Hi all, I'm a prospective G35 owner who has been learning a lot about the car thanks to the great forum here. I have a question for you about a vehicle I am thinking of purchasing. It's an '03 sedan from a private seller, and I had a pre-purchase inspection done at the local Infiniti dealership to make sure everything was mechanically sound. In addition to the usual inspection they perform, I asked them to look at the clutch because the pedal effort was pretty high, probably the stiffest of any manual I've ever driven.

They came back and said the car looked good but the clutch probably needed to be replaced soon. They said that the pedal effort often increases as the clutch wears down, and that was the cause. They also said that most clutches last over 100k miles, but sometimes they can go as early as 30k depending on the driver (this car has 59k). The price quote is $2500 to replace both the clutch and flywheel. I didn't detect any slippage when I drove it, and it also sounds a bit strange to me that a worn clutch would create a stiff pedal. The seller is a bit agitated because they just had the 60k mile service done at the same dealership recently and the service folks didn't mention anything at the time.

My question to you all: does the dealership's diagnosis make sense, and how do I really determine if the clutch is on the way out? I don't want to be hit with $2.5k service bill right after purchasing the vehicle.

Thanks much,
Brian

 

03's and 04's all had stiff clutch pedals... thats how they are, 05+ clutch pedals are much softer.. if you test drove it at high speeds and didnt detect and slippage, it should be ok, assuming you know what you're talking about.

 

I have an 06 6mt sedan, and the clutch effort is also pretty high compared to all other previous manual cars i've driven, except for a porsche 911 with floor mounted clutch. So, I think this is to be expected. There is no doubt that the stiff clutch is due to the fact that our clutches actually can handle a lot of abuse and many are running increase power levels on completely stock clutches, up to a certain point. I know on my previous audi a4, the clutch is super soft. I then chipped it, and the clutch had slight slipping at full boost in 4th gear on the highway. As for a worn clutch, i think pedal effort doesn't change much. But you would be able to notice that engaging into first becomes extremely difficult in a worn clutch. If you can engage into first smoothly, i would think the clutch is ok.

 

The first thing I thought when I read your post was "If you take a car to a dealership and tell them you think there might something wrong with the clutch, what exactly did you expect they were going to say!!??" No, there's nothing wrong!? Just being honest, but you practically asked them to tell you there was something wrong. And if they can take you for $2500, thats a good day for them.

The only way it would need replacing is if the jackass selling it to you didn't know how to drive a stick. If it isn't slipping, and since you are only at 59K miles, your clutch is fine. It should last you well over 100K miles.

 

Good point GixxerSteve - I have been thinking the same thing. I guess what it boils down to is this: is there a reliable indicator that a clutch is on the way out before it starts slipping? I am going to call back tomorrow and ask exactly how they came to their conclusion and if the road test turned up any slippage.

 

I have a feeling they're going to tell you they visually inspected it or something, which is probably BS, but how would you know because then you'd have to put the car up on a rack and take the tranny apart to find out. I don't think they'll tell you it was slipping during a test drive, because then its something that you can actually verify when you drive it yourself. If I were you, I wouldn't be concerned with the clutch.

Why do you want to know if the clutch is on its way out before it's actually starting to show indicators that it needs to be replaced? Thats like replacing the tires before they get down to the wear bars. It just seems like you're in a hurry to offload some of your cash for one reason or another. If you are really concerned with the clutch, take it to a shop that specializes in clutches, tell them YOU think it's fine but the Infiniti dealership says it needs to be replaced, and see what they say.

 

i test drove 4 separate '04-05s before settling on my '04. all these sedans were 6mt models. one 04 and one 05 had a noticeably stiffer clutch pedal. i inquired as to possible causes at numerous independant shops and infiniti dealers and all said that an indicator of a worn clutch is the pedal effort increases.
hope this helps.
if you pull the trigger on the purchase i would not spend the huge $$ infiniti wants for their flywheel. go for an aftermarket nismo unit - it's a bit lighter and much cheaper while still being high quality.

 

I would not get the Nismo, it is one of the loudest flywheels out there. Go for unorthodox racing or for a little less get the jim wolf.

But I agree, until it starts to slip you never completely know so I would hold off until you need it!

If you don't know the G/Z uses a 28lb dual mass flywheel that is very hard to re-surface so they just replace the flywheel which is big $$. You can gain some performance by going with a solid lighter (JWT and UR are both ~12-14lbs) flywheel but at low rpm under load it will have some chatter. It is also about half the price of the oem one and most can have the surfce face replaced so you never need to buy another one~