New 2011 SV, trans clunking???

sudden urge · Feb 26, 2012

It was very common on the earlier model Titans to clunk when shifting into drive and reverse. I bought mine in December 2005, and the dealer had to move several other new Titans to get mine out for a test drive, and two of the three other Titans had a very noticeable clunk that I easily heard from 25' feet away. Mine will moderately clunk if I don't stop in neutral for a second before engaging drive or reverse. This takes half of the slack out of the drivetrain, and in mine, eliminates any clunking. I have no idea if the new models have the same drivetrain slack that the earlier models have.

djmatix · Feb 27, 2012

Drive line slack, bleh. As long as they tell me it's ok I guess there is nothing I can do about it.

VK56DEHAN · Feb 27, 2012

djmatix said:
Drive line slack, bleh. As long as they tell me it's ok I guess there is nothing I can do about it.

Traction bars seem to do tons for most people on this subject. Been thinking about doing it myself but Nissan considers it a frame modification as you have to bolt (drill holes) or weld the bars on.

djmatix · Feb 27, 2012

VK56DEHAN said:
Traction bars seem to do tons for most people on this subject. Been thinking about doing it myself but Nissan considers it a frame modification as you have to bolt (drill holes) or weld the bars on.

Hmmmm, i'll have to look into that. Dunno about welding/drilling a new truck though

djmatix · Feb 27, 2012

UPDATE: So I got an email back from the dealership.

"Matt they took it for a ride this morning and they couldn't duplicate the issue. I had one of the main tech look at it and he said it was fine also, you know just to get a second opinion. If you notice the issue again well make a second appointment."

I guess everything is normal! Can't wait to get the truck back. They detailed it since they weren't able to before I took possession of it.

VK56DEHAN · Feb 27, 2012

djmatix said:
UPDATE: So I got an email back from the dealership.

"Matt they took it for a ride this morning and they couldn't duplicate the issue. I had one of the main tech look at it and he said it was fine also, you know just to get a second opinion. If you notice the issue again well make a second appointment."

I guess everything is normal! Can't wait to get the truck back. They detailed it since they weren't able to before I took possession of it.

Ya I fought that battle for a couple months after I bought her new. They let me drive a couple other new Ts and they all drove and shifted the exact same way. I use to have a lot of drive line clunks and stuff when it was new but they slowly tapered off to almost none now at 20k. Give it some time and see if it gets better. If it gets worse then you know somethings wrong. New vehicles are awesome but they suck at the same time due to "bugs". Hope everything works out for you.

06HemiRam · Mar 1, 2012

VK56DEHAN said:
Ya I fought that battle for a couple months after I bought her new. They let me drive a couple other new Ts and they all drove and shifted the exact same way. I use to have a lot of drive line clunks and stuff when it was new but they slowly tapered off to almost none now at 20k. Give it some time and see if it gets better. If it gets worse then you know somethings wrong. New vehicles are awesome but they suck at the same time due to "bugs". Hope everything works out for you.

Driveline slack is not a "bug"...Gears must have a signifigant amount of backlash to get the oil that lubricates and cools them between them. When you shift from drive to reverse and reverse to drive you change the loading of the rear-end spider gears and ring and pinon, the automatic transmissions planetary gears, and even the output sline on the slip yoke which will result in a noticeable clank.

This clunk is just intensified by the idle speed Nissan chose to idle our engines out when they are cold. I am sure it is for no better reason than to get the catalytic converters to light off sooner as well as help the heater start pumping out heat as soon as possible.

VK56DEHAN · Mar 1, 2012

06HemiRam said:
Driveline slack is not a "bug"...Gears must have a signifigant amount of backlash to get the oil that lubricates and cools them between them. When you shift from drive to reverse and reverse to drive you change the loading of the rear-end spider gears and ring and pinon, the automatic transmissions planetary gears, and even the output sline on the slip yoke which will result in a noticeable clank.

This clunk is just intensified by the idle speed Nissan chose to idle our engines out when they are cold. I am sure it is for no better reason than to get the catalytic converters to light off sooner as well as help the heater start pumping out heat as soon as possible.

I was referring to "bugs" in a general sense as I have personally had several "bugs" I would not necessarily call problems. But, rereading my post I can see how it could have been mistakenly taken out of context. If you linked my previous posts with your quoted one, you would have seen I agreed with you prior to your comment. I am familiar what happens when changing a load direction, but there are limits to the severity of the clunks, noise, clatter, or whatever you may call it. Example: I have fought with the dealers for 1 1/2yr about an injector being bad because it was loud...but beyond the limits of what is normal. They gave me the "its normal" response everytime because Nissan tells them it is, and they look no further. Btw, last visit they found an injector with a bad gasket. Took over a year...ridiculous.

To the second part of your post, intensified clunk at high idle speed is irrelevant. If people would follow the owners manual where it specifies "do not engage gear while engine is at high idle", they would not have that issue.

06HemiRam · Mar 7, 2012

VK56DEHAN said:
To the second part of your post, intensified clunk at high idle speed is irrelevant. If people would follow the owners manual where it specifies "do not engage gear while engine is at high idle", they would not have that issue.

Well Nissan's high idle is rediculously high. My truck is at 1,100 rpm in gear after driving for 3 blocks in 30-40*F weather.

My Ram is at 800 rpm less than 30 seconds after startup.

djmatix · Mar 7, 2012

The only vehicles with automatic transmissions that I've driven that have clunked while engaging gear were ones with loads of miles, and slipping transmissions. New vehicles should be able to handle being shifted into gear even under cold idle. For a car manufacturer to expect consumers to warm up their vehicles until the idle drops is just absurd. I know it is normal now, but i'm not thrilled about it. I usually let the truck warm up for a couple of minutes before driving, but it doesn't fix it. Even after driving 45 minutes (traffic) to work it does it in the parking lot. Oh well.

sudden urge · Mar 7, 2012

If you stop in neutral for just one second while shifting from reverse to drive or vice versa, the clunk will be gone. I've been doing that for six years now and have no clunk.

SSNOS · Mar 7, 2012

I'm 3 weeks into my new 2011 SV and notice a significant change in throttle response and transmission shifiting compared to my 08. The 08 clunked louder when shifting into D, the 11 still clunks, but not nearly as loud.

My 2011 definitely feels like there is less power or smoother power on demand when I give it normal accelerator input. So from a standstill, driving around town and cruising on the highway, I seem to have to go deeper into the pedal to get the same power output as my 08. However, if I mash the pedal at any point, the truck wakes right up and all the power is right there. I attribute this to converter lock up and possibly new throttle maps that Nissan may have changed for mileage and/or wear and tear concerns. Also, the smoother power delivery of the 2011 also has made for better starts in rain and snow. My 08 felt like the accelerator was an on/off switch.

New 2011 SV, trans clunking???

sudden urge

djmatix

VK56DEHAN

djmatix

djmatix

VK56DEHAN

06HemiRam

VK56DEHAN

06HemiRam

djmatix

sudden urge

SSNOS

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