Dealer notes "problem with drivability of clutch)

4TthAnnyZ

Long story short, I bought a 2010 40th Anniversary a couple weeks ago, has 49k miles on it. Rummaging through the glove box today I found an envelope stuffed with some maintenance papers. At some point it was at a local dealer and with their inspection I noticed that the clutch drivability box had "problem found" checked off.

I notice that the clutch has a few inches of travel before there is any resistance, I just assume that's the way the car is and that the rookie mechanics at the dealer probably have no clue what they are talking about.

Did a little Google searching and found that the slave cylinder is a problematic part on these cars and there was a TSB issues shortly after their model year release in 2010 (I'm sure 2009s have the same problem). The part hasn't failed yet, I just want to know if everyone else's clutch is the same as mine or if this is a sign that I should replace this part. I will say it's more difficult to learn than my previous cars that grab right away, but certainly not anything worse than other performance cars I have driven. From what I have read, this slave cylinder is almost guaranteed to fail at some point, I'm surprised mine hasn't yet, unless I'm one of the lucky ones.

The good news is the steering lock recall was performed, so maybe it already has a replaced slave cylinder... who knows. I should also note that I bought it from a private seller, so I can only assume any warranty (if there is one) is non-transferable and the only way it would be fixed at Nissan's expense is if it was a recall part. So I'm sure I will need to fix whatever problems arise out-of-pocket. I am considering the option to just buy a clutch and aftermarket slave cylinder right now so the parts are sitting in my garage when it ***** the bed. Never really researched common problems with 370s before I bought one, I live most of life based on impulses and it's worked out thus far.


Any insight would be sweet.

fuct

what TSB for the CSC?

please post a link to this.



insight would be to read thru the MANY MANY CSC/clutch threads. there are tons of answers for you there.

4TthAnnyZ

I suppose I read somewhere that there was, perhaps I am mistaken.

Regardless, I have read through numerous CSC threads/clutch threads, etc... simply looking for opinions on THIS particular case, as the problem has not arose yet. Just found it strange that the dealer noted problems upon inspection, but there is nothing wrong with clutch, that I can tell.

I've always held the idea that a car that makes it to a certain amount of miles with no issues, will usually make it just as far after that without any. I'm hoping that is the case. Either way, I bought the car to drive it/track it/do whatever in. So I'm not going to take it easy because of what might happen. The way I see it, if the clutch is going to fail, it might as well be while I'm doing something awesome.

4TthAnnyZ

Did a little research on the warranty. According to Nissan USA, there is a 60 month/60,000 mile warranty that covers the powertrain AND it is transferable to new owners (which I'm sure most of you guys already know)

I have 49xxx miles on it right now and it's a 2010. Checked the clutch reservoir this morning and it was about 1/2" above the minimum line. I'm not sure if its leaking or not. The dilemma is that I can't just have the dealer replace anything if it's not broken. I'm going to tinker with it this weekend and see if I can spot any fluid in the bell housing. But even after that, if it were to be faulty, I've heard the dealer just replaces with an equally shitty part, and the best route would be an aftermarket CSC.

fuct

sounds like you are just low on the fluid. plus it might be dirty.

a complete flush and fill of the system would be advisable too. the master and centric slave cylinders on this car are weak. my CSC went out at 24k miles. only reason they replaced it under warranty was because my clutch look new. had it been abused (actually words on the form) they would not have replaced it. also i think these parts are only covered under the 3 year/36k portion of the power train. i might be wrong though.

if i was you i would flush then drive the car hard like you want until it pops. BUUUT have all the parts waiting on the side. (aftermarket slave and master cylinder for sure and whatever clutch you like)

be careful when pulling the bell housing off it can mess up the CSC and you will need a new one to replace it. something about getting rubber boot material on certain parts. its that rubber seal/boot material that you are seeing in the reservoir as grey/black debris.


sad to say that after owning this car i will no longer buy a manual transmission. all my past cars ive owned have been manual. even the ford ranger i drove as a punk kid.
1995 integra GSR
1999 prelude SH
2003 IS300 (yes manual)
2010 nismo

4TthAnnyZ

https://owners.nissanusa.com/content...2010_N_WIB.pdf

Page 4 and 5 outline the powertrain warranty, from what I can tell it should be covered. The problem is, the 60 month warranty starts when the original owner took delivery which was early 2010 I believe, so I have until the spring at best to have to covered, and that's only if anything happens.

What a crappy situation. I think I may just pony up the dough and purchase a clutch and aftermarket CSC this winter.

I'm going to add some fluid for now then flush it when I have more spare time and a helping hand. Will pull the rubber boot off and see if anything drips out. In the meantime I will just cross my fingers and drive it like I normally would.

fuct

good luck with anything warranty related when it comes to clutch and whatnot! what you posted still leaves alot of gray area open. like ive said before they will replace parts if the clutch looks good. if not and its worn they will just say its a wear item like the brakes. especially since it states that a new CSC must be purchased anytime you replace the clutch.

your own advise is spot on. just slowly buy the parts till it breaks.