have VSDR(VehicleStatusDataRecorder) 
No warranty if you use LC or drive with VDC off 


If the gearbox is broken and you can add 1+1 you know what nissan check


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

johnsy_GTI-R said:


> if you launch it , it will break. arnt nissan renound for chocolate gearboxes


Depending on who you believe, and which press release you read , Borg Warner made the gearbox.


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## R35-395 (Jul 25, 2008)

To the guys wondering how to disable the launch control altogether.

I changed the oem suspension to the Mine's Esta II's, the "R" mode for the suspension won't illuminate anymore, I tried the launch control sequence and launch control won't engage.
I emailed Mine's about it and they are aware you lose the launch control once the suspension is changed.
I for one was not concerned about losing it at all.


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

Wether or not you want it, you lose it. Nice. Always a good way to go.


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## nidge (Jun 3, 2008)

It would be nice if Nissan produced a definitive statement re L/C and subsequent warranty. I spoke to my dealer some time earlier this year and they suggested that such a statement was forthcoming. :thumbsup:


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## Fuzzy (Jun 2, 2007)

nidge said:


> It would be nice if Nissan produced a definitive statement re L/C and subsequent warranty. I spoke to my dealer some time earlier this year and they suggested that such a statement was forthcoming. :thumbsup:


Why?

If you read the warranty information from the GT-R guide. You can read you have no warranty


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## GT-Racer (Apr 4, 2008)

It's hardly descriptive though is it. Does this mean even if you switch if off just once that your entire warranty is null and void. I suspect not. What it means is that you're not covered for any failures WHILST it's off.


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## Stachi (Jan 26, 2008)

Fuzzy said:


> The GT-R have VSDR(VehicleStatusDataRecorder)
> No warranty if you use LC or drive with VDC off
> 
> 
> If the gearbox is broken and you can add 1+1 you know what nissan check


There's your answer..

Marc


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## Fuzzy (Jun 2, 2007)

GT-Racer said:


> It's hardly descriptive though is it. Does this mean even if you switch if off just once that your entire warranty is null and void. I suspect not. What it means is that you're not covered for any failures WHILST it's off.


The VDC OFF mode should only be used to help free a vehicle stuck in mud or snow by temporanily stopping VDC operation and keeping torque on wheels.


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## GT-Racer (Apr 4, 2008)

So why did they create launch control in the first place then? Not very useful in the snow, is it...


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## Stachi (Jan 26, 2008)

Somebody would complain about the car not having it..

It's easy, use the car as it is intended to and you'll have no issues with the warranty. 

I can't believe that people think that manufacturers will warrant everything and every abuse.. They don't have too much gearboxes lying around..

Marc


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

its marketing for 3.5sec 1/4 mile times to compete vs porsche and vette etc.


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## GT-Racer (Apr 4, 2008)

Then Nissan shouldn't go telling people that it'll do 0-62 in 3.5secs if you're voiding the warranty when you do so then!!!

Imagine Dell selling computers with a button on the keyboard that says "Do not press, doing so will void your warranty"!?


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## Stachi (Jan 26, 2008)

Not to be offensive...

..but Dell still sells computers that can be formated with entering "format c:" at the command prompt.

It's totally up to you. F'in the clutch on my company car and launching it hard with awkward gear changes,f'in the gearbox, isn't guaranteed either..

If more gearboxes will get killed they'll simply change the launch control program or disable the LC on the next service..

Marc


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## GT-Racer (Apr 4, 2008)

There is a difference between formatting a Hard Drive (or rather restoring its index) and causing bad sectors my friend...


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## Stachi (Jan 26, 2008)

I've never meant to be offensive Mate..

More and more complaining about that warranty is coming up... If it's a design fault in the gearbox, they will have to change it. If you're f'in it up with the LC, its not their problem. You can do to your car whatever you want, its yours, you bought it. But they won't warrant anything if you kill it with the LC.

Its the same thing like selling non-limited everywhere else in the world then Germany, you aren't allowed to drive faster then the speedlimits but you could.

Peeps that aren't cool with the LC function could remove it by asking the dealer to cut the wires or simply not buy the car.

