dot 5.1 is compatible dot5 is silicone fluid and is not.

Yeah, I think the site I was referencing was using the European standard. What they call DOT 5 is equivalent to what we call DOT 5.1. And this is the only type of fluid that is not compatible. Just my luck. Go figure...

So yeah, performing another flush tonight! :rolleyes:

Just a heads up, but all parts put in by Nissan all have a 1 year warranty. :) So, since you just had this done 6 months ago, they will still be liable. Stick it to the man!

Actually, Nissan didn't put it in. I got the car used from a FORD dealer and have to go through them. Granted, they give it to a Nissan dealer if they needed to. It probably wouldn't cost me anything to have them fix it again... but I didn't want the hassle.

But then again, look where it got me.... with the wrong fluid... lol

Ok, so I got a liter of ATE Typ 200 and used about half of it to flush out all the DOT 5 fluid from the clutch hydraulics. What a PITA! Since the DOT5 silicone is less dense than the DOT4, the DOT 5 would sit on top of the DOT 4, thus all the DOT4 was bleeding out before the DOT 5... I had to vacuum out all the fluid until the clutch system was empty. I put in some DOT 4 and vacuumed it out until there was no trace of DOT 5 left in the catch can. Used about 1/2 a liter to do the flush, then filled the system with DOT 4 using the typical bleeding process.

Clutch feels great! I read many people saying that the silicon DOT 5 is bad for seals and when it is mixed with DOT 4 is create a goo, or sludge. I do not think this is true. The silicone is inert and should have zero effect on seals. Also, I mixed the DOT 5 and DOT 4 together in the catch can. They didn't not interact at all. It was like oil and water. Even over several days.

IDK, I just think you guys over think/analyze when it comes to fluids for this car. There is nothing special DOT 4 or 5 has over DOT 3 other than they have a higher boil point. Unless you are on the track, you are not going to boil your clutch fluid with street driving. The problem with the stock slave cylinders lies within the seal itself. Its a crap design and it fails, regardless of what fluid you put in there. I read thread after thread of people spending hundreds of dollars on high end oils, expensive brake fluids, ect, when in reality its a waste unless you are building a flat out race car. DOT 3 is perfectly fine for our clutch hydraulics system. When dealership mechanics starting put in this so called "GT-R" fluid (which is just DOT 4, nothing special about it) people now think its a cure-all for these CSC/CMC issues, SMH.

Have to disagree with you here. My fluid did fail within 6 months of normal driving and zero track time. And according to my service record, it was GT-R fluid. When I flushed it out, it was black.

The clutch line has a thermal fiberglass wrap on it, so unless that was removed and the line was actually touching the cat, how is it going to boil under normal street driving? And about your fluid being black, that's because the seal on your Csc was going bad and allowing dirt and debri into the system. If you feel the Dot 5 is a fix, then have at it... But I guarantee you that your stock Csc will fail again.

Everyone just needs the Z speed HD CSC..if you keep replacing your failed OEM CSC with another OEM CSC..then shame on you!

The fiberglass insulation is a joke. It only insulates the rubber hose that jumps to the CSC. The metal tube that runs up to the MCS is completely un-shielded. Im sure that the stock CSC will go out again, but seals failing after 6 months? I dunno about that. I had no leaks and I am not rough on it. It has to be heat related. How else can you explain regaining a normal feeling clutch after turning the car off for 10 seconds? Then it deteriorating to the point of 'un-shiftable' after another 60 seconds of driving?

I will ask about this when my CSC goes out again. I'm have a 5 year extended warranty that covers this type of failure. I thinking that they will not want to put anything other than stock in or it would void that warranty, blah blah blah... Nevermind that its higher quality and will prevent them having to fix it again in the future.... Warranty Logic. :rolleyes:

The 300zx has the same clutch layout with the line right next to the cat, same with the 350z DE (external slave but clutch line in the same spot)... I don't hear about their CSC going out in record numbers like on here. In fact, the 350z HR and 370 have basically the same csc and both have extremely high failure rates. Like I said before, I believe its the seal within the csc itself. So if its heat related, why aren't guys boiling their clutch fluid when they have a Zspeed HD csc installed? The clutch line is in the same spot, no difference except the csc isn't made out of cheap plastic and uses better seals. But you seem pretty convinced its your fluid that is boiling during normal street driving so have at it. At least you have an extended warranty so when it goes out again Nissan will have to replace it. I had the HD csc installed over 2 years ago and haven't had an issue... Come to think of it, out of the hundreds that have installed the HD csc, I think I've heard of 2 failures.

