broken down zed

cyrus_b

So i was driving last Wednesday to soccer and i felt my clutch stick a little as i took off - but got no clutch burn smell. Kept driving and the feeling stayed so i pulled off the road and pumped the clutch a bit - hoping it would refresh. Instead this made it worse, and the clutch disengaged completely. What i mean is the clutch pedal would not spring back when it was pushed in. No dice, so i turned off the ignition and waited. Still no luck.

I tried something i've heard to do with old cars: rev the engine a little and try to slip it into gear, but the gates on the gear blocked it.

Called RACV - the patrolman said it was the Clutch Master Cylinder. He got me to manually pull the clutch up and down, while he watched the clutch fluid reservoir - he said that because there were no air bubbles coming up into the clutch fluid in the reservoir it must be the master cylinder.

Had the car towed to Nissan who proceeded to bleed the clutch line even though i gave them all the info above, and then the following day they told me what i already knew - it was the master cylinder. Hence they ordered the part on Friday, said it would be in in 5 days.

Had to almost beg for a loan car even though i own the most expensive car they sell. Now i hear it may take 2 weeks!

Guess there is not much i can do except wait.

While its in i want them to look at a few more things;

On my drivers carpet there's now a hole where my clutch heel sits and i've only had the car 4 months so i think that should be replaced.
The hatch doesn't pop correctly, so i asked for the newer springs to be fitted (read about here!).
The panels on the car are not a consistent shae of yellow, they appear to be 2 different shades. is this unusual? can it be fixed?

So any advice on any of the above, boys and girls?


Cheers, C

gumpy

Sad to here that the car failed on you...

I'm pretty sure my dealer wouldn't give me a loan car... They're Stingy... If they didn't offer extended warranty i wouldn't consider them at all for servicing...

1. the carpet should be replaced
2. Yes they will replace it but it will fail again... they wear out... in my opinion it's an inherent design flaw... the spring mechanism should have been placed where that latch is...
3. A lot of people seem to have inconsistent paint jobs... you can always ask, folks in the US seem to have it fixed but not much talk about it here...

fullmonty

They should fix the carpet and springs, however I think you will be out of luck on the paintjob

__________________

Colesy

My mats were replaced, basically because the grommets had broken, but it also had a hole where my heel had worn through from the clutch operation.

The rear hatch springs have also been replaced with the newer version, but as previously mentioned even though it was only done a few months back, the hatch is not opening correctly again. I am not a huge user of the hatch, maybe only once or twice a week, but it is annoying when your hands are full, and you have to pull up to get it to release.

jekel

I reckon you can get 1 and 2 fixed............paint i doubt it though, usually a dealer tells you the metal/plastics bits will never fully match up. Sometimes may be unlucky though. I have white and seems fine but saw on here another guy who had white and reckons he had a yellow tinge on some panels.....

I used to have a red lancer that was terrible really noticeable on different panels.........

Gee

Yes, I've got the hole in the mat as well, after only a few months driving. Its bloody amazing what crap quality they are.
I had a 1990 RX7 for almost 19 years with the original mats and they never had this problem. How friggin' hard is it to make a mat that lasts? Especially for their 2nd top-of-the-line vehicle.

__________________
"...'cause the only decent things that come in 2 litres are milk & orange juice"

cyrus_b

Hey guys, so quick update

Nissan coouldnt tell me when to expect my cylinder to be in from japan so i resigned myself to wait, but got some goodluck and the service manager who ordered the part got me my part on critical delivery - apparently it bypassed nissan australia and went straight to the dealer.

So end result was i got the car back wednesday night. And they had given my a hire car (rubbsih Tiida - gave it to the old man lol).

Abviously the clutch was working again, a good plus! I was told the same master cylinder had been recalled on the 350z - hope this wont be a recurring issue.

My dealer was quite good in sorting out the other issues: i got a new front mat, and they had my window retinted as a bubble had developed, and they fitted the new springs to my rear hatch so it pops up properly (for now...)

A couple of issues/questions:

1. People have told me that after a car has a major fault (is the clutch master cylinder failing in about 5 months a major fault?) like this with the gearbox, im going to have more and more problems - ie having a lemon. Should i be worried about this??
   
2. Also the gear stick seems to shake slightly more violently now... Not sure what to do about that.
   
3. They also made a fairly decent scratch on the interior of my passenger window (i know it wasnt there before as i am meticulous and pedantic about these things). Not sure how to prove it wasnt there earlier though...?
   
4. And there is a cut in the leather on the gear stick (i can feel it as my hand is always on the lever, and its annoying!) - probably from dismantling to fit in the new cylinder. Probably nothing i can do about this as it is quite small.
   
