Hi, I have an 05 6MT. It's my first manual transmission car. I drove my manual trans cars that belonged to a bunch of my friends around for a few years, so it's not like i didn't know what I was doing. However, my G has had the stiffest clutch by far (even some of my friends had problems with it when I let them see for themselves). Now, with close to 17k miles on it, it's acting "strange". I don't really know how to explain what it's doing. One thing, at about 3800 rpm, under fairly heavy acceleration, it feels like it slips or something, and this is in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear. So, for those of you that have had to replace your clutches, is mine going? How'd you know for sure?

thanks a lot.

 

At about 40mph put the car in 5th gear and give it a lot of gas. If the revs climb very fast and the car doesn't accelerate your clutch is on it's way out. Essentially with this test you want to watch the the needle of the RPM gauge. It shouldn't climb super fast. It should move slowly as the car tries to accelerate.

 

You don't have to do anything drastic to know if your clutch is wearing out. If you make shifts and go to accelerate and the engine revs and rpms climb quickly without any acceleration, then you should get it checked out. I have had a clutch replaced in an older car and I used to shift and have to wait(2-3 seconds) for it to engage before I could accelerate.

 

ok, it's not doing either one of those. meaning when i do shift the clutch engages fine.

So how do you explain the wierd slip, or jolt, i get at 3800 rmp in every gear under WOT? I mean, it's literally like a slight pause and then the car keeps accelerating.

 

i think you are just describing the beginning of the power band. Im no car expert but thats what it sounds like to me. when it "pauses" then reengages, is the acceleration more powerful than before?

 

yeah, but should it be that noticable?

where can i read more about the "power band"?

let me guess..."try the search."

 

here you go if you dont know where its at



j/k...but im sure theres plenty of guys on here that can chime in on it...just do
a search for clutch failure, or replacement, and that should give you an idea
of how it should feel if its failing...or go to a Stealership and let them look at for
you.

 

Sorry to jack this thread...well it does have a lot to do with what ya'll are saying...Anyways, if and when the clutch does indeed go out. What do ya'll mostly replace it with? Stock, Aftermarket (NISMO)???

Just curious. I beleive mine is walking out the door so to speak, and wanted to know what to do as far as which 'route' to take w/ the stock's replacement.

Thanks,
-WoW

 

Unless you are planning to go forced induction, OEM is the best way to go.

 

Possibly the VDC? Any slip lights showing up?

 

I plan on going FI (eventually...once warranty is no longer). So what about for FI then? What brands and what sites carry them?

Thanks,
P.s. Anyone else notice that performancenissan or now called: http://www.mynismo.com/ is hard as he&& to find all the stuff I used to be able to find (easily) for our coupe??

 

I can only suggest that you test drive someone elses car with the aftermarket clutch that you want. Many people buy something based on what a shop recommends and the clutch ends up being like a light switch.

 

Simple. It's under warranty. Take it to the dealer and have them diagnose whether there is a problem or not.

 

i thought the clutch wasn't covered under warrenty.

i've been looking at aftermarket, I was going to go with the JWT flywheel and clutch, i think it's even cheaper than OEM.

Honestly I don't trust dealerships AT ALL.

 

It sounds like clutch slippage to me. The easiest way, IMO, to test for this is pretty simple: while in 6th gear, under load(say around 3k rpms or 80mph), clutch in, then while the clutch is in, rev the **** out of it close to redline. Then just drop the clutch. If the clutch is acting normally, it will jerk and grab immediately. If it's slipping, it will slip and not grab at all.

As for aftermarket clutches, I'd stay away from OEM. With any aftermarket flywheel, you're gonna get noise that you won't have with OEM. However, if you've gone through the oem clutch in so few miles, why replace it again next year, and the year after? I've seen that the OEM clutch is only around $300-$400, but the OEM flywheel is something like $1300 IIRC. Also, you can not resurface the stock flywheel. So if you do go with an aftermarket clutch, you'll have to get an accompanying flywheel as well.

My clutch started slipping at 25k miles, but that included about 120 passes down the drag strip, nearly 30 dynos, 3 autocross events, and daily beatings. I ended up buying a clutchmasters stage1 from UltraRev(ad at the top of the page), and a used JWT flywheel(600 miles) from a dude on my350z. I haven't had them installed yet(on vacation right now).

I was expecting to pay around $300 from what I've read elsewhere, but all the local guys wanted $500 for an install. I checked with a family friend that is responsible for fleet vehicle maintenance, and he said the book time was rated at 7.3 hours. He told me that if I could get it installed for $500, then go for it. Then I checked with my only local dealer, and they quoted me $400 for installation.

Some may ask why I didn't go with the JWT clutch/flywheel package. Well, the clutchmasters kit comes complete with the pressure plate, clutch, throw out bearing, and pilot bearing. The JWT kit, to my knowledge, only includes the pressure plate, clutch, and flywheel. I checked with the parts department of a couple local nissan dealerships, and the local infiniti dealerships, and the bearings were going to be about $150 put together. I payed $275 shipped for the used flywheel, and $328 shipped for the clutch kit. Quite a bit cheaper than roughly $725 for the jwt kit plus shipping plus $150 for bearings. Both the clutchmasters and jwt kits offer an organic friction surface, so they should be close to stock in pedal feel. But I don't know how they compare for clamping force. I'll post a more in-depth review after I get it installed and broken-in.

Sorry for the long post.