Most likely a bad master cylinder, becoming pretty common

Is that what u think is wrong with mine joe?

Yes

This is a common problem.... a very OLD common problem.

Hmm guess ill have the dealership look at it since I have it under warranty still. Thanks

Morning Folks, I am having the same problems for over a year and a half! Car was towed to the dealership @ 22k with the pedal to the floor. They changed the CMC and sent me on my way. Car was towed to the dealership again @ 24k with pedal to the floor. They changed the CSC and sent me on my way. Then last week @ 33k I had the same feeling the pedal was going to fail babied the car to the dealership again, arrived with the pedal to the floor again! They called me yesterday and said the CMC and CSC is fine. The reason for this incident was because they used Nissan standard brake fluid. They said the flush the system and replaced it gtr special brake fluid and that should solve the problem.

with 3k miles left under warranty, I feel the TSB for Nissan NTB13-026 is just a BS answer. I called Nissan customer relations in Franklin, TN and they said if this happens again, it might not be covered since my car will be out of warranty. If it happens again, they will review my case at that time and make a determination. Any comments on fix to use gtr fluid? supposedly they said Nissan engineers got together to determine the fluid was the cause of the clutch failure.

I'd buy the fix as a bandaid at best. If the master and slave are both intact, and pedal still goes to the floor, then there is air in the system. If the system was properly bled to begin with, the air is a function of moisture absorbed by the fluid over time. The gtr fluid is a more highly refined brake fluid with higher wet/dry boiling points. Because of the proximity of the clutch line to the exhaust, it's susceptible to heat. If there is any moisture in the line, it will boil and partial/full loss of the pedal can occur.

Proper fix would be to run the line further away from the exhaust or better insulate it.

within 10k miles I don't think that much moisture could be introduce into the system, could be as simple as the dealership didn't properly bleed the system. I am suppose to pick up my car this afternoon, with this situation dragging out over this long, my love for the z is becoming bipolar. thinking about just trading in the car rather than picking up the Z today.

Just found this thread. My synopsis is the clutch cylinder is probably ok. I would change it to a higher quality one though. The master might also need changing.

I just got mine done and not 2 weeks later the pedal started going again. First they were bitching because I had some bolt on stuff and they said they saw me AUTOX the car... I told them to fix the **** or go get the regional manager so we can take care of it... .along with some other choice words. There was air in the line this time due to me "boiling" the fluid. HORSESHIT! anyway. I would change the CSC (which I will do very soon) and might as well upgrade the clutch in the process. I have test pipes and catback so I can imagine it gets hot under there... no heat shield anymore. Maybe insulate the lines and change them out for steel lines. Upgrade the fluid for sure. I wish they would just recall this part and upgrade everyone but I guess everyone doesn't RACE their Z on the weekends... lmao. AUTOX is not racing... just like skateboarding is not a crime.... neither is autox. lol :-)

well. 8 1/2 months after my CSC failed the first time on my 09... I felt my first loss of pressure in the pedal. It went about 1/3 of the way down with no pressure before engaging. So I can tell the replacement CSC/MC are beginning to have the same issue again.

At about 33,000 miles now on my 09. It's a little over 4.5 years into service.

:mad:

Could have been trapped air. After my second CSC replacement I noticed when driving home from the dealer that the engagement point was extremely low and did not feel right. I called the dealer immediately so that I could bring it in the following morning (I would have turned around right then and taken it back but needed to be somewhere and it was drivable). The next day the clutch felt back to normal and the symptom has not come back to this day (>1.5 years, 10k miles, and a track day). I chaulked it up to trapped air that worked itself out with a little modulation. Also keep in mind that if improperly adjusted by the dealer the CSC or CMC could be over extending causing a failure or sucking in air.

Hang in there and don't give up yet...I was pretty frusterated when I went through 2 CSC's in 6 months and the car was <1year old but (knock on wood) since then all has been good.

A little more feedback..........At about 18K miles on a trip from Dallas to Houston I pulled in to get gas and joined the "clutch hit the floor and stuck" club. Anyway it was fixed by the dealer but had to return it a couple of times as they did a poor job bleeding the slave unit.

