7AT mush
 

Hi guys. I've had my 370Z for 3 years and the first time I really had fun with the car was last night when some friends and I met up for some late night twisties. We don't have any tracks in the vicinity so I have never tracked the car. I was most of the time in 3rd gear (manual mode) at high revs and the engine temp never went over 205. I probably was driving for about 10 to 15 minutes. Would this harm the automatic transmission to be at high revs in a single gear for an extended period of time? I also noticed that every so often when I went into 4th gear it wasn't so smooth. Remember this is the first time I've ever driven the car this way and maybe this is how it's supposed to be. Thanks

I find it hard to believe that your gauge didn't go above 205 driving at high revs in 3rd gear for 10-15 min. Redline in 3rd gear is around 90 mph. Assuming you weren't doing 90 mph twisties as night, you're probably fine.

It can have repercussions after a while, if you continue to push the car in that way for extended periods of time, however once in a while is ok :tup:

you're fine. there's many times on back roads or tight turns over long stretches i'll only be in 2nd, 3rd, and a little in 4th with no issue.

I am new to this kind of driving so I guess I am more holding the steering wheel and trying not to crash then switching gears. I wasn't red lining it the but I was in third most of the time at high revs. I was just in higher revs then I usually am. The question is whether its ok to drive the car in one gear like that for extended periods of time while the engine is under load? What about the "not smooth" transition between 3rd and 4th gear. Why is that and is that okay?

well if its twisty roads you wont be in high revs the whole time in one gear. you'll be getting on and off the throttle most likely. should be fine.

as for the not smooth gear change i'm not sure. i do know that once in awhile when switching up from 4th to 5th i'll get a slight RPM bump while changing. nothing bad just an ecu glitch.

Maybe the tranny overheated? Maybe slippage?

Is your oil temp guage in C or F?

I've never had slippage even when on the dragon. staying in low gears at high revs. just seems odd but anything is possible.

The guage is in C. What does it feel like when the "tranny slips?"

The 3 - 4 transition can be jerky at times for whatever reason (1-2 and 2-1 can also be jerky, but there you are going from TC only to locking shaft).

I find 3 and 5 more usable over a range of road speeds and RPM's whereas 4 is a bit finicky about that. I would say 4 is the most "narrow" gear in regard to matching road and engine speed.

It's probably nothing -- if you had an issue with either fluid temps, a bad solenoid, or something llike that there are warning lights and DTC's associated with it. No warning lights, no CEL codes, probably no problem.

If the temperature was at or below 205 °C that would mean its around 401 °F. Doesn't that put the car in limp mode with the temperature going above 280 °F?

holy hell. yea if it read 205 in C then yes that may be why you were having trouble.

205 F is normal. operating temp for the Z is about 180F. typically on harder runs without an oil cooler you'll go up to 200-230F then around 260F you'll get close to if not popped into limp mode.

Sorry it was 205 f. I converted from the celsius guage.