Brand new R33 GTR gearbox from nissan problems

[ferni]

Some of you may remember last year i blew my gearbox and needed to source a replacment, after tossing up between new and 2nd hand, i decided go to for a brand new one - Nissan had them in stock for around $3300 delivered.

My mechanic installed it, and drove the car home to me -when he got home i noticed an aweful whine coming from the gearbox. Now my old gearbox made a slight whine - that went away when you pushed the clutch in, but wasn't loud at all. This one was doing the same thing, but 5times worse. Spoke to my mechanic who spoke to nissan for me, who agreed to look at it, took the car down there and showed them the noise, they agreed something was wrong. Organised to have the car booked in there to get them to pull the gearbox out and have a look at it. They said they'd need it for about 3 days, 1 to pull gearbox out, another to strip gearbox and have a look and another to put gearbox back in.

Booked car in, dropped the car off on the day it was booked in, told them to call me if they have any questions/problems. 3 days later and no word, so i call Nissan to find out whats going on - get told the car is fixed and ready to be picked up. I call my mechanic to see if he can find out what was wrong with it, he called me back saying they hadn't touched the car, i was furious they'd had the car 3 days and not touched it, Thier excuse was thier service guys drove it and stalled it and felt the clutch was very on/off so warrenty was void. I went down there told them it was BS that the gearbox had done it since it was installed they said thye didn't know which is crap - i'd told them about it before i dropped it off that it was brand new only a few weeks old and had done it since being installed, it was obviously a defective gearbox from factory. Picked up my car and left.

Spoke to my mechanic, who spoke with nissan some more who agreed to look at it but i didn't want to get stuffed around this time so got my mechanic to take the gearbox out himself and deliver the gearbox to nissan, few days later they say its fixed - they found a bur on the reverse idler gear that was causing the noise they cleaned it up, got my mechanic to put gearbox back in the car and the noise was much better - still there but much better. I'd had enough at this point and figured it wasn't worth hassling since the noise was no where near as bad as it was and i'd hoped maybe it would go away with a bit of wear in.

I was wrong - it has since got much worse than its ever been over the last few months. Yesterday i called Nissan parts to let them know, he then told me that it wasn't them who actually pulled the gearbox apart - they paid a 3rd party company to pull it apart and check it since they didn't know how. I went down to this 3rd party gearbox place yesterday, showed them the noise (which they'd never heard because they were given the gearbox only) and they said something was definatly wrong, but was very hard to tell what without pulling hte gearbox apart again... they agreed nissan shouldn't be stuffing me around like this and they should be replacing the box with a brand new one. They called nissan to tell them the same thing. I spoke to nissan yesterday they said they were putting a claim in for me but weren't too hopeful as my last claim got denied and that parts deparment themselves paid $400 for the box to be fixed out of good will to my mechanic who they have a good relationship with.

Today i get a call telling me my claims been denied due to an aftermarket clutch - they've never seen the clutch, they'd speculated it was an aftermarket clutch because they stalled it a few times when driving it the first time they had it.

Now even if i did have an aftermarket clutch in there, there's no way that would of caused this - the gearbox made the noise from day 1 after being installed...

All my dealings at the moment are with the dealership parts area, haven't delt with nissan themselfs, which is my next step. I have looked into my rights under warrenty on this PDF warrentys and refunds pdf

I was given nissans customer service number and told that going directly to them is probbaly a good step since they can override these decisions.

So my next step is to put an offical letter of demand to the dealership and then call nissan customer service....

Anyone had any expereinces like this? Anyone know people at nissan that could help?

[R31Nismoid]

what a headache man.

Most of em are like that, they will blame anything they can to get out of paying $$$

clutchs or you upping the boost.

stupid shit that would never have anything to do with it

*sigh*

hpe you work it out

[ferni]

yeah its frustrating but i'm not going to give up so easily... Only costs me $30 to take it to VCAT if i have to. Just trying to suss out if anyone here knows anyone that can help or has had similar experiences.

[CNR33]

Consumer Affairs Victoria

1300 55 81 81

Document every date you spoke with and visited them. Have it all ready to go. It seems like a hassle, but if they even get a hint of Consumer Affairs, most of the time they'll want to avoid any trouble and cough up.

Good luck with it

[Cefiro_PWA]

What aftermarket clutch was it? Speak to your aftermarket clutch company let them tell nissan it cannot damage the gearbox in any way or whatever...

you couldve got an aftermarket japanese gearbox for that price you spent

mehh

[ferni]

Cefiro_PWA: I looked for an aftermarket jap gearbox but couldn't find any - keep in mind i needed my car back on the road asap its my daily driver so i couldn't wait months. The OS Giken gearsets etc.. were going to cost over 6k

But thats a good idea about contacting the clutch manufacturer and getting them to write a letter.

[Starionturbo]

Nissan are like this.

A Collegue of mine has a 2003 Pathfinder. It has a noisy diff and doesnt lock all the time and the car has an issue when he goes 4WD in it, the fuel tank pressurises and it leaks.

after going back and forth to nissan, new fuel pumps, new tanks they cant solve the problem and they now are NOT gonna do anything, they just keep handballing the situation.

