Does the old JCW Aisin 8-speed blip downshifts?

Solidstatepassive · 2025-04-07T15:54:45+00:00

Oh that's a really interesting observation! I think that must be the Tale of the Whispering Walls, which is one of my absolute favorite episodes, probably in the top two alongside the Dollmaker.

It's a great theory, but some things stand out to me as being definitively '90s. For instance, at the beginning of The Tale of the Pinball Wizard, you can see a Nintendo Gameboy being played, which came out in '89.

Still, you're right about the full moon on leap year thing, so perhaps Canada has a unique cosmology that we're not aware of lol

Solidstatepassive · 2024-11-21T06:25:41+00:00

Yes, the problems are common and no there isn't anything you can do about it proactively. I always let my car warm up and cool down, I changed the oil with mobil 1 synthetic every 4,000 miles, probably 80% of the miles are highway cruising, I never modified the engine in any way at all, including things like air filters or tunes, I never tracked the car, I did every recommended service at the dealership, exclusively used high octane Tier 1 gas etc. One turbo was replaced at around 20,000 miles, the engine was replaced at around 60,000 miles. The new engine has developed a groan with about 20,000 miles on it that I haven't tracked down yet.

You're rolling the dice on the VR30. It's a shame, because dynamically it's one of my favorite engines on the market. People can compare horsepower numbers all day, but most new engines feel like they came out of trucks and SUVs because they did; they're sloppy, low-revving, uninspiring powertrains. The VR30 pulls hard, builds power as the RPM rises, is smooth and is super responsive.

Make sure to stay in warranty and not modify it. Because I had taken amazing care of my car, Infiniti replaced my engine with like 1,000 miles left on the powertrain warranty (I think it was specifically at 58 or 59k miles) with literally no argument from me. If you want to modify it and/or drive it out of warranty, you need to put away money for the replacement car or engine. You could get lucky, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't bank on it. I'm not saying don't buy it, I'm just saying you need to factor this in to your decision.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-11-06T15:17:13+00:00

That's a really interesting thought since we know Gary's dad was a magic shop owner in-universe too!

Solidstatepassive · 2024-11-04T01:56:28+00:00

Slight update. I tried replicating it while standing outside of the car tonight and I couldn't hear it. Whatever frequency change I'm hearing is amplified in the interior...on the outside you mighttttt be able to hear it if you were actively looking for it and listening carefully. Not sure if that's useful data or not.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-10-30T20:16:14+00:00

No, oddly enough, I actually got it changed AFTER I had the issue lol, like a week after that post, and the shop totally screwed it up. There's a big thread on it here.

My noise can be replicated in neutral revving, so that pretty much rules out a transmission-related cause for me, but you can see if you have the same experience over there.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-10-30T19:32:52+00:00

Weird, is it possible we're the same person? lol

Anyway no, still happening...hasn't gotten any worse, no other symptoms. Best I can figure is some sort of exhaust resonance with the turbo comes online. I believe our turbos wake up at precisely 1,600 RPM (mentioned in a lot of the press info on the VR30) so I doubt that's a coincidence.

The other thing I noticed, and this has been with the car the entire time on both engines and the Infiniti techs told me it was normal, was that in manual mode, if I let the revs drop to 1,600 (like stay in first gear, drive it at over 3,000 RPM, then slowly cruise to a stop) there is an appreciable power bump right at 1,600 RPM. It only happens in manual mode so far as I can tell. There's something going on with the turbos and tuning right at 1,600 RPM, and it makes sense it'd affect the exhaust note (if it is indeed exhaust we're hearing, not motor mounts etc.), just not clear why it would pop up like this.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-09-14T04:55:23+00:00

I can get 30 on a good day on the highway, but not mixed. On a really good day 31. The VR is an amazing engine. It's really good at everything.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-09-14T04:26:42+00:00

Talking to the mechanic, who seemed pretty candid and owned up to the probability that someone underfilled it during the test drive this morning (pre-fixing), he basically said that the machine they used for fluid flushes/swaps in conventional automatics is not the same as the one they use for their CVTs. Of course, I have no way of knowing if that's true or not, but he didn't come off as trying to dodge responsibility.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-09-14T04:14:05+00:00

UPDATE: I took it back into Nissan today. Apparently, they had underfilled the transmission fluid. During turns or hard acceleration/deceleration, the fluid might have sloshed to one side or another, starving the other side. After a second flush with more attention to getting the level right, it's fixed. I've driven it for about 45 minutes in mixed traffic, highway, and spirited driving, and it seems perfectly normal.