Move ahead to 43K miles.... Started acting up again. Not a complete failure, but the only way it would work was to pump the hell out of it. Thinking all it needed was to be bleed, went to a local shop near my house and they bleed the unit. Worked fine for about a day and had to return the car for the same issue. After reading a service bulletin from Nissan, they replaced the fluid with GTR fluid and it felt great.......for about another day. They thought the fluid might be boiling off so I took a rubber fuel line, split it in half and covered the hydraulic line with it to insulate it from the exhaust heat. Same deal, worked fine for a couple of days and then went back it's old ways.

Being the car is basically babied with a total 3 trips down a 1/4th mile track (btw...13.08 @ 109.78) and the stock clutch stunk after the third pass. That combined with the design issues, decided to replace everything with aftermarket parts! I called Joe @ Zspeed and he felt the issue was the master cylinder. Not interested in more issues, I went for a stage II South Bend disk and pressure plate, Zspeed slave and new master cylinder. He tried to talk me into a single piece flywheel, but I have zero interest in listening to the trans rattle in neutral so I stayed with the stock unit.

After about 200 miles of break-in this is a much better unit than stock. Smoother, slightly more pedal pressure and better holding power. Turn the traction control off and it puts down some serious rubber at the 1-2 shift and 2-3 shift. Still a bit fickle regarding progressive feel, but an improvement. We'll see how long it lasts. Went from a Corvette with an aggressive ceramic disc to a 370z and the 370 definitely is harder to get a feel for. Better, but still not as smooth as it should be.

Denny

The feel you are "not feeling" is due to the stock flywheel and is why I tried to talk you into the 1 piece :) It makes the car MUCH easier to take off smooth in and just makes it "feel" right.

With the stock dual mass flywheel, which is sprung, and a clutch that is sprung it makes to much slop in the drive train and makes the car bounce back and forth or sorta surge while taking off.. which makes your foot move on the clutch pedal which makes it bounce even more.. All of this goes away when you rid the stock dual mass

^^Joe, any thoughts on why nissan might of designed it this way?

Oldest question ever. Simple shitty dual mass, or clutch chatter take your pick

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Dealer is trying to charge $1800 to replace clutch
 

I had the sticky clutch issue a couple of times but it went back to normal so it was all good until two days ago when i was just driving and noticed it sticky again. After 3 gear changes it just stuck to the floor and wouldnt allow me to get back into gear. I towed it to the dealer and now theyre trying to charge me $1800 to replace the clutch.

From what I've been reading, the CSC and/or CMC needs to be changed, but the dealer insists that the whole clutch needs to be changed. Any advice?

The fluid boils/gets too hot and causes air bubbles in the system. The only reason the clutch pedal will go to the floor is because of poorly bled clutch or faulty clutch cylinder. The clutch cylinder lines go out of the bell housing along the side in between the transmission and the cats. A lot of heat gets trapped right there causing quick fluid breakdown. I don't personally think the clutch needs to be changed unless your pedal is working fine but the car just won't go into gear. It's not rocket science but I think this is a serious problem that Nissan should address on a global scale. There is an aftermarket CSC as well as steel lines and high temp fluid. I think when I finally get the parts that I am going to try to isolate those lines and wrap them or something in order to block some of the heat. I don't race but my car will get hot and I can't afford to have my pedal on the floor and the car stuck on some highway.

If you're going to do a clutch, go after market and get rid of that dual mass crap flywheel.

VIN: 553000
Purchase Date: June 2011
Occurrence Date: Aug 2013- final "STF" (Stick To Floor) 10/16/13
Occurrence Mileage: 32,000
Clutch Type: OEM


My clutch pedal started experiencing the symptoms reported in this thread around 31,000 and progressively got worse. I don't do any track or drag. Took it to a Houston dealer who reported everything is fine. A month later I am having to use my foot to help the clutch return. Returned to same dealer and this time told them about this thread and ongoing issues. They then agreed to conduct the service bulletin by changing to GTR brake fluid. However, that dealer does not service GTR's and would have to order the fluid and I was to return in 3 days for work which I did not make it that long. Clutch did not make it 75 or so miles before there was almost no pressure and I was having to pump the pedal to get any sort of pressure. I went ahead and drove to nearest dealer to avoid watching some a-hole tow truck driver tear up my nismo bumper trying to get it off the side of Houston freeway.

