This is my second winter with my 08 G37s 6mt and during winter I always have trouble getting it into reverse. It the worst right after I start the car. It happens on both cold start (i.e. parked outside overnight) and after turning it off for a few minutes after being fully warmed up and driven.

It is super rare for it to go into reverse on the first attempt. I often try 2-3 times and if it still wont go shift into 1st or third and try again.

Anyone else experience anything similar?

 

Are you certain that you are pressing downward firmly enough on the shifter so that it goes beneath the reverse lockout? Just trying to rule out he obvious easy stuff.

 

Yessir I am certain that I am pressing downward firmly enough. I can press down and go all the way to the right and then a little bit down, just not enough to get in gear properly. If I release the clutch at that point I grind :S.

 

Is it going all the way in it's movement on the linkage as if it's in reverse only for you to see that it hasn't completed the shift completely inside the tranny? Reverse gears on most transmission are not synchronized and you are really engaging two gears which also have straight cut teeth versus and elliptical cut. Often when it's cold these gears line up tooth to tooth and won't mesh until one gets slightly offset by letting out the clutch slightly. I often find when the tranny is cold I shift into first gear put it back into neutral while the clutch is still in, and then try to go into reverse. This often works for me on all my other previous manual trannys when I find I can't get the reverse to engage correctly especially when the transmission is cold. Give that a shot and see if it helps.

Al

 

^^Had same issue on my old camaro. In fact catching reverse even when the car was hot/warm weather was a bit of a challenge. Shifting into first into 3rd or 4th gear, then reverse often solved the problem (for the reasons mentioned above).

Only issue so far is actual shifting when it's really cold. Double clutching the few first shifts (until the trans warms up some) often does the trick. The oil in there is similar to gear lube in terms of weight, and not synthetic from the factory.

 

Is the reverse gear synchronized in these 6mt? I don't recall ever reading one way or another on our cars.

Anyone else in cold climates have the same problem?

 

Mentioned it to the dealer while getting an oil change last week. They held the car for the day, reproduced it, asked to hold it over night so they could discuss with Infiniti and diagnose some more the next day (they had the car for 7+ hours at this point). Next day rolls around, they said they need to discuss with Infiniti on how to move forward, whether to rebuild transmission or replace with new unit.

Things to worry about now:
-Rebuild tranny in house
-What happens to my new HD CSC (installed last Sept <20k km on it)

Should the zspeed HD CSC be replaced after every transmission removal and replacement?!

 

Generally I think they replace transmissions more often than rebuilding them becasue it's cheaper. No, you don't need to replace your CSC again unless there's a problem. If they are repairing or replacing your transmission, make sure to tell them to keep your HD CSC and not replace it with an OEM one.

 

This happen to me, when I try to go into reverse. What I do Is put in reverse and slowly release the clutch, if its not in it will pop back to neutral. The next try should be good. IMHO this happens when you are parked on the hill.

 

BB, are you certain the HD CSC can survive the abuse of disassembly and reassembly? No concerns with clutch dust as stated in the service manual? Sorry to doubt you on this, I know you have an HD CSC, but want to know if you've had to drop your tranny since.

BB, as a side question, have you flushed your clutch fluid since installing your zspeed HD CSC?

John91, this happens to me quite frequently, doesn't seem to be more common on hills vs level ground.

 

This happened to me on some cold starts. Its been occurring more frequently since we've had some colder weather come our way. I flushed my MT/clutch fluid and I haven't seen any problems since. Im not saying that it fixed any problem but I haven't been having any issues going into reverse. The dealer may try to blame the HD CSC as a culprit but cross you're fingers and hope they are on your side. Im on my 8 or 9th OEM CSC (warranty). These damn CSC's suck a$$.

 

MT fluid was replaced last July. Clutch fluid done in September by the dealer when they installed the HD CSC, master cylinder and new clutch (CSC + master cylinder failure).

Hopefully they don't blame my HD CSC. I did report this issue last year when everything was stock. They were unable to reproduce it at that time though.

No idea if its going below the reverse lockout, I hope/assume they checked the simple things. I personall have not taken off the shift **** to check for anything of that sort.

 

I would hope it can but if you feel better replacing it, go ahead. I haven't dropped my transmission since I installed so I'm no expert. No, I haven't flushed the fluid and I probably need to.

 

When I picked up my '08, I found that the CSC fluid was low. This is after they supposedly did a several point check on the car before delivery. I know from experience with my Honda Accord, if the slave is low on oil the shifting is going to be difficult.

 

BB, I've asked Zspeed if its reusable. Will report back, or have them put their response here.

Glenn2008, clutch fluid reservoir is not low.