Marc


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## GT-Racer (Apr 4, 2008)

I didn't take offence 

Personally, I'm not intending to use the LC at all anyway!


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## Robbie J (Jan 8, 2005)

I've not yet

if I was into street racing nothing has beaten me yet


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

Next people will want to use the airbags 100 times too.


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## borat52 (Jan 29, 2006)

R33_GTS-t said:


> Next people will want to use the airbags 100 times too.


Ever so slightly different 

If its made clear "use LC and lose your warranty" then thats fair enough, I do think its stupid putting something on the car that will lead to gearbox failure though - from a customer relations perspective.


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## Fuzzy (Jun 2, 2007)

I don`t understand it, too.

I think Nissan make LC only for 0-62mp/h test vs. other cars in tests and say the GT-R is running 0-62mp/h in 3.5sec.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

borat52 said:


> Ever so slightly different
> 
> If its made clear "use LC and lose your warranty" then thats fair enough, I do think its stupid putting something on the car that will lead to gearbox failure though - from a customer relations perspective.


What about bumpers? What's the point in having them if you can't use them all the time?

Nissan had to have the warranty that way. Otherwise they'd be bombarded with trust fund monkeys who've never worked a day in their life launching the car 100 times a day a-la Gran turismo and coming back for warranty repair. It's a bit difficult to say, "only use LC twice a day," so they simply said that LC invalidates warranty.

It's unbelievable how people with such little discretion and judgement actually find themselves in possession of these cars in the first place. I have an R32 and guess what, I've never launched it. Why? Because launching AWD cars is hard on the transmission duh. Is it capable of being launched many times? Sure it is, based on other people's experience but I'm not going to do it because I'm not that dumb. People are looking to the warranty for a way of becoming exempt from stupidity. If it wasn't for such insurances, people might actually have to become responsible. Want to cut crashes? Make people pay for the damage themselves.

Sorry guys, the warranty doesn't mean you get a 500bhp AWD hire car for 3 years.


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

good news. pritty sure that wheel hop as sean morris suggests is the issue really happening with launch control. One compainy is making some ceramic bearings for the r35 and they reduce the wheel hop dramatically. so someones got a small fix.


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## borat52 (Jan 29, 2006)

R33_GTS-t said:


> What about bumpers? What's the point in having them if you can't use them all the time?
> 
> Nissan had to have the warranty that way. Otherwise they'd be bombarded with trust fund monkeys who've never worked a day in their life launching the car 100 times a day a-la Gran turismo and coming back for warranty repair. It's a bit difficult to say, "only use LC twice a day," so they simply said that LC invalidates warranty.
> 
> ...


IMHO its way different, bumpers are there to act in a certain way in the event of an accident (and its hoped they wont be needed, but if they are someone thought about how they should best be designed).

LC is there to be used, otherwise why put it in the car (other than for marketing). Its more akin to saying 'heres a 500bhp supercar but we'll only warrant it if you use less than 400bhp so please keep your foot at 80% throttle', then getting the computer when it breaks and coming back to you with 'ohh dear you did 85% - this ones on your head'

And yes for me a warranty does mean you should get any problem (other than wear/tear -ie clutch tyres brakes ect) sorted for free by the manufacturer - the car is a sports car, its meant to be driven hard. If warranty's stop working like this then it gives companies free reign to invalidate a warranty based on whatever they think 'abuse' constitutes and thats bad news for consumers.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

borat52 said:


> IMHO its way different, bumpers are there to act in a certain way in the event of an accident (and its hoped they wont be needed, but if they are someone thought about how they should best be designed).
> 
> LC is there to be used, otherwise why put it in the car (other than for marketing). Its more akin to saying 'heres a 500bhp supercar but we'll only warrant it if you use less than 400bhp so please keep your foot at 80% throttle', then getting the computer when it breaks and coming back to you with 'ohh dear you did 85% - this ones on your head'


Or they could just have the service warning light come up sooner like with the M5.

