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

Chrono_30

hrmm...well I have an appointment tomorrow with the dealer,,,I hope this is a warranty issue, and not something with my clutch...I've heard they can be pricey,and would probably be better to upgrade the whole thing...

N8GTOL

My Z...1 month old...is at the dealer for a CSC replacement right now. The day after I bought the car I was checking all the fluids and noticed that the clutch fluid was below the MIN line. It was a Sunday so the service dept. was closed but I took it over to the dealer anyway and spoke to the GM who was nice enough to scrounge up a bottle of DOT3 from the back so that I could top it off in the meantime to monitor it. I filled it back to the MAX line and now 1200 miles or so later he fluid in the resivoir has dropped about 1/2 inch below the MAX line...pretty much right between the MAX and MIN lines. Took it to the dealer and they confirmed my suspicion of a CSC failure. I should get the car back tomorrow, time will tell if this one is gonna hold. Also note that the car had 400 miles on it when I bought it new.

DIGItonium

At 400mi., your car had that many test driven miles? Hopefully you got a good deal on it. Mine had about 8mi. because it barely got off the truck and was taken to the shop next door to get window tinting and clear shield.

IIRC, the CSC costs about $100 online. Expect at least 1 day of down time.

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Chrono_30

So I finally took my car in to Nissan, and they told me I have a bad clutch. And it is going to cost me over $2600!!!! They made this decision all on how the car is driving. I asked if this is under warranty, and they say no, b/c its a clutch. I seriously suspect is isn't the clutch. But they want me to spend $600 for them to take my tranny off, and do an inspection on the transmission. I think that is ridiculous. Did any of you have to pay for this? Also how in the h*** can a clutch and assembly with labor be over $2600?? That is crazy!! I am calling the dealership I bought the car from today, I didn't take it there originally b/c I live almost an hr away for that dealer....

dubhov

@DIGItonium Just to clarify, when you brought it into the dealership, they replaced the CSC because of the symptoms you told them about? The dealership is still insisting that everything seems fine, and is going to have me drive a new nismo 370 on the lot to compare next time I come in.

After bitching and moaning, I finally got them to cave so I won't have to pay for labor to investigate inside the bell-housing...should I just get them to replace the CSC regardless? I'll even pay for the part if I have to.

Any help is appreciated...I'm kind of at a loss here. Just want the clutch to feel normal again.

DIGItonium

From Sticky: (Official) 370Z Clutch Pressure (CSC) Failures, my car was towed to the dealership as I barely left work and the pedal sunk without warning. They inspected it the next morning and notice the reservoir was empty. The tech filled it up, pressed the clutch and noticed fluid leaking from underneath, so it was concluded that the CSC failed. The part was overnighted and replaced under warranty.

With the new CSC, it is very light, indeed. The lightness will go away gradually. That's just how it is when the car was new as well.

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Whtciv2k

Not surprised. They have to take the tans apart. This is my biggest concern.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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370z 6MT

crystalline

My car is a 2009 Nismo, off the lot 5/30/10 currently 8500 mi on it.

I was driving to work today and was stopped at a light to turn into the plaza I work in. When the light turned green the clutch did not come off the floor and the car almost stalled out. It then popped up and the car lurched forward and regained rpms. Then clutch then refused to pop out any father than the engagement point without pulling it with my foot. I limped to the nearest nissan dealer shifts getting harder and harder to pull off and the clutch sinking lower and lower. Once I got into their parking lot it would not go into gear at all and I beached the car into a row of parking spaces. The dealer then attempted to feed me a load of **** about how the clutch was probably bad and this would not be covered under warranty and then proceeded to insult me for not buying the car from them. (They never had any Nismos in stock for the 3-4 months I looked ofc)


I am expecting what happened to chrono's to be what they tell me. They are going to assume I am retarded and say the entire clutch is broken after 8000 mi and try to charge me to fix it. The service woman was telling me that people drive this car for performance so the clutch plate, pressure plate, some bearings (not covered) always break around 10,000 mi. Are people really that stupid? I just told her I was sure it was a covered part and that I wasn't worried. You would think dealerships would want to convince customers to return to buy from them not another dealer...this is my second nissan now and I will never return to this dealership to buy anything.

