Sticky: (Official) 370Z Clutch Pressure (CSC) Failures

tlr3715

This has not happened to me yet, but from reading the posts on this thread this seems to be some kind of heat issue more than anything else. I've noticed a lot of failures have been happening after long road trips on the highway, so it does not make sense that a clutch component is failing after periods of non use.

I'm not too familiar how the hydraulic system works for the clutch pedal, so my hypothesis is based on some assumptions. I wonder if driving without engaging the clutch pedal for long periods of time is causing clutch fluid to boil in certain sections since the fluid is stagnant. Perhaps shifting back and forth between 5th and 6th every few miles would alleviate this problem. Or if the fluid does circulate all the time, maybe there is some design flaw where heat is generated and not dissipated properly when cruising for long periods. I've never heard of other transmissions requiring DOT4 clutch fluid for light street use.

I think replacing the master and slave cylinders is just putting a bandaid on the problem. The real problem is what is causing the fluid to get so hot on the highway. Once we figure that out we can find a real solution. I read in other articles that it was easy to boil the brake fluid as well which is why they switched to DOT 4 in the Nismos. This may simply not be enough venting going on in these cars.