This time (great service so far!) the master mechanic drove the car with me so I could explain. Basically, he agreed its an issue as he has replaced several CMC but that Nissan is going to require that it actually fail before they cover it under warranty. Therefore, all they will do now is replace the fluid with GTR fluid per the bulletin as Nissan America don't give a **** that it will eventually fail and leave you stranded. I have 4,000 mi left on warranty and feel they are simply putting a band aid on it to avoid warranty claim. I will eventually wrap the lines as suggested above. I did successfully talk my sons girlfriend out of buying a new Nissan since they dont stand behind their quality based solely on this thread and my experience so far...so I feel a little better!

Just went in for a csc issue to the dealership. 48k miles, only powertrain warranty.
pressure plate, clutch, csc, cmc are getting swapped, words from the svc manager 'we'll get it under warranty, its all in how you code it when you write it up'.
not sure how, dont really care, hes getting tipped.
thats the good news.. still has the temp tag on it is the downside..

Mine is an '09 w/ 45k miles with only a maintenance warranty (which pretty much only covers oil changes and checkups). I wrote my story a few posts earlier, but pretty much clutch just stuck to the floor and had to have it towed as i couldnt get it into gear even by pulling it up manually.

Instead of paying the dealer $1800 to replace the clutch, I towed it to a mechanic who also advised my clutch needs to be changed along with the CSC (charging $1100). After reading this thread, I told him to just change the CSC which he did, but now my "sweet spot" is much higher than it used to be. He said the oil (i'm assuming the transmission fluid that leaked) also leaked onto the clutch so the gears are slipping? I am a little mechanically challenged so if someone can shed some light on this issue I'd really appreciate it.

Side note: I am a grad student who commutes 30 miles each way to Downtown L.A. 5 days a week (in gruesome stop and go traffic). I love my Z and really don't want to get rid of it but I cant afford these types of repairs every now and then, so im considering trading it in and getting a reliable automatic honda or something until I finish school next year (since the mechanic told me that stop and go traffic is wearing out my clutch)

Any advice? Perhaps some extended warranties anyone knows to suggest?

Went in last week for mine (2012 with 14500 miles ~18mo old, mainly driven in the city) because my engagement point went to the floor. They did the TSB for replacing the clutch fluid, which lasted about a week, and then happened again. Just got my car back today and they replaced the master and slave.

I never knew about the "judders" issue, but I definitely saw that happening the past few months and thought something was up with my intakes/MAF.

Mine went out at 33k miles. I was able to get the car on aside road before the system was completely empty. The MC was dry when I checked it. I have the extended warranty thankfully so its covered. Curious to know what the difference in the GTR fluid is since that is what Nissan is replacing. I should know today if the MC and clutch are also being replaced with the CSC

We fell victim today at 36,129 miles pushed it to the floor and never came back, pumped it a few times and then it came about 1/8 way back. Enough for us to get her out of the parking garage to the street. :( Towed all the way back to the dealer, have not even owned it for a full month or made the first payment. BLECH! ... Got a loaner now we wait.

I was victim today of the clutch down to the floor, in the middle of a Friday evening traffic, going back home.... I had to call road assistance, and was able to left the car at the dealership for service, so they can work with the car tomorrow... I hope to don't have the same issue again... If it happens again, then I will replace it with a aluminum/steel construction CSC...

My Z is only 4 months old and have 2500 miles.

I got a call from the dealer, that the problem was solve... They replaced the fluid with the GTR fluid, and did a test drive... I will pick the car tomorrow and see how I feel the clutch, and when is going to happens again the same issue of the pedal down to the floor.... Will see!!!!

Sad to see a 2013 has this problem, just found this thread and was hoping since the '09 they would have corrected this problem!

Got ours back on 12/4 - Replaced Slave Cylinder and Master as well. Full replacement as well as GTR Fluid and gaskets. Clutch feels great and seems to be good as new.

Well, time to add myself to the list...

2009 with 50,9xx miles on the clock. I noticed from start up that the clutch felt a little goofy, but I didn't think too much of it. I pulled up to red light and found that I had almost no pressure in the pedal, and when the light turned green, it wouldn't go into gear. I was able to push it off the road onto the sidewalk until I towed it home a few hours later (freaking morons folded my mirrors backwards and wrote in the dust on my car :mad:)

I've ordered the upgraded CSC from ZSpeed and an OEM Master, hopefully I wont find that I need a new clutch as well. We have lifts and good tools for rent on base, so hopefully I can get it all installed with no issues next weekend. I'm stuck riding my motorcycle until then.