It is the seals on the oem.csc that go bad. Mine was so bad and had so much fluid loss it was slowly dropping out of the trans.. ever since the z speed hd csc no problems. I love it!

I just had this same issue happen to me yesterday and I'm taking the car in tomorrow since I can't today. Do you guys know if the warranty will cover this issue? I have the extended warranty and maybe this will help?

Yes, this is a warranty item if your warranty is still good. I think it's 5 year or 60k

Ok thank you... I am slow on work right now and can't purchase the zspeed csc at the moment. Do you know if this issue occurs again, will they recover it as long as I am in warranty? I'd like them to cover the labor and install the zspeed when I have the chance to purchase it.


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A dealer won't install the Zspeed one under warranty - they can only install oem parts under warranty. Also, my dealer and corporate both told me that my CSC would not be covered even under the 60K miles powertrain warranty :twocents:

That's not to say they won't cover it. Just that they told me in my situation it was extremely unlikely to be covered (because I don't spend a lot of $$$ on maintenance at the dealer). There are a variety of people who have gotten them replaced under warranty.

So I would just be better off replacing it again through them in the event that it happens again up until my warranty is expired.

If it's covered under warranty, that would be my choice. Since I was having to fight with them over coverage, I just went the aftermarket route (Z1CSCEK) and did the work in my garage with some help. My CSC was still good, but I didn't want to risk the failure somewhere in rural Texas with no traffic or cell service. And I really didn't want it to fail and then find out that they won't cover it under warranty and then have to scramble to purchase an aftermarket solution while my DD is out of commission.

I just lost clutch pressure for the second time today. First time was @ 4500 miles. I had the car towed to the dealer and they did the GTR brake fluid flush which seem to help temporarily. I just had my clutch pedal go almost to the floor today. Still had some clutch engagement about 1" from the floor so I nursed it into the dealer. I've got 9900 miles on it right now. They are replacing the CSC and CMC this time under warranty. They gave me a car too. I did talk the service manager into allowing me to provide the ZSpeed HD CSC and they will install that. I'm pretty happy about that. Also, ZSpeed rocks. I ordered the HD CSC from them as soon as I got back from the dealer and they already shipped it out. Joe at ZSpeed was super helpful. He seemed to think it was my CMC as the CSC ususally completely fails. Hopefully this will make the hydraulic system more reliable. I'm getting leery of taking the Z on long trips.

How the fvck did you get them to do that when they're covering it under warranty? Which dealer please? I have actually turned down warranty coverage because I didn't want the same crappy OEM part installed on my Z - multiple dealers said they can only install OEM parts under warranty.

It's Keifer Nissan in Corvallis Oregon. A little too far from TX. I bought my car there and they've been pretty decent so far. They covered my tow bill on the first clutch issue which I understand some dealers do & some don't. I've heard other people have success with talking service managers into installing the ZSpeed CSC, so I'm not the only one. He just said they wouldn't warranty that part of course, but I don't care about that. I get the ZSpeed CSC tomorrow and I'll take it to the dealership so we'll see how things turn out in about a week. Hopefully they have some decent techs at this dealership. This is the first major work I've had done there.

:tiphat:

Yeah I wasn't looking for service from them lol. I just wanted to have the name of a dealer I could mention when I ask to have aftermarket parts installed under warranty coverage. Obviously they wouldn't warranty the aftermarket parts.

Back from the dealership today with the new CMC & ZSpeed HD CSC installed. Drives great with excellent pedal feel. Hope she's a little more reliable now. Time will tell. All covered under warranty. Pretty happy.

