300ZX RS5R30A Transmission Repair and Replacement
(Above,RSR530A Transmission opened up on the workbench.)
Back in 2016 transmission began to get a nasty bearing whine. I hated the sound and was worried that it would catastrophically fail, so I decided to replace. Thankfully, I was able to get a used replacement for a cool $200. The only catch was that it was from a non-turbo model. That left me with two options:
1: Grind away space inside the bellhousing for the larger TT flywheel to fit and install a shim to move the starter outward to match with the TT flywheel ring gear.
2: Swap my TT bellhousing from my old transmission on to the replacement transmission and be done with it.
I of course chose the hard way by going with Option number 2. I am happy to report that replacement transmission lasted me for 4 years of hard launches, skids, and highway pulls with 600+ ft lbs of torque.
My current transmission didn’t really fail catastrophically, There were no grinds and it drove fine, but the bearing whine had begun to get louder and louder and for the sake of driving comfort and peace of mind I decided it was time to once again replace.
I was torn between paying $1800 for a new transmission or trying my luck with another used Non-turbo transmission for $240. I decided to take the gamble and buy used. With all the time stuck at home I decided to swap the bell housing over to my replacement transmission and also order some replacement gaskets and seals from SpecialtyZ:
Rear Output Shaft Seal: 32136-01G10
Front Input Shaft Seal: 32114-Y4000
Front Cover Gasket: 32112-05U12
(Below, Stripped Down and ready for assembly)
How to Disassmble:
To break down the transmissions you need to remove the 9 bolts on the front cover. After that you must remove the 3 snap rings holding the bearings in place on the bellhousing. From there I remove all the bolts that marry the gearbox to the bellhousing. I also remove the assembly with the check ball along the side of the transmission. Once done the only thing that’s holding the housing to the gearbox is an RTV seal. I break the seal by hitting the housing several times with a rubber mallet and then gently prying the two pieces apart along the top side of the transmission. Once I get a seam I work the two pieces apart . From there the housing should slip off.
Once I got my old transmission taken apart, I discovered that my front countershaft bearing was a worn out. I ordered a replacement from my local Nissan Parts desk.
Front Counter Shaft Bearing: 32219-01G10 (Its NTN Bearing &E-HR-0724)
I had a local auto shop press out the old bearing and press in the replacement. From there I inspected the rest of the transmission, swapped over my “new” striker rod from the old transmission and replaced the rubber seal.
Disassembling/ Reassembling the transmission wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be. Following the FSM for the manual transmission, found at 300zx-twinturbo.com/cgi-bin/manual.cgi was a huge help.
Front Bellhousing Installed
Rear Extension Installed
Bad picture, but those pins are what hold the shifter striker to the shifting assembly.
New Output Shaft Seal
(Above, You can drop and reinstall a Z32 trans on jack stands, if you're strong and brave enough.)
This evening I took the Z out for a trip through the neighborhood and out to the highway. The new transmission shifts great and there is no bearing whine! It seems like the gamble was worth it.