7AT grinding issues for anyone?
 

My buddy got a new 7AT 370z, and he is more than anal about his car, and has done his break in to Nissan recommendation etc... and now with about 2.5k miles on the clock during regular street driving in both full auto and sport mode (paddle) on down shifts to 1st gear, there is a definitive grinding sound. Before he takes it to Nissan I just wanted to check with anyone else here if they have knowledge on an issue like this or potential cause.
I know about sincros going in MT cars as I've had that issue before on my own vehicles. But low miles, not aggressively driving it, and normal temps this is something a little weird.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

I would never change down to 1st, I would normally change down to 2nd and then coast to a stop. First gear would automatically be selected after coming to a complete stop.

Thats just common sense!!!

Therein lies the problem!....

:icon18:

That explains why the shy friend decided to ask StealthZ to post it? :stirthepot:

fellow stealth z =]

thats what happens when people mess with shifting gears whenthey don't understand what they are doing. Just b/c someone has an AT doesnt mean they should understand what is involved in shifting gears and that downshifting into first at any speed above a crawl is a bad idea.

yeah i usually leave it in 3rd when coming to a stop then let it pick up 1st for me

Just leave it in drive, problem solved

there no fun in that.

Er... tell your friend to stop doing that. The gearing is so close, I can't see why you'd drop below 2nd unless nearly at a complete stop.

And if you are going that slow, it will automatically drop a gear anyway...

Maybe he should leave it in D...

ok. well understood, thanks for the replies. So I'm taking it that this transmission is sufficiently different then normal ATs in other Nissans (i.e. 350z, pathfinder, etc...?) because I have driven those first hand and upon getting to a low enough speed, I down sifted it per say to first. I was just taken around town in both the sport shifting mode with paddles and in D (<30mph when down shifting) I wasn't looking at speed exactly but seemed to be an OK speed to me, but then again I'm used to the MT.
I'll talk to him and look further into it.
Thanks again

The transmission shouldn't make a grinding sound when in full auto or manual mode. The 2nd to 1st shift may feel a little harsh at times, g37 owners also have this problem. There's no reason to shift into 1st unless you're about to come to a stop. I don't really see this creating a problem for the transmission because nissan would of prevented the driver from shifting into 1st at a certain speed.

That is what I thought, maybe I misunderstood what others were saying.