Sticky: (Official) 370Z Clutch Pressure (CSC) Failures

MagmaRed370z

This ^

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bLKchry370z

I agree with you guys on this as well. I'm no slouch when it comes to the car game. I used to be a tech, now I'm an assistant parts manager for a toyota dealer. It's just aggravating with all of the back and forth with the dealer on this matter. I just don't want to keep getting hit with diag charges from different dealers and them saying the same thing. I have another dealer I'm going to contact in the morning and see what they say. It's almost worth just biting the bullet and spending the $1200 and buy a clutch kit, csc, cmc and flywheel and do the work myself. Lol

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Current Cars:2014 370z, 1988 Suzuki Samurai (mint)
Past Cars: 2006 IS250, 2007 Scion TC (boosted), 2003 Civic SI EP3 and the list goes on...

elhombre

The job isn't that bad to do, if you have a lift and take your time you can get it done in about 8 hours.

bLKchry370z

8 hours? lol!!! I'm pretty sure that I can have it done in more than half that time. I used to be flat rate. It's not me actually doing the work that's the issue here. It's more the fact that this is a very common issue and the fact that I spent extra money on a Nissan extended warranty, that the dealer should stand behind it and fix it. That's the reason I spent the money on it. It's about principal right now. I opened up a case with Nissan and waiting to hear back from their regional rep. As it sits now, I'm going to toss the car up in the air after work and bleed out all the old fluid and replace it just to rule that out. Might as well go with the inexpensive attempt just for that little piece of mind. I don't think it'll fix it, but it'll be worth the try.

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Current Cars:2014 370z, 1988 Suzuki Samurai (mint)
Past Cars: 2006 IS250, 2007 Scion TC (boosted), 2003 Civic SI EP3 and the list goes on...

JARblue

This happens vice versa as well. The internals in the CMC aren't high quality either and sometimes fluid gets past the seals and introduces contaminants into the system. These contaminants can cause the CSC to fail. The master must have an o-ring seal or something that gets loose and then seats back into place because you can lose pressure and then have it return. In this scenario, you can typically return pressure to the master by pumping the pedal hard and fast for 20+ stokes. You'll probably have to use your hand to do this.

When the internal master seals fail and let contaminants into the system, the
fluid gets nasty colored immediately. This is a telling sign that your master internals slipped. Especially if you have an aftermarket CSC. I don't think dirty fluid is a symptom of CSC failure as it typically fails catastrophically, leaking fluid into the transmission bell housing.

All Nissan dealerships consider the CSC a wearable part. Anyone whose dealer covered the work either had warranty coverage or the dealership performed the service out of "good will". They have what they call "good will coverage" for customers that spend lots of money on service at the dealership already. If you DIY or just never use the dealer for service, then you're incredibly unlikely to have the good will coverage approved. I went over this matter with 3 different Nissan dealerships

Actually, that's probably the master. But a flush with higher temp fluid is definitely a good idea

Definitely replace the master if you do the slave. But in this case, I would start with the master. The OEM parts are about the same cost but the master is far less labor and the more likely culprit in that case.

You have the ZSpeed CSC? If so, I promise it's not your HD CSC that's having problems. It's the master. If you really want to go with one of the external slave kits, I don't think you can go wrong with either the ZSpeed or the Z1 solutions. And neither of them will interfere with an aftermarket exhaust as they are located adjacent to the driver side catalytic converter.

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JARblue

You spent extra money on warranty coverage and it's not covered? That's some bull$hit right there. I might inquire about "good will coverage" based on the money you spent on a warranty that doesn't cover the part.

But if you don't have any luck at the dealer or just want to give up on them, try replacing the master first (as long as there's not fluid coming out of the transmission bell housing). If that doesn't do it then just get one of the aftermarket solutions. You can't go wrong with ZSpeed or Z1 options unless you pair the ZSpeed HD CSC with a Spec clutch. Might as well do the clutch while the transmission is down if you think it needs it.

I did the Z1 kit in my garage on jack stands with the help of a friend (didn't replace the clutch because it only had 50K miles on it at the time). It took us two full days over a weekend, but neither of us had removed a transmission before. Personally, I wouldn't do it again without a lift, but it wasn't a difficult job. We had no major issues and the first test drive went great. Two years later and I'm very pleased with the kit. Replacing the slave cylinder now only costs $60 and takes <30 min.

FWIW, there is an HD CMC on the market. I had some issues installing one of the unit from the first production batch, so I am waiting for those issues to get worked out. I'll give it another go here in a few months probably. Hoping it will solve all of the clutch hydraulic issues for good!

