Nissan GT-R: Bellhousing rattle — worn output shaft bearings, the R35's most common fault

This is the most frequently reported fault on the R35 and it comes from an unusual layout. Nissan bolted the bellhousing to the engine and connected it to the transaxle at the back of the car with a drive shaft, so the engine and bellhousing can move independently of the gearbox. The bearings on the shaft inside that bellhousing wear, the output shaft develops play, and the result is the rattle owners talk about — usually heard at idle or low revs and often mistaken for a clutch or gearbox fault. It is a genuine repair rather than a noise to live with, and Nissan's reluctance to supply individual gearbox parts is what makes GT-R driveline work expensive. It is also entirely separate from the transaxle's own heat-related failures, and the two cost very differently.

• Rattle or chatter from between the engine and the cabin, loudest at idle and low revs
• Noise changing or disappearing when the car is put under load
• Rattle that comes and goes with engine temperature
• Vibration through the floor at low speed
• Clunk when taking up drive from a standstill

Listen with the car stationary and running before you drive anywhere. Sit in it at idle with everything switched off and a window down, and listen for a rattle or chatter that seems to come from between the engine and the cabin rather than from the front of the engine or the back of the car. Note whether it changes when you blip the throttle, and whether it is present cold and again once fully warm — this fault often behaves differently at each. On the drive, pull away gently several times and listen for a clunk as drive is taken up, and feel for vibration through the floor at low speed. Then drive normally and note whether the noise disappears under load, which is characteristic. Ask the seller directly whether the car has ever had bellhousing work — GT-R owners know this fault by name and generally answer straight — and ask whether the car has been tracked and how often. If a workshop inspection is possible: this is the one thing worth paying a GT-R specialist to assess, because the bellhousing, the clutches and the transaxle produce overlapping noises and cost thousands apart.

Parts involved: Clutch.

$3,000 to $10,000 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

• “Has the bellhousing ever been rebuilt or replaced?”
• “Is there a rattle at idle, and does it go away under load?”
• “Has the car been used on track, and how often?”

The failure described above is documented in published sources — owner forums, technical service bulletins, recall notices and workshop write-ups — held in our fault database. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them, and it is a starting point for an inspection rather than a manufacturer statement.