5. Worst of all is there is now a whistling sound as i accelerate. It sounds like its coming from the passenger side of the car. Not an engine noise, but like some kind of hole or gap and wind is whistling through it. I'm not the only one who can hear it, so can my brother - so im not imagining it. Im going to get someone else to drive and i'll sit int he passenger seat to try to identify the cause of the noise and then contact nissan.
   
6. And lastly, i think the new mat will again get a hole under my clutch foot so im trying to think what to cover that are with to prvent a new hole. Some kind of rubber surface area? Ideas?

I've had bad experiences in getting cars repaired and them coming back worse than when they went in.... I ended up selling my 12 month old Ford because of this.

Any advice on my new set of problems is appreciated.

All in all I think the dealer didnt do too bad a job in terms of getting the car back to me and paying for a hire car, but i think maybe because i did say i want the car back asap they rushed it and may have scratched things and cut corners...

Majestik

Hi mate. Firstly thank god that your Z is ready for our cruise on the 23rd? You do know that - as a Melbourne forum member - it's compulsary that you attend

I also had a leaking master cylinder in my 09 350 Roadster track in Jan 09 which Nissan fixed. I fortunately upgraded to an 09 370Z in April so never got to see if any issues continued from it.

The extra vibration is most likely because you have new 'bits' installed that now need to be worn in again. My current 2010 Z vibrated like a bitch but gas now settled as I'm nearing the 1000km mark.

I know it sounds silly but the check your air vent for the whistling sound. If it's open a little bit, you will hear a high pitch bit faint whistle whilst driving.

I hope this helps mate..

__________________

cyrus_b

Hey mate,

Cheers for the advice, i hadn't thought about the part needing to wear in.

As for the noise that i was hearing, i had already closed all the vents, turned off the air con, opened and closed all the windows and the hatch etc. No change, so i just left it and hoped it would go away.

Yesterday i was driving home in slow traffic and i started to hear the noise change and get louder and louder. In the space of my 40 minute drive, it has evolved into a completely different sound. It has increased in volume by about x10, and the sound is more distinct. It is clearly coming from the left side of the car, and sounds like its from somewhere under the passenger seat. (I have noticed some kind of axle or cylinder under that area.)

Now, whenever i accelerate i hear what i describe as something spinning, and possibly scratching up against something as it spins. The sound can be heard at all rev ranges above about 1100 (so pretty much all), and it is audible at any speed over about 20 kmp/h. It spinning sound's speed doesnt seem to react to different road speeds or revs (ie: doesnt sound like the spinning is increasing in speed, just stays at the one speed), but does become louder as you get above approx. 80kmp/h.

I looked under the car, i couldn't see anything hanging loose or any branches caught that might be caught so i have no real idea what it could be.
Maybe they have poorly fitted a casing or screw. Worse they may have not reinstalled the gearbox perfectly after installing my new master cylinder and there could be mechanical damage.

Either way, because the sound has gotten significantly louder over time, it leads me to believe something is becoming progressively more and more loose. I'm no longer driving the car, as if something is mechanically wrong i could further damage the gearbox, and if something flies out from under the car at 100kmp/h who knows what damage it could do to the Z or to other drivers behind me.

I spkoke with the service manager at my dealership (which isn't my closest Nissan anyway) and he couldnt tell me what the sound was likely to be. He couldn't tell me if it was safe to drive the car but wasn't prepared to pay for a towtruck to the dealer.

Either way, i said i need him to pick up the car for me, as i don't think it's safe to drive and he said he can't do it for over a week. And that doesn't make me too happy considering it's only just come out of the shop! This is my first Nissan and first real sportscar, and while it's a dream to drive, i'm not altogether convinced of it's reliability - though this could just be human error in the service department. Either way, it should be a priority to get fixed ASAP, not just sometime next week. (excuse the rant!)

Anyway, anyone who has some idea of the sound, or any other advice, please offer it.

On an even more dissappointing side note, it would appear i will have no Z for the cruise on the 23rd. Not cool.

Cyrus

boardingnath

I think you would be better off driving it down to the dealership ASAP. You'll waste a couple of days trying to argue for a tow truck (which they'll probably continue to say no to) and if you have already been driving it around with the noise, you're not going to do it too much more damage.

Majestik

Maybe it's the brake indicator or something rubbing? If it's a serious issue, it won't just be sound. You would feel it..

I agree with ^ to take it into your dealer as you might get it fixed and ready for the cruise!

You do know that ANY Nissan dealer will fix a warranty job as they get compensated by Nissan.

With my 350, Blackburn Nissan told me BS so I went to another dealer and they fixed my leaking master cylinder under warranty in one day and for free!!

__________________