Csc?
 

I've read about the CSC issue, heard about it, etc., but wanted to get some opinions before jumping to conclusions. This will be my 3rd Z, and never experienced this before.

The other day, I was driving and while reversing into a parking space, I felt less pressure on the clutch pedal when pushing down. The clutch pedal came to its usual position when coming up and wasn't lower by any means.

I parked and checked the clutch fluid, which went from the Max. line (I check this each time before I drive, amongst other things), and the fluid level was at the middle. Parked it and went to work and about 9 hours later, check the fluid before starting her up and fluid still in the middle. No fluid leaks on the pavement. Drive home was normal and normal feel for the clutch pedal. Next morning, checked the clutch fluid, and still at the middle mark. And no fluid leaks in the cabin or on the ground.

Any thoughts/opinions?

It is in the Bell housing of the tranny more than likely.

So a csc issue or something else? I figured if it’s a csc issue, I wouldn’t have been able to drive normally?


She is a ‘13 with 40k miles. After looking at carfax service records, looks like the tranny was replaced at 20k miles and clutch master cylinder replaced at 25k miles.

Change the fluid out to a dot 4 fluid and see what happens.

what made them replace the tranny at 20k?

Just a matter of time before it gives out. Start planning for your replacement. It is a good idea to go with a ZSpeed csc delete. Might as well upgrade your clutch and flywheel while you're at it.

:iagree:
Zspeed w/cmak & whatever stage the you/Joe thinks is best.
You’ll be glad you did :tup:

It is inevitable that your Genuine Nissan CSC will fail eventually the question is when will it fail not if it will fail. Sounds like you are losing function of your clutch it is a tell tail sign your CSC could be on it’s way out. The issue with this failure is if you wait too long it will saturate your clutch with fluid ruining it and clutch/flywheel replacement will have to be done let’s face it a quality clutch/flywheel for your Z is on the expensive side. My advice is replace your flywheel with a new one and don’t resurface your flywheel unless it looks in new condition. Also the fluid can leak down the firewall and into your interior of your Z seen this before and the fluid will ruin your carpet and make your interior smell. Best option start saving/planning immediately. Install the Z Speed Performance CMAK you will thank yourself later. This is the perfect time to replace your clutch/flywheel since it is inside the transmission bell housing unfortunately. There are many options and you can call Joe at Z Speed and he will help you select the proper clutch/flywheel for what you use your Z for. I remember when my Genuine Nissan CSC failed the first time it left me stranded in the middle of no where waiting for hours for a tow truck to come.

Do I have to drain the old fluid or can I just top off with dot4? I read dot3 and 4 are compatible. I get dot4 has a higher boiling point, but what would putting dot4 do?

Doesn’t say. I’m assuming it’s for the csc.

I’m just so disheartened about this that I am leaning towards saving up and trading it in for something else. Too scared to drive the Z now and don’t want to spend $$ fixing it.

I haven’t driven her in about 48 hours and clutch fluid still at same level. If it was leaking into bell housing, would it only leak when pressing the clutch pedal or would it be a continuous leak?

In the beginning. Only when you press on the clutch pedal. As it gets worse. It will start to drip as the seal wears.

Worst case, CSC failure spits clutch fluid all over the clutch plate requires new clutch and flywheel in addition to a new CSC. Transmission replacement would not be warranted for CSC failure; it was likely something much more serious that necessitated the replacement. I sure as hell would have wanted to know what the issue was before even purchasing the vehicle.

It's sad that Nissan doesn't care that this problem plagues it's customers. But there is info all over this forum and a little research would have prepared you for this eventuality. There are people that bought a brand new Z and had the CSC fail driving off the dealer lot, so consider yourself lucky that yours lasted this long.

I think you should install a ZSpeed replacement so you don't have to worry about it ever again. You're going to lose a lot more than the cost of CSC replacement if you try to trade in the car with a leaking transmission bell housing :ugh:

exactly. buyers will find out prior purchasing the car. for example, if I find out the car had its tranny replaced, i would walk away. Biden is gonna send a $1400 check for everyone so you could use that towards that lol