Hey guys. It seems that I am having some early clutch issues. When I first got the car with 20k miles, it seemed that the clutch was slipping sometimes. The car only has 30k miles on it, so I am guessing the guy before ate up a lot of the clutch's life. Now if I try to accelerate hard, sometimes the slip light comes on and the car kind of rocks side to side. Also on turns when I accelerate through, it slips, and it has some trouble engaging when I shift from time to time. Does this mean my clutch is almost done? I am going to take it in to the dealership for them to look at it when I go home from school next time, but what would be the best options if I have to get it replaced? If I do need a new clutch, I am looking at this as a time to upgrade. Any help would be great!!

 

I hope you realize that the slip light on the dash means your tires are slipping, not your clutch right? If your tires are slipping then your clutch is engaging them with more force than they can handle... meaning the clutch is working.

If your clutch were slipping, then when you let it up and give it gas, your engine will rev up but you won't feel much acceleration, and your slip light will most definitely NOT come on since the wheels/tires aren't actually being pushed.

A good way to test this is to accelerate up to ~40 mph in 2nd and shift directly to 5th and punch it. This allows you to feel the engagement without slipping the tires. If the car goes, you're good. If the car won't accelerate, clutch is probably slipping.

Your trouble engaging gears from time to time has nothing to do with the clutch and is just a symptom of the crappiness that Nissan built into the synchros... many 6MT drivers complain about this.

 

Ok now I feel like a noob.... lol I never really knew for sure what the slip light meant, but when it would come on during an acceleration on a dead straight, flat road it just wouldnt make much sense to me that the tires would be slipping.... hmm....

I guess I was just hoping that it might be the clutch in fact and I could upgrade cause now that you explain it better to me, I definitely can relate to it not engaging! haha

Thanks for the quick response and the help!

 

It's a powerful car bro, if you push it hard in 1st or 2nd it's going to spin the back tires big time - usually happens in 2nd rather than 1st since punching it in first will get you nothing but a cloud of smoke.

Of course there's nothing stopping you from upgrading to an aftermarket clutch if you want to, but I'd think it's a waste of money - save it for when you've 'slipped' your tires into oblivion and you need a new set.

 

Yeah it does usually happen in second. This completely helps! I guess Im still getting used to having a powerful car after a year rather than my old 4Runner!