Originally Posted by
SixCylinders
Before people come rushing in to tell me about crankwalk (or to defend DSMs) let it be known that I do know my fair share about 4G63s, DSMs, and what not. I just have always heard "DSMs are unreliable" from everyone I have known. I could never find anyone who could back this up with so and so breaks every 5K miles, the transmission is fragile or any other explanation for how they are unreliable. In fact from what I've seen DSMs are blessed in the transmission department compared to the majority of Nissans and newer Hondas (correct me if I'm wrong).
The reputation stems from the majority of DSMers being DIYers, and since some are broke/cheap the jobs rigged or shit parts were used leading to inevitable failures.
There are many DSMs that are reliable and never left their operators stranded. But you always hear about the bad stories versus the good ones.