So I tried Auto-X for the first time!
 

Last weekend I was at an event and got a voucher for the novice course today so I gladly joined in an had the time of my life! SOOOOO much fun!:tup:

The novice course starts you out by walking the track and then getting in your cars with an instructor. The first lap is very slow, second lap is 50%, third lap is 75%, and then all out!!! With VDC off I ripped up thru the course pretty well, or so I thought. After each person makes their 5 runs the instructor takes the wheel of your car and shows you how to push the car. I had no idea my Z was that quick lol. Then once he handed me my @ss, I got more aggressive and did really well on that 6th lap. On my next run I got too cocky and spun a full 360deg :( After that point my Z's oil was at 260deg and my clutch was sticking to the floor....:mad:

I let her sit for 30min or so and took another lap, by myself this time and I kept getting better and better, it was so much fun, but again my clutch kept sticking every time. I let her sit for another 30min and made two more passes, the last pass is this video I'm going to post below. The drive home was okay but my clutch still doesn't feel right at all.



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Man, I love the 40th! Wish I'd waited. Definitely sounds like you had fun.

You might look into one of these (after your warranty is up). Sponsor on here.

Nissan 350z 370z G37 G35 heavy duty CSC Concentic clutch slave cylinder

Yeah the 40th's are gorgeous. Gotta love the red interiors :)

I wish Knoxville had a nice autocross setup like that, with a whole airstrip to play with. All I've ever seen here was a setup in the parking lot of a community college. Nice video!

Welcome to Auto-x. Sounds like a good novice program they have their except one thing. You're in the wrong class, should be ASP.

Sounds like you had a great experience. Thanks for sharing :tup:

ScGRacer was the white Nismo with me and they put him in the BS class and they moved me to the BSP class when they saw my intake. We both have very similar mods though. He has post MAF tubes with drop ins. Their class booklet has a stock Nismo in the BS class. What puts me in ASP?

370's are not legal for BSP. Only 350's....thus ASP for you.

I see...

The pedal sticking down is a master cylinder failure.

You can try having the fluid flushed and re-bled, but chances are you just need to replace the whole unit.

No idea how much this would cost at a dealership, it's around $90 for the part at dealer cost and probably good for 2 hours of labor. Replacing it will fix your "stuck to the floor" issue, until the replacement fails.

Kind of a bad design on the part of Nissan, but oh well.

You didn't do any mods to the clutch pedal assembly did you? That probably contributes, if so.


I have had mine fail, on the track, and made the mistake of thinking it was just a bubble in the lines and tried to bleed it, resulting in total loss of clutch pressure until the unit was replaced...It sucked a lot.

No I haven't modded the clutch a bit

well to autocross and glad you had fun

You should try new clutch fluid before replacing any trans-related parts

so i have had your problem before at auto x.

i lost clutch pressure entirely before and had to make some changes.

i have gone all out and have a OS Giken triple disk clutch with the lightweight flywheel, stainless steel clutch lines, upgraded fluid and the one mod id actually recommend thats not overdoing it as i overclutched my car and now daily driving is .... interesting.

any how,

Nissan 350z 370z G37 G35 heavy duty CSC Concentic clutch slave cylinder

they make one for the oem clutch too so you wont lose drivability, youll go through plenty of cheap oem slave cylinders otherwise and the cost of labor if you plan to continue autox will be more pricey in the long run, if your gonna replace the slave dont go oem!

just my :twocents:

good luck autoxing!

Ive been autocrossing for two seasons with the Z and haven't had any clutch issues. Most of the time I leave the car in 2nd gear. Is this pretty common for the CSC to fail?

Yes they are definitely weak. Stupid Nissan decided it would be a good idea to place the unit inside the bell housing, further inducing it with more heat. I personally have put in fresh fluid every 2000 miles to keep it lubed well.