I don't think Nissan put the LC there to be used every single time people set off. How do you usually set off from the lights with a normal manual? 6000rpm and drop the clutch? These aren't people who've had their gearbox fail after 1 or 2 or even 10 launches. How many times should you be able to drag launch a 500bhp AWD car in one night before it fails? Do you think a Murcielago will do 100 launches in one night without failing? It won't. You'll be lucky to get 20 in close succession. Your logic is that because it has launch control, people should launch it all the time.



borat52 said:


> And yes for me a warranty does mean you should get any problem (other than wear/tear -ie clutch tyres brakes ect)


After 100-200 drag launches, it is wear and tear. Even metal wears after considerable abuse.


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## Cris (Sep 17, 2007)

Seems like a lot of fuss over nothing. Many manufacturers don't allow you to use the car without some kind of TC (ie Mercedes). Thus if you knacker it they know it's due to component failure.

Nissan (and others) provide the option to disable the protection but are trying to absolve themselves of some risk if people behave like idiots. BMW were known to have made statements about checking black boxes an perhaps revoke the warranty etc etc etc. I don't know of any cases of them doing so.

When any of my customers buys a computer it includes a description of the operating environment it's to be used in (degrees C and condensing humidity) as defined by the manufacturer. I know that any number of customers have used the systems in non-air conditioned environments way beyond the warranted conditions. I have never even heard of any warranty claim being denied.

Would it be worth Nissan's while to fight these claims with the resultant bad PR and the very real possibility that the claim would be upheld in court anyway.


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## matt gtr (Aug 25, 2008)

All i know is that its against the law for traders to give you paperwork saying no warranty or gurantee they are trying to con you out of your consumer rights nissan are selling a high powered sports car that has not lasted a resonable amount of time nissan are saying if you race the car sorry its not our problem does this mean that if you open the car up and the engine goes bang it your problem this seems one sided to me they are selling and claiming false and misleading information about there car , people buy a gtr for thing the performance and the handling ect i would pay a good solictor to see what they thought about it nissan warranty seem to one sided to me


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## h3gg3m (Oct 28, 2009)

I bought my GTR back in Nov 09 and drive about 70 miles (second car) a week on average. I have kept to the RPM limit that the dealer advised me whilst running in. I haven't used manual haven't used LC or changed any of the settings except putting suspension in comfort as advised by the dealer.

I made what was at the time my longest journey since getting the car, a 50 mile round trip only to find on getting back into the car, there was gearbox fault and the car was in limp mode. It went into the dealer and a week later I was told there may be an issue but as you are local we are going to reset the system and see how it goes.

I travelled down to bath last week which became the longest journey I had made of 350 miles round trip. On getting back in the car to drive back up, I had another engine malfunction message. I drove it straight to the dealer and have just found out today that it needs a new gear box. I am told this will take 3 weeks to arrive and 2 days to fit.

So in just over 3 months of having the car, Nissan will have had it for 4 weeks!!!

Having come out of an R8 for this, i am left regretting my decision completely. The build quality just doesn't compare. It's great quoting preformance figures and stating that it trumps the 911 turbo, but for how long and at what cost?


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## Robbie J (Jan 8, 2005)

sounds like you had a Friday afternoon built gearbox, the germans never work well on Fridays h3gg3m

I think the borg warner GR6 gearbox's are built in the German or US plant


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## Azrael (Nov 18, 2009)

Unfortunately this has very little to do with actual human factor in the assembly and more with materials and technologies used in manufacturing of these.


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## gtr R33 lee (Nov 11, 2004)

h3gg3m said:


> Having come out of an R8 for this, i am left regretting my decision completely. The build quality just doesn't compare. It's great quoting preformance figures and stating that it trumps the 911 turbo, but for how long and at what cost?


Seems Nissan have pulled the wool over ppls eyes with this car, couldn't agree more with the above!!


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## Robbie J (Jan 8, 2005)

> Unfortunately this has very little to do with actual human factor in the assembly and more with materials and technologies used in manufacturing of these.


it will still be hand assembled, I visited the Borg warner plant in whales. matching components with varying tolerances is still key today


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## Azrael (Nov 18, 2009)

Sure. And the tolerances will vary greatly as for example standard spacers for clutch packs are the same thickness and as a result for clutch baskets with different pressings working clearances on a clutch pack can be different by something like .5mm

By I would say the shortcomings are in manufacturing technology not the assembly line and assembly technicians. I posted a bit on that on 4turbo.pl sponsored forum. There are some solutions in this gearbox that are very unorthodox and not very reliable at the same time unfortunately.


