# hey a newbie here w/ a problem w/ my 03 spec v



## NISMO82 (Feb 5, 2003)

my car clunks when i shift gears, anyone heard of this problem before? one of the guys at the dealership said that from 1st to 2nd if it clunks it's normal. ok cool whatever but he didn't say it for some of the other gears. it clunks from 5th to 6th or squeaks, does anyone have any ideas help me out thankx


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## BlackoutSpecV (May 8, 2002)

I have had the same thing since day one on my '02. Lots of people have said it gets better with Synthetic Tranny fluid. They recomend the redline MTL or MT-90 fluid. I have been meaning to get that done forever, I'll do it soon. Give it a try should be like $65 if you take it somewhere, cheaper if you do it yourself.


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## jblaze (Jan 30, 2003)

I have a 2002 spec V with 18,000 miles on it. I keep hearing people having problems with their tranny's on the new spec's. I have'nt had any problems with mine since I got it. Well actually I shouldnt say that. When I first got it I had a little trouble with it wanting to grind into reverse, but I havent had that problem for a long time now. Not sure what to tell you. Like Blackout spec V said, I have heard alot about people changing their tranny fluid to synthetic. Not sure if it works or not though. Good Luck.


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2003)

I've got a new Spec V with about 500 miles on it and I'm already feeling the roughness of the tranny that everybody talks about. 

I want to switch to synthetic tranny fluid, but I heard some people having some problems with Redline.

I'd like to know too, as to whether synthetic would help, or if there's any other way.


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## NISMO82 (Feb 5, 2003)

what do you mean redline problems?


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## V Dude (Oct 22, 2002)

NISMO82 said:


> *what do you mean redline problems? *


Redline is a product to smooth out the tranny.


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## Quaz (Dec 20, 2002)

*Tranny*

It known to be a little "clanky". The 03 is a little better than the 02. Mine clanks goin into 2nd once in a while too but its not bad, Nissan said it wont be a problem to the car...(?) believe it or not.lol


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## NISMO82 (Feb 5, 2003)

yeah the dude at the dealer told me that a clunk from 1st to 2nd is normal he said it just helps the shifting or helps it get into gear easier


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2003)

i think that is a bunch of shiet.....who would want to buy a car with the gears grinding....if its real bad just take it in and tell them you "want" it fixed.....dont let them get the first word in....tell them your not taking it off their lot tell they do something with it......i have an '02 with almost 20k miles and my 3rd and 6th gears still crunch a lil im just driving it hard as hell until i take it in....its also burning a lil oil....just think about what you are saying..who would sell a car that gears crunch in? lol not to be mean but the stealerships dont want to lose anymore money then they have to do to there crappy parts.....all this IMO 

BillY


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## Jtspecv2002 (Nov 14, 2002)

my specV had problems at the beginning it has close to 7k's on it. bought it in march 02 but i heard to let your tranny break in and QUIT racing untill it is broken in. the only problem to this day that i have is the reverse thing. where it feels like i go into reverse step on the gas and zzzzziiiinnngggg. but that has not happened since last month 500 miles ago. so maybe you should try that yellow and dont race an rsx-s untill you are broken in and by then ur shifting skills should be better. trust me that is what i did and my tranny is fine.


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## Quaz (Dec 20, 2002)

I had a sim prob @ 1st with my reverse too, it went away like yours seems to of done.

Jt u got pics of car?


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## BORNGEARHEAD (Apr 30, 2002)

Helical gearing.


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## Phill The Thrill (Mar 7, 2003)

When sitting at light take the time to run through your gears, It helps for sure man. Mine is very smooth now, I shift with two finders and no clunk (unless it's cold out). Just pratice running through the gears man. She'll shift nice after you work it in a bit


Phill


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## Pinoy138 (Feb 24, 2003)

Aha! and I was starting to feel a little jealous about the 03 trans. I have an 02 with almost 3k and it depends on how I drive. If I take it easy, the car shifts smooth. If I run it hard , the car shifts smooth. However, it seems when I shift around 4 4 1/2 k the infamous clunking comes into effect. Hmmm.... I would like to hear more about the synthetic trans fluid!


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## Ruben (Oct 15, 2002)

I have to make sure I have the clutch FULLY engaged otherwise I get a tiny clunk 1st to 2nd.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2003)

well, i've never had any clanking or creaking w/ my gears. it's a pain in the azz to get it into reverse sometimes, but i had that w/ my last car, and that's just a common pain w/ some cars i guess.....


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2003)

Switching into reverse has been a problem on every manual trans. car I ever owned. It's just one of those deals where it all doesn't quite match perfectly and you get a clunk or a grind, I'll take it anyday over letting the slushbox take control of my car while I'm just along for the ride instead of being the "driver"!!
Helical gearing and aggressive synchro-
nizers leads to a few rough shifts, but
synthetic definitely will help.


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## Guest (Apr 10, 2003)

It's true that the V doesn't have a silky smooth transmission. I believe what you're feeling is a combination of the type of gears used and possibly synchros that are not perfect. This should not cause a problem. If you want a perfectly smooth shift... then you may have buy an RSX Type S for perhaps $6K more. Enjoy the ride... all in all it was a real bargain.