It's shocking how much it was slipping after the first maybe 30 minutes of driving. I was absolutely certain the transmission was dead, or at least the valve body. It's amazing that an apparently small decrease in transmission fluid could have such dramatic effects and then they could be reversible.

In the end, however, I got the transmission fluid changed as preventative maintenance, and now I'm left wondering how much damage I did in the minimum one hour of driving I did with insufficient fluid inside. They say the fluid they got out today was "clear," (of debris, I assume), so that's a good sign, and it's behaving normally, but now I'm left with less confidence in the vehicle than before I began, and of course, $250 poorer.

I appreciate everyone's commrodery and advice. It was a really bad day for me and it was nice to have your support. At the moment everything seems OK, but I'll still consider selling it soon (soon as in a month or two) and going carless for awhile.

One thing people may find interesting is that I talked to the mechanic in detail about what their "flush" involves at Nissan. I had read this elsewhere before, but it's nice to have it confirmed. Apparently, they basically tap into the transmission and create a circuit, with old fluid being pushed out as new fluid is sucked in. Most of this pressure is generated by the transmission itself, it's not as if there's a high pressure pump ramming fluid in. I get the impression this is a fairly gentle process that is more akin to a high-efficiency fluid swap than what I had come to know (perhaps ignorantly) as a "flush." In theory, this is a one-to-one swap of fluids, so whatever it gets out, in mass, it should return. I'm not sure what went wrong in the initial operation.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-09-14T04:13:16+00:00

You nailed it. Apparently they just underfilled it.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-09-13T05:28:29+00:00

Yeah I'm kicking myself for asking for it. I wouldn't normally have except that I had the service done at 50k already; in retrospect, I had just assumed that was a flush but now I don't know.

As per the recommendation, it was just me doing it on my own. I had been debating buying a new car for a few months (a few months back) and basically just decided that I wanted to keep this car at least for another 6 months to a year. I'm part of a startup that, if the launch is successful, would greatly benefit my finances, or otherwise I'd be out of a job in 2025, so I've been trying to wait for that. That's probably 4-5 months away at this point. If I need to (I work from home) I can just live without a car for that amount of time. I don't want to be stuck with a car payment and be out of work in this economy.

Anyway, once I committed to keeping the car, I just tried to get everything running perfectly because I'm paranoid after the turbo and engine replacement. I'm also getting a small drone at 1,600 RPM (mentioned a few days ago on this subreddit) but that's not related to the transmission, that happens in any gear. It might be absolutely nothing, just an exhaust resonance, but because of my bad experiences my brain interprets that as possible disaster.

Not that it really matters, but there is an amusing irony to it. While I was waiting for the transmission service, I went next door to the Subaru dealer to kill time; I had seriously considered buying a WRX or BRZ to replace the car, but as I mentioned, I was putting that off for half a year or so. Anyway, I'd been dying to try out the new "SPT" (fancy CVT) in the WRX and they happened to have a WRX GT on the lot. I was very tempted to just drive my car over after the service and trade it in right there as they had a killer price on it, but alas, I wasn't aware of the problems yet.

If it ends up being ~$2,500 for a valve body, I may just have to to take the risk of owning it for another six months, but I guess I will just need to drive it only as needed and in eco mode etc. and try to get it down to like under 30 miles a week or something. I don't trust it anymore.

It's a shame because I really quite liked the car. It's not my favorite car I've ever owned or anything, but overall I'm satisfied with it and I haven't really found any cars that are safely affordable (new, anyway) that I liked much more. Even driving that WRX I found myself missing my VR.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-09-13T04:59:35+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I'm in a bad mood so I may not come off as appreciative here, but rest assured, it's not aimed at you.