Has anyone on here had a csc failure after installing the RJM clutch pedal assembly?

I'm just curious if the side to side play in the stock pedal assembly is causing the extra wear and pressure on the csc seals.

i will let you know after another 20-30k miles. i installed my RJM pedal @3,500 miles

RJM pedal reduces the chance of failure by minimizing excess clutch cylinder stroke and therefore seal wear.

:iagree:

He even says it reduces CSC wear on the RJM website :tup:

Hey fellas,
My 370z was purchased two Saturdays ago and clutch went out on me last Saturday. First felt soft and spongy then was gone after I came to complete stop. 2010 with 15k miles. Have not found out exact problem yet as it is still in shop being fixed under warranty. I told them what I had read on these forums and am hoping for a legitimate fix. I will let you, they have had 370 since Wednesday so it should be soon.

2009 370z 30,000km CSC just went.
 

Driving to work yesterday my clutch peddle hit the floor. I was barely able to make it to work. Had the car towed to Oakville Nissan where they diagnosed it as a the CSC. 1200 later and the car was repaired. I saved the parts if anyone wants to see pics. Again my car has 30,000 km on it and is a 2009. This part was not covered under my drive train warranty which is still active until april.

I was on my way back home today. The clutch was spongy at first and then got worse. It never came back when depressed. I stopped at the red light and stalled 3 times to get it move. Luckily it got to the parking lot. It's now towed to the Nissan dealer and wating for estimate. Powertrain warranty ends in 03/2015 so hopefully it is covered. The Z is 2010 with 21k miles.

Update : The dealer said it won't be covered under warranty. They said the clutch won't be covered by the Powertrain Warranty. Fortunately, they said that there's air in the hydraulic system. They just bleed my clutch and it's working again. They said if it happen again, I have to rebuild the clutch which cost 1500 for parts and 1000 for labor.

so does the power-train 5-year/60k-mile warranty cover the CSC or not?

Short answer - it depends on the dealership. Almost ALL say it isn't, but there are a number of people here that have had it replaced under warranty. My dealership told me clutch parts only have a 12,000mi warranty. However, somehwere in the warranty information it does specify that everything within the transmission/bellhousing besides the clutch disc is covered under powertrain warranty. The CSC is within the bellhousing. So, contradicting facts.

Short Short Answer - don't count on it.

As an aside, my dealership told me over the past few months they've had 5-6 CSC failures come in.

im looking at possibly getting a z in the spring. anyone who's had a csc failure, would that turn you off from purchasing one again?
also what's the rough cost if the dealer wont cover warranty to replace. I dont really have the garage, tools, or skills to open a transmission and fix it myself.

I wonder if my old regional Nissan rep is still around. I want to call him and open his eyes a bit.

1,500-1,700 I'd guess.

If I had known about the issues with this car (CSC, clutch pedal fracturing, oil overheating, axles making noise, transmission overheating, diff overheating, steering lock, horrible paint) I would have at least tried to get it for much less.

I would say more like $800-1000. A shop could probably get it done in 6-8 hours.

having this issues, with my Z...
clutch is all the way to the floor, no pressure, bleed the thing couple of times no pressure..
How far is it 2 tackle this job?

CSC most likely. Are you asking how difficult it is to DIY? Are you mechanically inclined? I did it with the necessary tools including a $120 transmission jack from Harbor Freight and the help of a friend who has done a lot more mechanic work than myself. It took us a weekend, pretty much two full days, from start to finish. Neither of us had ever removed a transmission before. We didn't have any problems, but it was long and somewhat tedious. Not sure I would do it again. I saved probably $800-1000 in labor costs, so I'm not complaining about it. But I think when the stock clutch finally goes, I'll be paying someone to replace it.

I just swaped mine out with a beefier one. It took me a good 11 hrs of actual work to drop, swap and up again. It was a tough job. I had a hand help hold this and that once in a while. Get them car in hover moved *** high as it can go. Get a good pilot bearing puller, use the jack bar fire extra leverage, have have all the parts you need and plan for it to be a good 2 day job.

Yzgyz

Link or video? on tutorial