How new? You mean like 10 miles new? Otherwise -- maybe the fluid got hot and ruined just like these vettes? Anyway, I don't think anyone can say for sure.

It can't hurt tho -- I just did mine tonight. Put in synthetic dot 4 fluid. Test drive certainly felt better, with smoother, easier clutch action, but you know how that goes! If you're looking for improvement sometimes you find it whether it is there or not.

If my pedal doesn't stick once this coming week I'll know it helped.

 

The issue with fluid in the clutch hydraulics on 97-07 GM cars, and maybe on your Infinitis, is heat. If you drive aggressively, the fluid degrades quickly and loses it resistence to boiling.

Easy way to tell is by the color of the fluid. If it is crystal clear, same color as in the can, then the fluid is OK.

If the fluid is murky, follow the procedure on my site and return the fluid to a clean and clear state. Taking Care of Your Clutch: the Ranger Protocol If you do that you will probably return to having a normal pedal again.

To get dark clutch fluid in a GM LS1/2/6/7 clean again can take 10-15 changes of the reservoir. That cost about $10 for the fluid and a syringe. Cheap way to banish pedal woes; good preventative maintenance measure too.

Added a couple pics.

That dark fluid is the prescription for pedal woes.

Fluid should be clear (zero murkiness).

The syringe is the one I've used for six years, available at Walmart.

On my clutch care page is a link to a list of the best brake fluids available. For my C6Z06 I settled on Prestone DOT4 Synthetic because it's widely available and not expensive. Plus I change mine frequently.

Remember, pedal woes aren't cured by one change of the fluid. You must keep changing it until it remains clear after agitation by 20 pedal pushes.

Hope this info helps you guys get those clutch pedals back to normal and keep them that way.

Please report back your experiences.

I close by saying Infiniti makes fabulous cars. Own an FX45 and love it. It's run 14.96, respectable for 4800 pounds.

Ranger

 

Thanks Ranger, nice to see you chime in on this forum!

Like I said, I did the procedure to my G35 this weekend. I picked up some Prestone Synth DOT4 and a 20ML syringe. For my car, it only took about 4 drains/fills to get the fluid looking clear. The fluid was not nearly as dark/murky as the one in the picture you attached, but it was not clear either. It had a yellow/orange look to it, and there was a brown-ish film on the sides of the reservoir. I wiped that grimy film off the reservoir walls with a lint-free towel after the first drain... it looked pretty gross.

After about 4 drains/fills, it was looking nice and clear after the pedal pumps so I stopped there. I went for a quick test drive and the clutch felt MUCH better. I don't know if I imagined it or not, but the clutch pedal felt very smooth and linear in it's modulation, much easier to control. Also, I felt like there was less vibration coming through the pedal, if that makes any sense.

I put the extracted fluid into a gallon water jug I had lying around. Comparing the color of the fluid in that jug to the color of new fluid, there's an obvious difference. I'll post back after a week or two of driving on it.

 

hmm..

 

Ok after 4 days of driving my clutch has not acted up not one time since I did this. Previously it acted at least mushy no less than once a day.

Since the fluid change (using Ranger's method and prestone dot4), the pedal has been slightly stiffer, more linear, smoother and easier to control modulate. And most importantly, it hasn't stuck not once, nor has it changed in character at all, it always feels the same. The car is much more enjoyable to drive now!

Yay, two thumbs up, thanks a bunch Ranger. I recommend anyone unhappy with how the clutch feels to try this.

 

Glad it worked out for you, mal_TX. The magic occurs when the clutch fluid gets clean again with zero murkiness. The murkiness or dark color is the "the tell," the sign that the fluid is degraded by heat and lost its ability to resisit boiling at a temp your clutch produces during aggressive driving (launches and strong shifts).

A way needs to be found to spread the word among the various car brands who are having clutch pedal woes. This protocol fixes the problem for most owners. I'm broadcasting the word to Corvettes and GM F-bodies.

Beside the G35, what other brands suffer clutch pedal woes.

Ranger

 

I'm going to give this a try tonight. My clutch pedal has been sticking since the weather hit 83 degrees.

Last week the dealership did a "clutch adjustment" which did nothing.

 

Be sure to follow the protocol. It takes repeated changes with 20 pedal pumps in between. May take 10-15 swaps before it remains clear with zero murkiness.

Once that's accomplished, let us know how the pedal does on repetitive hi-rpm shifts.

Ranger

 

I've been dealing with this issue for about a 1 1/2 year. After I video taped it and show it to the dealer they finally believed me. I drop my car off to the dealer last Monday(6/04) and picked it up this past Tuesday (06/12). They said they adjusted the clutch and everything should be fine. In one week they drove it six miles. (more like it just sat there collecting dust). Anyways to make along story short it still does the same exact ****!!!

 

i have these exact problems with my car
going to leave work now, pick up all the stuff i need to do this, and take pictures of the change when i get home.

look for them in a few hours. thanks ranger.

 

OK here we go,
So I went to Pep Boys and picked up a can of Valvoline Syn Power Brake Fluid, DOT4. Then I went to target, saw that they wanted $9 for a turkey baster, and got a $2 syringe thing instead.
Upon opening my clutch reservoir I found this sludge.

Yeah, obviously needed to be changed. So i took my huge syringe, and sucked up as much goop as i could get and it looked like this

I did find out that i didn't need the little needle thing you see there so i took it off and was able to do the rest of this without it.
So I cleaned out the reservoir with a no lint cloth

I couldn't get that little part in the bottom, but the whole thing was that color, it was gross.
Then I took this stuff here

and poured it in. Almost instantly it started turning to a nasty color;

I put the cap back on after I gave it a good rub down with the no lint cloth, got in the car and pumped the clutch pedal about 25 times.
When I got out and removed the cover I found this;

hmm, so i did the drain thing again with my syringe, filled it back up again, did the pumping thing again, and got this;

ok, not quite clean. did everything again and got this;

decided to go for it just one more time and got this

and just for good meausre i did it again and got this

and that was clean enough for me.

I'm going to need to do some driving to see how this stuf reacts, if anything, it had to be the fact that the stuff that was in there was 30k miles old and needed to be replaced anyway.
Hope this helps everyone.

 

thanks madscientist....i think i'll try this.

 

I'm reading this with great interest as I just took delivery of my 07 g35 and I had the same feeling being a total noob on the clutch, but thought it was just that I needed to get used to it. guess not. I'll keep an eye on the thing.

Until then, quick question, probably stupid question: when you pump the pedal 20+ times the ignition is on, right?

 

pantablo, congrats on the forthcoming G.

Yes, the motor is off throughout the clutch fluid protocol.

Madscientist, thanks for the sequence pics. That sequence is what we see on Corvettes.

I suspect you'll dislodge more crud from the clutch actuator (slave) when you take the car out and hammer it through the gears a few times. But with the fluid changes you did, the residual fluid boiling point is probably now high enough that your pedal will be fine. But still suggest keeping the fluid clear and clean.

Once you hammer it, let us know the outcome. Same for any further color-change.

Ranger

 

Awesome, Madscientist. I was far too lazy to take pics like you did! I'm sure that'll help a lot of people out. My process pretty much went exactly like yours.

Oh, I would suggest avoiding the turkey baster route if you can. I tried it and it had a really hard time holding the fluid in. It wanted to come right back out and get all over everything -- bad. Syringe is the way to go.

Over a week now for my car with not one incident of clutch pedal woes.