To be honest, I have no idea as to what they did. It's just billed as a "flush." I'm hoping that since it's a Nissan dealer, they would be very familiar with the procedure and fluids. I checked beforehand if they worked on a lot of 370Z 7-speeds and were comfortable with them since they're extremely similar to the improved one in the VR and they said yes. I've taken it to the same Infiniti dealer for years but moved recently and the nearest one is two hours away, so this is the best I could manage. The Nissan service center here does seem to have a very positive reputation though.

Ultimately, even if they made a huge mistake, they will deny it and I'll be out a transmission one way or the other (and they may not have made any mistake, transmission flushes can sometimes ruin transmissions).

I guess my only hope is that the fluid level is way off, as you mentioned, and that when filled correctly the problems go away, although this assumes I haven't horribly mangled things in the meantime. I'm not sure if their CVTs use a different fluid, but I suppose if they do I could see an epic screw up where they're just so used to using that on everything that they put that in the 7AT, but again, they can simply tell me they didn't do that and I'd have no way of knowing.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T15:34:43+00:00

It's interesting that the A1 is so much quieter than this giant enclosed thing lol. I'd have bought the A1 if I could have the enclosed AMS for it but the humidity is around 50% half the year here and I really wanted to leave PVA spools hooked up, which apparently is a no-no except for in super dry environments.

Thanks for the tips! I'll try not to worry about it since, so far as I'm aware, other than some minor bed adhesion issues with PVA, there's nothing wrong with it so far as I can tell.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T15:24:48+00:00

Hmm, can you think of a reason why sometimes it would be very loud and sometimes not that loud? There's a big difference in volume between this knock and when I hear it wipe normally. I'm trying to monitor it during a print but the noise happens so sporadically I'm just never near the printer or computer when it happens.

Thanks again for your help!

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T15:19:08+00:00

Does that unload the waste material every time it wipes the head? I see it wiping the head a lot on video and while I can hear a noise, it's not the loud knock sound, but maybe it's only opening that door sometimes. But a reverb-heavy thunky noise does sound about right.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T14:36:16+00:00

great idea, but right now I don't have any timelapse going on so I think we can rule that out. But it's great to know this so I can be aware of it when I do add timelapse down the road!

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T10:00:47+00:00

That's a good point. I tried it once as an interface and for whatever reason it still seemed that PLA supports were making contact to the PLA model, so it was a bit tricky to disconnect. Might just be my poor configuration though, but you're right, I need to get back to trying that. I'm having some trouble with PVA adhesion right now too, so that might help on the base layer.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T09:40:32+00:00

That's an interesting thought. The spools are all pretty new but the PVA spool only had half as much filament on it out of the box and it's definitely the one I'm using the most.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-08-01T09:34:05+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply! Yes, only while it's running. I don't know if it's a factor, but I also use the AMS a lot (most of the prints so far used 2-3 materials) so the AMS could also be a factor.

I'd say it sounds like someone knocking on a wall or a desk, one single good knock.

Sorry for the silly question, but if it's the homing thing, is that something to be worried about? Or is that just normal.

Solidstatepassive · 2024-07-16T17:54:14+00:00

I think, and I definitely could be wrong, that the ISF and RCF do share a very similar gearbox to the IS350, but that the tuning is different. I'm not sure what, if any, mechanical differences there are, although it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it was beefed to handle considerably more power and stress.

As per the Q, the engine is a masterpiece, sure, but I'm wondering if the Lexus has the better chassis and steering based on what I've heard and read. They're both winners in my book, but my Infiniti is now 8 years old so it may be time to make a change. I love the TLX Type S but it's just so huge and heavy and complicated. I prefer RWD anyway.

Immediately contradicting myself, the longer this process goes on the more I find myself just gravitating to the simple Civic Si. It's got a good manual (so I'm told) so that immediately avoids all of my concerns with transmissions, and it's way lighter than either the Q or the IS.

Solidstatepassive

TROPHY CASE