# Pivot Ball; Transmission; Warranty issue



## LACHAD (Apr 4, 2006)

Can someone give me an opinion on this matter? I don't know that much about cars.

I own a 2003 350 Touring manual with 56K miles on it. The other day while sitting at a light, I pressed my clutch in, and snap, it sounded like something broke. The clutch would not move. I made it thru the intersection by pushing the shifter as much into first as it would allow (you know how it catches slightly) and made it to a service shop.

The guy told me and showed me my broken pivot ball/arm (I believe this is what he called it). Supposedly it connects the clutch to the tranny. He ordered a Nissan part, said it would be $500 bucks all in, and then recommended I replace the clutch because there was no reason for this piece to break unless the clutch was bad. He said the clutch should not be hard to push in and didn't believe me when I told him that's how it was since day 1.

I said no to the clutch because I have had no signs of wear (no slipping). I get a call the next day and he says, part is fixed, car is working, but "has it always grinded going into 2nd gear?" It has never had a problem going between gears. When I checked it out, I could barely even get the car into 2nd gear (could by double clutching, but not by shifting). Also, the clutch felt very different when I pushed it in (not like it did pre part change). One last thing...He said he ordered me a new shift knob, because he had to tear the OEM one apart to get it off (could this have hurt the transmission?).

When I take the car to Nissan they tell me I need a new transmission and even worse it is not covered by warranty because this guy "removed" the transmission to fix the pivot ball/arm.

4 questions...
1) Any ideas on what could have happened?
2) Could the pivot ball/arm breaking screw up the transmission in any way?
3) Why would it be only 2nd gear?
4) Does it sound right that it would not be covered under warranty?

I really feel that the car's transmission and clutch were perfectly fine except for that piece breaking (which evidently isn't a part of either two).

Can anyone help?

Thanks.


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## niznos (May 27, 2004)

I'm not sure what a pivot ball/arm is, nor am I a guru of clutches and manual transmissions, but I will try to help.

1. Sounds like something did indeed break when you heard the snap. The only thing I can think of being anything like a "pivot ball/arm" is the shifter, or the clutch fork (or what Nissan calls Withdrawal lever in their manuals). Commonly, if the shifter breaks, you should be able to operate the clutch, but not be able to change gears; or if the withdrawal lever is broken, you will not be able to "clutch in", or disengage the clutch.

2. If either the shifter or the withdrawal lever breaks, your transmission should not be damaged unless you were mid shift and something was damaged when the clutch engaged while it was stuck between neutral and a gear. This is very hard to say without being there when it happened, or thoroughly checking it all out.

3. If it was stuck between neutral and 2nd, it may only damage 2nd.

4. This is the one I'm most confident in answering: It does not seem legal for your dealer to deny you warranty repairs due to mere prior removal of the transmission. You need to look up and read the Moss-Ferguson Act (I think that's what it was...). This is an Act of Congress outlining what companies can and cannot deny warranty claims based on. Basically, if I recall correctly, they cannot deny you a warranty claim based on just _any_ prior service or modification. Denial must be based on the fact that whatever service or modification can be shown to CAUSE the failure. If they told you the warranty is no good based solely on the fact that the transmission has been out of the car, they are in violation of the Moss-Ferguson Act. However, if they deny you based on the fact that they found the work done by the "pivot ball/arm" mechanic was what caused the failure, then you may have a civil case to fight with that mechanic, and the dealer has all the right to deny your claim, since they'd be giving you a free transmission that is technically owed to you by the mechanic. "He broke it, he buys it." 

Many times dealers will try to deny any warranty claim after they see repairs and modifications not made by them. Why? Well, because they lost out on the overpriced repairs they offer in their own shop to someone else. It's a ploy to make you get services from them and only them. Thus necessitating the Moss-Ferguson Act to protect the consumer.

For example, if you put some new exhaust on your Z, then the next day your headlight circuits get fried, and your drive shaft get shredded. If they can prove the exhaust contacted the drive shaft and caused the failure, they don't have to warranty it; but there's no way that exhaust caused the headlight circuits to fry, they are in violation if they deny that warranty.

Long winded? Sorry, but I hope it helps you out to some degree.

Good luck on the resolution of this problem.


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## LACHAD (Apr 4, 2006)

*Thanks*

Thanks for the response. It looks like I may be getting somewhere with the dealer (after going in person to the dealership to talk with the service manager). I got a little information--of most importance--is that my original piece that snapped was covered under my powertrain warranty. The original repair shop failed to let me know this. 

The piece is 30537-40p-01 and is called the Withdrawal Lever Ball Pin. Supposedly these things never break (but I guess mine did).

The dealer is claiming, though, that there is a reason this "pin" broke and most likely I "will need a new clutch". I may just bite the bullet at 56K miles and buy the clutch from them so that I can put this nightmare behind me. For comparison purposes I had a '97 Integra GSR stick that I put 80K miles on over 4 years and never had a problem. 

Has anyone had any experience with the Withdrawal Lever Ball Pin?

FYI, I looked up on Wikipedia and I think the act you were talking about is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

Currently, the dealer is "looking at the transmission again" and will let me know, but "won't go a step further if it looks like the clutch is the culprit". Once again, I have never had a problem with the clutch (except obviously for its stiffness), and it has never slipped.

Thanks for your help; I will keep you posted. I've pretty much decided that the way the dealer handles my case will be the deciding factor if I buy another Nissan again.


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