Nissan had to delay the US launch of the Z sports car due to supply chain issues but the model finally went on sale in the summer of this year. Now, the Japanese automaker faces another hurdle as it has issued a stop-sale and delivery hold order for the 2023 Z equipped with the nine-speed automatic gearbox. The problem? A potential rollaway issue.
The sports car comes with the same Jatco-sourced torque converter automatic that is also used in the Frontier and Titan trucks. Some 2020-2022 examples of the two pickup trucks have shown a defect that can lead to rollaway cases, forcing Nissan to announce two separate recalls. The second recall, Autoblog.com reports, issued this month also included the Z sports car as having the same gearbox.
Gallery: 2023 Nissan Z Review
"Nissan initiated a quality hold on MY2023 Nissan Z automatic-transmission-equipped vehicles on August 29, 2022, while it investigates this issue. The investigation is ongoing at this time," a spokesperson for Nissan told the online publication. This also includes "a stop-sale for any AT model whether it is on a showroom floor or in any other stage."
What this means is that Nissan won’t ship vehicles with automatic transmissions built at its Tochigi Plant in Japan to customers before the issue is fixed. The delivery is currently put on pause at all stages and there’s no exact date when deliveries will resume. It appears that there’s no remedy for the issue currently available, which means the pause in deliveries could be longer than expected.
Nissan reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association that the nine-speed transmission may suffer from loose tolerances in the manufacturing of its components. The rollaway risk comes due to the parking pawl – the little tab that secures the vehicle when it is left in the Park position – which could get caught on other components of the transmission. If that happens, the pawl is unable to fully engage and prevent the car from rolling.
Nissan made a plant audit last month and discovered that 11 out of 83 trucks equipped with the Jatco transmission suffered from the issue. It is not known what percentage of Nissan Z vehicles have the same problem.