The diff. They initially were gonna fix it, but he put a small Lift kit and better shocks because he goes 4WDing. The diff doesnt lock in some situations which leaves him stuck sometimes and its noisy. They told him, you put a Suspension kit in it so that voids the diff warrenty. WTF?

Well, for all those lookin to buy one, you know!!

[krzysiu]

Is it just me, or have i heard this story a while ago?

[VLS_BACK]

im envolved in my works warranty process. ( im in the auto industry as well )

u start farking with after,market preformance products.. ur case wont hold up in court..

if they find out u have or had an aftermarket preformance clutch of any sort . then dont even waste ur time complaing to them. they wil **** u over.

we have gone to court a few times over similar issues... and as soon as any one mentions aftermarket or preformance. its case closed.

[ferni]

VLS: So if i have an aftermarket steering wheel and my gearbox breaks, then warrenty is void?

What about if i used a ryco oil filter instead of a genuine nissan one and gearbox breaks?

there has to be some common sense involved.

The gearbox was sold to me faulty, it mad the noise like that from day 1, nothing to do what the engine/clutch anything, just because i may not have a genuine nissan R33 GTR clutch in it, doesn't mean they can get away with selling me a ****ed gearbox as brand new?

I'm not having a go at you VLS - I'm appreciative of your comments, just trying to figure out where the line is. If i was pushing 600rwkw with a tripple plate clutch which huge clamping pressure, and the gearbox blew up, then i wouldn't try to claim warrenty. Even in my pretty stock GTR, if i did have a really heavy clutch in it and a gear stripped, or something stress related happened, once again i wouldn't bother claiming warrenty. But a loud whining noise in a brand new gearbox delivered from Nissan isn't good enough regardless of the car. I was also never given any papers/details on warrenty about what would/wouldn't void my warrenty. You said you've been to court over similar issues - do you mean VCAT? because that will only cost me $30 to put in a complaint there.

Even if i did have an aftermarket clutch in, whats to stop me putting a stock one in now? They've never seen it, they drove it once, 6 months ago.

Chris: You have heard the first half before - http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...ead.php?t=54748

I got the gearbox in oct/nov last year and posted up about the same problem then, but they fixed it - well the dealership did, but nissan aus denied the claim so the dealership coped the cost themselvs.

[QWAK]

I cant believe this is still going mate. good luck with it.

My neighbour had his patrol serviced at a certain SE suburbs dealership. The forgot a few bolts in the suspension and it collapsed as he was leaving the dealership. Wasnt very happy at all.

[VLS_BACK]

VLS: So if i have an aftermarket steering wheel and my gearbox breaks, then warrenty is void?  

What about if i used a ryco oil filter instead of a genuine nissan one and gearbox breaks?

there has to be some common sense involved.

The gearbox was sold to me faulty, it mad the noise like that from day 1, nothing to do what the engine/clutch anything, just because i may not have a genuine nissan R33 GTR clutch in it, doesn't mean they can get away with selling me a ****ed gearbox as brand new?

I'm not having a go at you VLS - I'm appreciative of your comments, just trying to figure out where the line is. If i was pushing 600rwkw with a tripple plate clutch which huge clamping pressure, and the gearbox blew up, then i wouldn't try to claim warrenty. Even in my pretty stock GTR, if i did have a really heavy clutch in it and a gear stripped, or something stress related happened, once again i wouldn't bother claiming warrenty. But a loud whining noise in a brand new gearbox delivered from Nissan isn't good enough regardless of the car. I was also never given any papers/details on warrenty about what would/wouldn't void my warrenty. You said you've been to court over similar issues - do you mean VCAT? because that will only cost me $30 to put in a complaint there.  

Even if i did have an aftermarket clutch in, whats to stop me putting a stock one in now? They've never seen it, they drove it once, 6 months ago.

Chris: You have heard the first half before - http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...ead.php?t=54748

I got the gearbox in oct/nov last year and posted up about the same problem then, but they fixed it - well the dealership did, but nissan aus denied the claim so the dealership coped the cost themselvs.

yeh i understand what ur saying..

Good luck anyway.

Just try every avenue possible b4 court because you will loose if it comes down to that.

[ferni]

VLS: ANymore tips/advice you can give me being on your side of the fence that could help me?

[VLS_BACK]

il send u a PM mate

[inark]

man is this still going? i remember your original post last year... omg what a headache u must have. poor bastard.

[ferni]

Yeah it is Was half fixed for a few months after they had 2 goes at it, its come back, i've had enough and want a new gearbox - what i paid for in the first place.

[heartbrkr]

yeah that is raw deal.

i would still complain. however, did nissan know there was still a noise after they fixed it? only thing i see standing in your way.

certainly shouldnt have had to deal with this in the first place. $30 aint much to lose so pursue it.

alternatively, take it to someone who knows gearboxes to find out what is wrong, and then see if nissan/au will accept fault/compensate.

long shot, since you be out of pocket, i doubt they (nissan) will give you a new gearbox personally.