NISMO82 said:


> *my car clunks when i shift gears, anyone heard of this problem before? one of the guys at the dealership said that from 1st to 2nd if it clunks it's normal. ok cool whatever but he didn't say it for some of the other gears. it clunks from 5th to 6th or squeaks, does anyone have any ideas help me out thankx *


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

mine grinds from 2nd to 3rd on a fast shift, it dosnt matter if i have the clutch pushed down to the floor, it still grinds, it sounds so painfull, it really hurts to hear something like that coming from my beloved Spec-V. it seems to dissappear when i shift slow and keeps the RPMs low, but c'mon whats the point of owning a spec-V if you are confined to 4000 RPM??? but its silky smooth on any other gear though.....this is on a 02 model


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Would people please stop saying that it's the helical gearing that causes the difficulty of getting into 1st or reverse?  The LSD is a Helical Limited Slip, meaning it is gear driven. Helical has absolutely nothing to do with the gears in the transmission, it has nothing to do with how the transmission engages the gears, and has nothing to do with clunkyness or grinding. The difficulty of getting into reverse is caused by the fact that there is no synchro for reverse, which means there is nothing to line up the gears when you go to put it into reverse. If you put it in neutral, let out the clutch, push in the clutch and then try again often times it will fix the problem. This is because the engine will turn the gear slightly when you do this, then when you go to put it into gear it will be lined up and slide in. You can also try putting it into another gear and then back into reverse. Putting it into a gear with a synchro will turn the gear slightly so it can slip in, often this slight turn is enough to put it into reverse.

The grinds while going to 3rd quickly are because the transmission in the 02 model spec-v has a weak 3rd gear synchro. It isn't fast enough to line up the gears when you shift fast at high rpms, so it grinds. You can take it to the dealer and you might be able to get an 03 tranny out of it, but many times they will just say "could not reproduce the problem".

Many times synthetic tranny fluid will fix, or help out these problems because it lets the gears slip together easier due to the low viscocity. It will also help the feel of the transmission, removing the clunky feel that it tends to have stock.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

Thanks sr20Demon, but is it hard to change the tranny fluid, how do you do it? what kind do you buy? how much will it cost? can i do it myself? where does the old tranny fluid go? i wanna do this soon, so help me out guys.!!!


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

it should be easy, I'm changing mine this summer with Redline MT-90. Should be about $35ish. You can do it yourself. All you have to do is find the drain plug and the fill spot, then drain all the fluid out, get a long funnel and fill the tranny back up to the max with the synthetic.


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

hmmm sounds easy enough.....if you do it before me can you gimme the jist of it? maybye start a trend or something? i just dont wanna screw anything up becuse there are no instructions on how to do it...


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## CorNut (Apr 6, 2003)

Pinoy138 said:


> *Aha! and I was starting to feel a little jealous about the 03 trans. I have an 02 with almost 3k and it depends on how I drive. If I take it easy, the car shifts smooth. If I run it hard , the car shifts smooth. However, it seems when I shift around 4 4 1/2 k the infamous clunking comes into effect. Hmmm.... I would like to hear more about the synthetic trans fluid! *


yah, i guess my 2003 doesn't have a problem cause i never drive it easy or even in between, im going to blow the damn car up one day, but it's fun.... I drive it hard everywhere I go....


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## NISMO82 (Feb 5, 2003)

Is it just me or does the clutch on the 03 (not sure bout the 02) kinda sensitive, like if i pop the clutch once or slam 2nd gear it's like i smell clutch all the time anyone else have this problem? Also is there anyway to rip 2nd gear and not get the tires to keep chirping, you think if I changed the motor mounts that could help?


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## Flying Vv (Apr 10, 2003)

i have the first to second problem, but after 5, 000 miles it went away, now i have 6500 and havent had a problem since i hit 5,000. its also a very good idea to stopp racing for awhile and let your tranny break in, otherwsie, bye bye clutch.

-ps check out cardomain.com for some really clean sentra's


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

yeah, just let it break in, i've got 2800 miles on my 02 epec-V and i havent had much problems since the 1500 mark. the only prob i have is the weak 3rd synchro and the grind. i dont know what you guys are talking about....1st to 2nd problem? just go easy on it and make sure you've got the clutch pedal pushed all the way in and because the first gear is so short on the 02's you'd expect some punch in the shift, remeber this car is a torque monster, not a damn sissy Honda.


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## 03RedSPecV (Oct 5, 2003)

Ya, when it was cooler last winter (Florida Winter, not too cold but colder) My 1st to 2nd clunk was pretty bad, it seemed to actually grind even tho i made sure the clutch was in all the way, so i just shifted from 1st to third till it warmed up. Still in the summer it clunks but after it warms up and i park it, then get back in hours later it shifts much more smoothly from 1st to 2nd. Also when im 3/4 throttle or gunning it in 1st gear and shift to 2nd it kind of pops out of 1st when im shifting it to second, then other times its a smooth shift. I dont know if its normal or something weird. Also, does the redline MTL or MT-90 fluid improve the smoothness of the shifts?


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## 03RedSPecV (Oct 5, 2003)

*comment/question*

Ya, when it was cooler last winter (Florida Winter, not too cold but colder) My 1st to 2nd clunk was pretty bad, it seemed to actually grind even tho i made sure the clutch was in all the way, so i just shifted from 1st to third till it warmed up. Still in the summer it clunks but after it warms up and i park it, then get back in hours later it shifts much more smoothly from 1st to 2nd. Also when im 3/4 throttle or gunning it in 1st gear and shift to 2nd it kind of pops out of 1st when im shifting it to second, then other times its a smooth shift. I dont know if its normal or something weird. Also, does the redline MTL or MT-90 fluid improve the smoothness of the shifts? And how many qt. of it do i need to buy?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

hello old thread!


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## ferraristyle (May 26, 2004)

Ruben

Nice graphic, you do that yourself?

Like it a lot :thumbup:


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