I wanted to know how true is this post. I know that they have JWT flywheels and spec flywheels for the 5.5 gen, but this is the first time I saw a fidanza flywheel for the 5.5 gen and I wanted to know how true do you guys think this is. Lemme know, I would purchase and be the firs to experience this, and give my 02 on it. Anyone else seen this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Fidan...spagenameZWDVW

 

I would hold off on the Fidanza. I put one on my car and had horrible grinding with the starter. Turns out the ring gear on the flywheel was smaller in diameter than the stock unit and the starter was grinding bits of the ring gear off with every start.

I pulled it back out and sent it back. I just spoke with them and they can't put a stock sized ring gear on one for me. The best they can do is one that is 50 thousandths of an inch larger. That's not even a milimeter. When I measured the 2 flywheels there was almost a centimeter difference.

I'm probobly just going to get a refund and not go with Fidanza. Doing a clutch is too much work to expariment and see if the different ring gear works. The car did seem quicker with it in though. I still haven't decided what to do.

 

I have a 5.5 fidanza flywheel and I am getting that grinding start up sound but I havent had any problems and I love it.

 

I would consider grinding at startup to be a problem. When I pulled the flywheel out most of the teeth were pretty badly damaged. The starter gear was only making contact to the flywheel gear by about a milimeter and a half.

When I contacted Fidanza they said the noise would go away. I believe the noise will go away when the teeth are ground down enough that they can't make contact with the starter any more. That will, of course, create a different problem. Over all I'm pretty disappointed with Fidanza for allowing a product like this to be sold.

 

I was the third person in fidanzas record to install their flywheel. i was not sent the spacer for the crank trigger ring and on top of that my starter grinded so bad that sparks were shooting!!! pulled out trans again, recieved next day mail spacer, and ground down starter housing and oblonged bolt holes to move starter in 3/8".been 3 months ,so far no problems . i feel that the car has lost some torque, and the revs drop dramatically between shifts. but the high end gained is amazing!!! i definately recommend replacing your flywheel, but not with fidanzas. hope this helps. ps.. use lock washers and loctite on starter bolts if you grind it out to fit!!

 

I also received the flywheel w/out the spacer. Sent it back to be installed and it came back with the 3 dowels all mushroomed. They sent me another set and I put them in.

Can you give more detail on grinding the starter housing to fix the problem? I like the flywheel but don't think the new ring gear they are installing will make a difference. Grinding the starter seems like a good plan.

 

I would also like more info on how you ground down the starter.
Thanx

 

I put a Fidanza in on a .org memebers car today along with a SPEC clutch, and the starter is making a awefull noise. I recomended that flywheel to him as his OEM one was completly fryed- car wouldnt even move due to the bad clutch at 88K miles. I have a Fidanza on my 01 with no problems with it in the last 80K miles its been in my car.

How many people have this issue on their 5.5 gen, and has it gone away ? What exacly did you do to get rid of this problem ? I can't tell any diff in power, I didnt' get a chance to drive it before the clutch due to the car not moving at all.

 

I installed a Fidanza in my 5 gen car and it to has a allot of starter noise. THe flywheel has been in the car around 1 month and noise has not gotten no better. I did pick up 1 mile to gallon better on the fuel milage with the flywheel.

 

I dunno what to tell ya, this is the 1st Fidanza I've put into a 5.5 gen... it was very eassy and straightforward. My 5th gen doesnt sound or run any worse than it did before the Fidanza. Most people wouldn't even know its there if I didnt tell em, and THEN they realize why the car is so quick in the lower gears.

 

MIke, IIRC Derrick2k2SE had an issue with the the ring gear on his Fidanza being too small. It was smaller physically and had one less tooth than the OEM. The starter gear was rolling over the ring gear causing grinding at start up. Not sure if that's what you're experiencing, but it sounds like it. He replaced the ring gear with an OEM one and it fit and worked fine, I think. You could try PMing him for more info.

 

Yeah, Fidanza made everything right with mine by putting on a stock ring gear. When I got it back and compared it to stock it was perfect. I had no other problems after that.

The Fidanza does make a little more noise on start up but it's barely noticeable. Mine was grinding so bad people walking by would all turn their heads and look.

I really felt like Fidanza provided fantastic customer service in handling my problem. They actually called me several times through the process to update me.

 

How long did it take Fidanza to send you back the corrected flywheel?? It is my Maxima that BlackbirdVQ did the install on and the car sounds HORRIBLE at start-up...so bad that people think my car is worse now than it was before. Will the grinding cause problems with the starter in the future?? Any help on this issue nis appreciated.

BTW: BlackbirdVQ gets my seal of approval for anyone in the Chicago area that needs a mechanic!!! Very responsive, great communication, timely work, and will take the time to explain to you exactly what is going on. Thanx a million dude for the service you provided!!!

 

They took about 2 weeks to handle it. Once they figured out what was wrong it was quick. They actually had one of their designers call me and ask about measurements and what it was doing. If you are having the same problem they should be able to turn it around quicker. I'd call them.

The grinding will cause problems in a pretty short time. When I pulled mine out after a few weeks the teeth on the flywheel were pretty chewed up. Eventually the teeth would have been so damaged the car wouldn't have started. The starter looked fine though. The starter gear must be a harder steel.


If you pull the starter you might be able to see the condition of the flywheel teeth. If they're chewed up you know you got one of the smaller ring gears.

There may be a fix that's easier than swapping out parts again. I heard someone was able to elongate the bolt holes on the starter and grind the body down enough to bring the starter gear closer to the ring gear. If Blackbird is working in it he'll know what I mean. It should be very simple. It only needs to move a few milimeters. That would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay easier than removing the flywheel, puting the stock one back on so you can drive, having Fidanza repair it then reinstalling it. That means pulling the tranny two more times.

 

Ahh I know what you mean, I thought that the starter was possibly too far away from the flywheel- depth wise. But I see what you mean now. Vince maybe bring the car around one of those days and I can enongate those holes for ya. Removing the tranny and dealing with Fidanza might take too long of a process. And I told ya I won't be here all next week- going to Disney World !

 

Exactly, the depth was perfect. It just needs to move sideways toward the ring gear. You'll have to grind the body of the starter some too because it slides in tight against the tranny. The aluminum is thick there so no worries.

I'm curious to see how it works out.

 

Sorry to bring this thread back from the grave....

We got a new flywheel from Fidanza (well new ring gear) but after installing it the car wouldn't start. The starter got chewed up and it wouldn't start anymore. Nissan has these starters on backorder and we waited 3 weeks for a new one. They don't wanna reimburse Vince for the labor nor the starter.... but I will let him comment on that. It just sucked cause the car sat outside for 3 weeks finished waiting for the starter, whole thing took about 1 month to complete- thanks to Fidanza.

But now everyone should be able to get the right ring gear on their 3.5L FWD flywheel from Fidanza. They where supposed to correct this and carry it into production. The ring gear that they had on there was for a 350Z, which has a diff flywheel.

 

so has anyone got the new improved one and have any comments on it?

 

Like I said I put a new updated one in the car. No problems since then.

 

this is great news.

 

guys try unorthodox they reuse the gear ring NO grinding
I used unorthodox Clutch & fly great set up

 

get a jwt flywheel, no problems here..

 

Unorthodox is only for 95-01 Maximas, 02-05 are diff flywheels.

JWT flywheel is made by Fidanza, with a price attached according to their name.

 

Pick up your phone Vince, we need to talk.