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bLKchry370z

so i pulled my car in and checked the condition of my clutch fluid and it was blacker than wesley snipes!!!!! so we took a fluid sample and found it to have a greenish/greyish color to it. the fluid should be clean and clear yellow and if it's dirty or burnt, should be dark. NOT GREYISH!!! this tells me that there is some sort of contamination within my clutch system. I took the fluid sample to the dealer that told me i need a clutch and they pretty much said that "it's out of their hands". lol. what a joke! so while i was in the parking lot, i called a different dealer that i deal with on a professional level, and spoke with the service manager. he is willing to work with me and agreed that my findings would lead toward some sort of hydraulic failure. he's willing to warranty it as long as that is that actual issue. catch 22 is that if he finds it is actually clutch failure that i'd be responsible for the repair. that is beyond fair in my eyes. that's exactly what i was looking for.

here are some pics of the color of my clutch fluid

Attached Images

	image1 (1).jpg (467.3 KB, 53 views)
	image1 (2).jpg (378.0 KB, 55 views)

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Current Cars:2014 370z, 1988 Suzuki Samurai (mint)
Past Cars: 2006 IS250, 2007 Scion TC (boosted), 2003 Civic SI EP3 and the list goes on...

KoolKarmaJoe

Glad to hear you found a service mgr willing to work with you.
I was not so fortunate at the time of my CSC failure.
My 09' is currently at local garage getting complete brake system upgrade. And I am looking to getting year old GTR clutch fluid flushed out with new Fluid. The old fluid is dark brown/blackish. I average about 5000 miles a year on Z. Last year is when I had new CMC, HD-CSC, insulated clutch lines, solid billet steel flywheel, & ACT Clutch installed.
I thought the GTR Fluid would hold up better then it did.
Does anyone have any suggestions on a hydraulic fluid that hold up better?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

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"Joe"
AAM True 3" Duals / Whiteline Bars & Rear Links / Tanabe Sustec Pro / Mishimoto Oil Cooler / Michelin Pilot SS
ACT HD Pressure Plate / ACT Performance Disc / ACT Streetlite Flywheel / ZSpeed HD CSC on GTR Fluid.

elhombre

Possibly Motul RBF 600.

bLKchry370z

Definately look into the Motul. And believe it or not, find a repair shop that deals with BG products. They only come around to shops and dealerships. The kit they use for the brake fluid flush service is pretty good stuff. I know it may not sound too enticing, but it's def worth it and it's rather inexpensive.

And thank you. I am too. This is all I was looking for from the dealer. That just shows the level of integrity that some dealerships have on a customer service level. The sad thing is that this is coming out of my mouth and I work at a dealership. But we DO NOT conduct business like that!!! They were basically trying to get me to shell out $2500 for the repair and than pull a fast one and say that they found something else wrong internally while doing the clutch job and either charge me for it or claim they covered it as a courtesy.

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Current Cars:2014 370z, 1988 Suzuki Samurai (mint)
Past Cars: 2006 IS250, 2007 Scion TC (boosted), 2003 Civic SI EP3 and the list goes on...

Ventruck

Wanted to get at this before it got me (had some sticky moments, so could've been the master for all I know), and opted for the South Bend Stage 2 Clutch+19lb Flywheel package at ZSpeed. Joe was great at getting the clutch to me separately a timely manner when he was out of stock in his store.

Holy **** this is flat out-better than OEM. I'm not going to hide the fact that I was one of those people who found take-offs in this car to be tricky (as someone who's driven 3 examples of 370Z's). It could be the sum of the parts (also got the insulated hose + Redline fluid vs Nissan Ester) and maybe better work/adjustment, but along with the peace of mind, it's a much better drive. For lack of a better term it feels "normal" finally.

Don't know how it'll feel when more broken in, but I expected equal or worse with the lighter flywheel. Shifting up to second seems cleaner because the revs drop more timely. So right now, I feel like this is a major must-do, or at least a priority before other mods.

TreeSemdyZee

Love mine. Joe installed mine almost two years ago and it has worked flawlessly. I love the sound too!

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vjarnot

We have another weiner. My CSC failed a little while ago... not my most pressing concern at the moment however. Looking for a little advice on getting my car started:

2012 370z, CSC failed a couple of weeks ago, pulled car home, it sat for a couple of weeks, replaced CSC this weekend, now car won't start.

Behavior: car never seems to detect clutch being pressed - checked the bottom clutch switch (clutch interlock switch) on meter and seems fine... nevertheless, the 370z always shows the "Clutch" message regardless of whether clutch is depressed or not...

vjarnot

Yeah, dumbass - plug in the starter when you re-assemble the car.

Anyway, in case anyone's interested in my particular failure mode:


The greasy-looking stuff is not grease, but melted plastic OEM CSC innards.


Failure circumstances: no warning, shifted - car made a noise, shifted - pedal felt wonky, shifted - full-on failure, wife went from commuting to stranded in about 60-90 seconds.

KoolKarmaJoe

Good idea to post the picture! It shows all where CSC is mounted.
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"Joe"
AAM True 3" Duals / Whiteline Bars & Rear Links / Tanabe Sustec Pro / Mishimoto Oil Cooler / Michelin Pilot SS
ACT HD Pressure Plate / ACT Performance Disc / ACT Streetlite Flywheel / ZSpeed HD CSC on GTR Fluid.