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## Robbie J (Jan 8, 2005)

the wales plant did diffs and transfer boxes, they had buckets (kanban) of differents sized components for assembly with different tolerances

it was 5 years ago, can't think its moved on that much


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## Azrael (Nov 18, 2009)

It didn't move on. It moved cheaper


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

h3gg3m said:


> I bought my GTR back in Nov 09 and drive about 70 miles (second car) a week on average. I have kept to the RPM limit that the dealer advised me whilst running in. I haven't used manual haven't used LC or changed any of the settings except putting suspension in comfort as advised by the dealer.
> 
> I made what was at the time my longest journey since getting the car, a 50 mile round trip only to find on getting back into the car, there was gearbox fault and the car was in limp mode. It went into the dealer and a week later I was told there may be an issue but as you are local we are going to reset the system and see how it goes.
> 
> ...


I presume you have the dealer principal's GTR on your drive, as I'd expect Nissan to be pulling out all the stops to keep you happy.

Most people (and I mean the 99%) are overjoyed wih their cars and have had a flawless ownership experience.

What mileage do you have?

Could you reject the car at this point as not fit for purpose?


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## borat52 (Jan 29, 2006)

To be fair the vast majority of people do not have gearbox failures, but as the car is so high profile and the tech is relatively new each one gets a lot of coverage. Are you really telling me an R8 box has never gone pop.

Sounds like bad luck and bad Nissan UK service rather than a bad car in this case. Car threw a fault, HPC cleared it (understandable if the problem was unclear) and then it threw another fault albeit a long way from home. 

What is rediculous is that it takes a HPC 3 weeks to get their hands on a box, why are they not in stock in the UK?

Your gearbox fault could also be quite minor, but the mandate is replace the box rather than fix the minor faulty (no doubt at the insistance of Nissan JP)

Once again though I can dig you many horror stories out from BMW and Mercedes dealers.


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

Sorry to hear of your troubles buddy but I will add a little something here.

The HPC does not make the decision to swap out your gearbox, Nissan Japan do.

As such, there is an inevitible delay in getting a decision to replace an expensive gearbox, as I suspect an employee of Nissan GB/JP will have to inspect your car first.

I am also led to believe that HPC techs are not trained very much in the trannies as Nissan JP do not want anyone touching them.

So, your first week without your GTR is partly down to a lack of knowledge amongst the HPC techs in order to identify your problem, and the 3 week delay in getting a new gearbox fitted is down to delays in getting the "green light" from Nissan JP compoiunded by shipping times.

Be thankful though that you're getting a brand new tranny, not a dealer orientated fix.

I know what I'd rather have.


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

Although not up to the consumer to know more about their car than the dealership tech, they often will.

Sounds more like a solenoid type failure. They get metal stuck in them. The gearbox is not a "serviceable" part from Nissan.

2009 Nissan GT-R: R35 GT-R Transmission and Clutch Upgrades


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## nas3damus (Mar 10, 2008)

h3gg3m said:


> I bought my GTR back in Nov 09 and drive about 70 miles (second car) a week on average. I have kept to the RPM limit that the dealer advised me whilst running in. I haven't used manual haven't used LC or changed any of the settings except putting suspension in comfort as advised by the dealer.
> 
> I made what was at the time my longest journey since getting the car, a 50 mile round trip only to find on getting back into the car, there was gearbox fault and the car was in limp mode. It went into the dealer and a week later I was told there may be an issue but as you are local we are going to reset the system and see how it goes.
> 
> ...


My gearbox is replaced as well, ..
.
.
.
after 8 weeks I had my car back 
They had to fly in a Japan engineer and even than he would not make the call to replace my gearbox as the box itself wasn't broken, but the Visco / 4WD system was. This is embeded on the gearbox.
Onlye when I used my council the decided to replace the complete gearbox.
Switching it wasn't a big deal, the descision was..

And if they have problems to match the gearbox software with engine softw. just PM (my friend and I fixed it ourself as the HPC wasn't able to fix it)


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## h3gg3m (Oct 28, 2009)

Zed Ed said:


> I presume you have the dealer principal's GTR on your drive, as I'd expect Nissan to be pulling out all the stops to keep you happy.
> 
> What mileage do you have?
> 
> Could you reject the car at this point as not fit for purpose?


