Clutch Pedal After Cross Country Trip

lfrz93

How's it going guys! Car currently has a little under 35,000 miles

Luis here with a few questions after a few things I noticed while and after driving to and from Houston, Tx from Miami,Fl.

It was a long 18 hour trip, did both trips in basically one sitting, with 4-6 stops max letting the car rest for maybe 15-30 minutes. After a few hours of cruising, the clutch pedal would feel very very soft. I would throw the car in neutral to roll, and pump the clutch pedal until it got stiff again. I didn't freak out as I did realize I was putting the car in high stress, but I always tracked the temperatures of the oil and motor to make sure everything was fine.

Acceleration seemed fine, shifting was as always, but the clutch pedal would just get very soft until I pumped it a few times.

Am I being a hypochondriac? Is this low fluid? Bad CSC? Bad clutch disc/pressure plate? I've searched quite a bit on the forums, but I didn't come to anything clear enough.

Thanks guys!

PS: I'm looking at that Z1 clutch line but I have never done more than changing my oil/wheels on a car taking DIYs one at a time and slowly.

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lfrz93

would appreciate any comments

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Spooler

That trip wasn't stressful for the car at all. However, you need to check your clutch fluid. I beat it is discolored. Sounds as if the fluid was getting real hot to the point it was starting to boil. You may have a CSC failure coming, hard to say. I would change the fluid for sure to a high quality fluid like Motul.

Zoren 370

At 25k or 30k you need to change your trans,clutch and differential oils.
Your clutch fluid must be dirty and your csc is bound to fail.

lfrz93

bound to fail, as in no matter what I do? Or as in, if I don't change my fluids?

Thanks guys!

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Zoren 370

Its hard to say until you have it checked. But those are the signs and besides the CSC of the 370 does fail around that mileage. Its one if those crappy parts the Z has.

Spooler

Eventually the CSC will fail. If you don't change your fluid properly it can come a whole lot quicker. It appears this needs to be done on this car every 15,000 miles at the min. Even the older cars with the external CSC would fail but they stayed cooler also because they were mounted on the outside of the bell housing. Regular brake fluid won't cut it either, Dot 4 is needed. As you see, heat is the enemy from having issues on your long trip.

Zoren 370

you toasted your fluids with that long trip.
That is why before a long trip its advisable to have the fluids checked or changed.

You lucky your Z was good enough not to fail you while on the road trip.

Spooler

Some people make it farther than that. They have to be doing something different. I am at 32,xxx and going fine. I did change the fluid at 19,xxx miles though. It was a little late and the fluid was nasty.

lfrz93

wow, I always complain about her being a moody bitch. I'm glad the Z didn't give up on me during the road trip. I guess I'll be picking up some Motul 600 and get on it asap. 1 bottle for 500ml should be enough right?

That sounds like it. I failed to check my fluids as I was more worried about getting new tires before the trip. This car must really love me to not have given up on me after a 2800 mile round trip.

That's nasty, I'll go look at my fluid right now and post a picture

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lfrz93

Oh yeah, do you guys suggest I change the line? I'm going to buy a few things from Z1 soon and that seems like a good buy.

Also, anyone have any experience with the RWJ aftermarket pedal?

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Spooler

I don't see an need in either. I would make dang sure the insulation on the clutch line is in good shape. The day you need to go into it and replace the CSC, that is when I would do all the upgrades.

Zoren 370

By all means if you have the budget for upgrading your lines.

Try to check Z1's CSC elimination kit look if this is the option you would like to consider if you do plan to change your CSC.

The thing with transmission or clutch once you open the bell housing might as well change everything disc,flywheel csc and cmc. But that is me.
For now I'm crossing my fingers as I haven't any issues yet Im at 28k miles. Changed the fluids at 23k.

MJB

Guys, I don't think he boiled the clutch fluid just by normal driving. I've driven from TX to CA several times and never had an issue. Even when I had a HD csc installed, they never put the insulation back on the main line and I still never had issues. Its not like the clutch line is sitting on the cat... its still several inches from it and the cat itself has insulated heat shields on it. For the OP, I think a very small amount of air got past the csc seal. Pumping the pedal helped cure the problem, but eventually more air is gonna make its way through.

*But the fluid is dirty as hell, and should be changed asap. Another indication that the csc is failing is when your fluid is that dirty. OP, look to see if you see any types of particles in the fluid.

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Zoren 370

I agree to a certain extent. But a 2800mile road trip drive is no normal driving to me...considering your Z has 35k miles already without fluid change.
Anyway bottom line he needs to change his fluid.