Shutterjock

This happened to me (2010 370z NISMO) spring of 2012 in New Orleans. Clutch gave out and dropped to the floor. I was going from 1st into 2nd, as I recall.

I tried pumping the pedal hoping to improve pressure, but no go.

Long story short: A day or two later I had it towed to a dealership who, oddly enough, hadn't heard of such issues. I had done my homework however via this and other forums online, so I knew of it happening. Anyway, I suggested to the maintenance folk that it has been noted previously by others and that they may want to contact the regional office for some feedback.

They did, in fact, reach out for input and found that while the regional office didn't have a specific "fault" to suggest, their fix was to swap out the master cylinder slave and one other part. I can't recall now exactly what the second part was and I'm in the middle of a move, so I would have to dig through some paperwork, but it wasn't a very difficult fix. If there's a Master Cylinder AND Slave Cylinder, it may be that combo they swapped out. And it was covered by the warranty.

The good news is I haven't had an issue with it since the swap out.

Not sure if that helps, but if the local dealers/garages aren't familiar with the issue they need to call the regional NISSAN office.

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Shutterjock
Z Photographer
http://www.shutterjock.com
"No Matter Where I Go, There I Am"

SwampFoxes

So I was driving one day and the clutch went out and had no pressure. So I drained the fluid and replaced it got all the air out. Went back to normal for about a week then same thing happened, so I replaced the Master Cylinder and it has been good for about a month. Now it is going out again slowly I can just tell. It is in and out though, so I'm not sure if it is the CSC? I honestly don't want to replace it because it will cost easily 1000$. Anyone have any advice I'm just at a stand still right now.

Thanks

eastwest2300

yeah bro, you're using band-aids to fix a bigger problem, just get you the aftermarket stuff then charge the labor on your credit card.. so you can be stress free.

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Infiniti QX70 & Toyota Supra 3.0 Premium

dubhov

* VIN: 503064
* Purchase Date: 05/08/2010
* Occurrence Date: 10/13/2010
* Occurrence Mileage: 6650 (Wtf right?)
* Clutch Type: OEM

Summary:
On the commute home yesterday, car pulled out in front of me...immediate reaction is to pin the brake and clutch to the floor. Clutch never came back out though and I had to drive it home with a friction point near the floor. Pulled it out when I got home, and it's been soft ever since.

Went to the dealership this morning and they said everything looked fine....it's back to "normal" now, but still feels really soft. I'm going to bleed it and hopefully it'll be back to normal.

Should I be more cautious with this? Can it be driven safely with that drag-strip style friction point? I'm _REALLY_ trying to avoid getting towed since my towhook is now my license plate bracket as well.

Perhaps related, I've started hearing a really fast clicking when accelerating for the first ~20 min of driving in the morning (started 2 days ago). Sounds like it's coming from the shifter area.

^None of this was able to be reproduced at the dealership...sigh.

EDIT: Going to bleed it with my roommate...it's felt soft ever since I got an oil change at jiffy lube...maybe they got some air in there when checking the fluid? Never going there again regardless..

N8GTOL

Yeah i got a really good deal, plus it was the only one within 100 miles that had all the options and a color I wanted. Hopefully this CSC leakage isn't a reoccurring problem.

DIGItonium

If they're using the same part that's prone to failure on the '07+ Z and G, then we're bound to hear more. If you go to the 350Z site, you'll find numerous posts about people getting theirs replaced.

@dubhov did you check the fluid levels? The tech said the reservoir was empty. He filled it back up, pressed the clutched, and noticed the leak.

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dubhov

He said he checked the master cylinder and the reservoir and everything looked just fine....I've checked the fluid next to the brake fluid on a few occasions now and it looks good...is there a reservoir for the slave I don't know about that could be leaking?

An issue like this doesn't just happen and go away...does it?