No, I have been offered a 1.8 Diesel Vauxhall Insignia!!! I have taken it to Nissan UK who have told me the Courtesy GTR that is assigned to Middlehurst is already with another customer for a few weeks.

I appreciate that there are many happy users and I might just be unlucky. It's just that with only 1200 miles on the clock and reading about a number of other owners with greabox issues it really doesn't make me confident. I bought the car as a second car to my Cayenne so I could have fun when not with the wife and baby. If running it in triggers these issues what will happen when I have a good run out? 

With regards to returning the vehicle, I have my solicitor looking into it.


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## h3gg3m (Oct 28, 2009)

borat52 said:


> To be fair the vast majority of people do not have gearbox failures, but as the car is so high profile and the tech is relatively new each one gets a lot of coverage. Are you really telling me an R8 box has never gone pop.
> 
> Sounds like bad luck and bad Nissan UK service rather than a bad car in this case. Car threw a fault, HPC cleared it (understandable if the problem was unclear) and then it threw another fault albeit a long way from home.
> 
> ...



You are right, I'm sure there are other issues with other vehicles. Although I was a member of the R8 Owners Forums, and owner forums for some of my other cars and I can't remember the same amount of concern and negativity towards engine and gearbox issues as I read here. Maybe we GTR owners are just more vocal.


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## kpkpkp (Dec 1, 2007)

borat52 said:


> To be fair the vast majority of people do not have gearbox failures, but as the car is so high profile and the tech is relatively new each one gets a lot of coverage. Are you really telling me an R8 box has never gone pop.
> 
> Sounds like bad luck and bad Nissan UK service rather than a bad car in this case. Car threw a fault, HPC cleared it (understandable if the problem was unclear) and then it threw another fault albeit a long way from home.
> 
> ...


My MDs R8 has been back to the dealer more times than I can think off, dodgy diff, stereo that forgets the radio stations, gear box software update, going into limp mode you name it. It is a new car and there will always be issues with new cars. My 997s master cylinder went with just a 2000 miles on the clock.

It is a pi$$er being without your car - I was without mine for 3 weeks after some tit drove it into a curb whilst parking it but I am sure Nissan will be doing all they can to rectify the situation.

I got a 370Z when mine went in which was great to thrash about in but to say it is any less reliable than any other car in its class is a little harsh.

Hope it gets sorted quickly.

Kp


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

h3gg3m said:


> No, I have been offered a 1.8 Diesel Vauxhall Insignia!!! I have taken it to Nissan UK who have told me the Courtesy GTR that is assigned to Middlehurst is already with another customer for a few weeks.
> 
> I appreciate that there are many happy users and I might just be unlucky. It's just that with only 1200 miles on the clock and reading about a number of other owners with greabox issues it really doesn't make me confident. I bought the car as a second car to my Cayenne so I could have fun when not with the wife and baby. If running it in triggers these issues what will happen when I have a good run out?
> 
> With regards to returning the vehicle, I have my solicitor looking into it.


They should do better than a Vectra. I'd be going ballistic.

A few if us R35 nuts are up in North Wales this weekend, including on-track at Anglesey.

I am sure we could help you keep the faith.

Ed


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

Zed Ed said:


> They should do better than a Vectra. I'd be going ballistic.
> 
> A few if us R35 nuts are up in North Wales this weekend, including on-track at Anglesey.
> 
> ...


Ever thought of a job in sales, Ed?


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## h3gg3m (Oct 28, 2009)

Zed Ed said:


> They should do better than a Vectra. I'd be going ballistic.
> 
> A few if us R35 nuts are up in North Wales this weekend, including on-track at Anglesey.
> 
> ...


If I'd been able to drive it properly by now I may have fallen in love with it. I'd love to be driving up there with you!

As a side question what happens with warranty on the track?


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

h3gg3m said:


> As a side question what happens with warranty on the track?


technically void for the time spent on track

however in practice, who knows

warranty is the last thing on my mind when I'm having sooooo much fun


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