Well it looks like this is my third CSC failure in 20,000 miles...

It's been 16k since the last failure so I was starting to get less paranoid and checking the fluid reservoir level less often. Well after my recent oil change I was scoping out everything else under the hood and found my clutch fluid reservoir empty down to the filler hose but not yet to the master cylinder. I topped off the reservoir with some fresh fluid but I can already see the level dropping with regular driving. Taking it into the dealer tomorrow hopefully. I will keep everyone posted on what happens.

Add me to the list. No diagnostic yet, but all signs are pointing to this being the issue. 09 with 27K, they're trying to rip me out of the warranty. All hell is breaking loose if they try to make me pay out of pocket. Consumer affairs got a call but have to wait until the diagnostic tomorrow. First steering wheel lock, now this. What's the average price people seem to be paying? I'm seeing prices all over in the thread.

When mine goes out I'm taking it to a friends shop and lifting it and changing it myself for a couple hundred total....I know, big talking, but I've done worse. I've read prices KyleBucket from 1800 to 1200 to have one changed out. I hope you get warranty, you should!
Most folks recommend ZSpeed aftermarket but that clutch slave cylinder is 300+ and the original is +100 or so.

Whoever got there stuff covered under power train, can you explain what part got covered? I went into my dealer and the only thing involving the clutch that was under the PT warranty was the bearing? They let me look through every piece on their computer, so they weren't BS'ing me. They are on my side because this is the 5th car they've seen alone with this issue, they said swapping the GTR fluid is a ******** way for Nissan to cover their own ***. I'm feeling more and more like I'm going to get screwed.

The beating is what you need! Another name for the concentri slave cylinder is hydralic throwout bearing! Its all 1 piece. However i did my own on jackstands on a saturday. Just go to harbor freight and get a 80 dollar tranny jack and a good set of extensions it really is an easy job. Dont replace under warranty with another plastic nissan csc get the zspeed one. That way you dont end up like these other guys replacing 3 or 4 times. Just my $0.02.

* the bearing not beating lol...grammar the difference between knowing your sh!t and knowing you're sh!t

Well the mechanic did see that the bearing was covered. So, when he pulls it Monday and gets the true cause, if it was that failing, I should be good. BUT, that's a huuuuge IF.

So I tried to do a little launch and while I was spinning I shifted into 2nd at about 7k and the clutch stuck to the floor and I smelt clutch because it didn't come back up. Never experienced this with normal driving though. Solution?

Assuming my csc is starting to go? The sales rep that I had when buying this car said there was was a new clutch so maybe they didn't change the csc? I only have powertrain warranty I believe so I might get shafted. .
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Sick and tired of this car! So my car is in the dealer for the 4th time since march for the same issue. In march they replaced the clutch fluid with GTR, second failure was in July and they replaced the CSC, third time my car was in September and my car was magically working the next day so no replacement was done, at that point I had enough and opened a case with Nissan corp to get this on file and if it did happen again, to seek replacement etc. well last week it happened again and my car is now at the dealer again and I'm awaiting to c way they are going to say now. I am completely disappointed, this is my 3rd straight Nissan and this is the first time I ever had a problem. The dealer seems to not be helping much all they say is call Nissan corp which I did and reopened my case. No waiting to see wats gonna happen and at this point I want my lease terminated and want nothing to do with this car. Obviously I'm not the only one encountering this problem and it has caused me many problems at work. Btw the car was 11 months old when it first happened and had 6000 miles, it now has 12100 miles. The 4 times I've taken it to the dealer are the times the clutch went completely dead, it's been over 10 times where it just went halfway limb. Has anyone gotten their car replaced due to this?

replacing the entire car because of the poorly designed CSC? no

your case is an extreme one. (Joelito) mine went out at 24k. im at 61k now and it feels good still. (omg please do not jinx me on this)

i shift carefully and dont jam the clutch pedal down, or launch the car because im concerned about it breaking again. if it does its out my pocket. :(


for some people its all in the way the dealership bleeds and installs the CSC. im not sure if there is some special method...???


p.s. if anyone is wondering the GTR brake fluid is $45 a quart at Nissan. :/