I took my sedan in to the dealer for some warranty items. Two of the things I questioned seemed to be clutch related. One thing was the pedal was sticking about the last inch of travel when released. This did not effect drivability, just had to use my foot to get the pedal to return to correct position. Another thing I questioned was a noise that reminded me of a heat shield vibration, but much more muffled. It seemed to only happen when I released the clutch pedal the first time to get moving after the car sat for a while. After seeing some posts from people experiencing the same noise, I felt pretty sure it was the ABS self check. That seemed to be the unanimous response from others.

So, the dealer calls me later in the day to tell me what they have found. The "clatter" I am hearing from the clutch at initial start is that my clutch is close to needing replacement. He says that around 55k (my car is at 56K) is the average life span for a clutch and the tech said my pedal felt soft. He says he would not know if flywheel needs replacement until they have it torn apart and if both are needed it is about $1900. I politely respond to just make a note of it and I will think about it for a later date.

At first I am thinking that he is pushing a repair that has no real method of measuring, it seems more like a suggestion to me. But, as I start to think about the clutch behavior when driving, I begin to wonder. I have owned the car for a month now and have yet to get comfortable with a smooth start up from a stop. I thought the difference in the smoothness was due to the fact that I have been with FWD for so long and have forgotten the differences in RWD. My daily drivers for the last 20 years have been manual trannys, so I know that I am more than capable of driving a stick. My FWD cars seemed to be much smoother at take off, whereas the G sometimes seems to almost hop or vibrate at take off.

Is it possible the dealer is telling me the truth or just after the $$$$? 55k seems pretty low miles for an OEM clutch to wear out. Maybe I am wrong, 96 Accord (bought new by me) was still going on original clutch at 163k and my 98 Maxima is still going at 147k with original clutch.

Thanks for the advice!!

 

Dude, posted a similar thing yesterday:
check

https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-...hing-else.html

 

FYI, I only have 65,000 and the people told me the same thing about how long they should last....Should last longer than that, depends on how you drive. That's no help at all I know..

 

I'm having the same problem, do a search on the forum. Someone just replace the master clutch cylinder and it fix the problem. I only have 40k on my 2005 and been having the problem only in stop and go traffic. So taking it to the dealership tomorrow and have them replace it under warranty.

 

from my experience that "chatter" refers to the throw out bearing going bad and the clutch getting stuck and not returning to original position is the clutch master/slave cylinder. i had both problems. dealership replaced master/slave cylinder under warranty but was unable to replicate the throw out bearing.