thats not bad for the clutch is it?

no more than letting off the throttle and getting back on it. It never disengages.Wear on the clutch comes from the in between stage of full disengage and engaged. The wear is on the scynchros and gears if done improperly (grinding). I'm not gonna say that it doesn't prematurely wear these parts. If 2 trans were used and one was only clutched and the other only "floated". The later may not last as many miles as the first one, but not significantly enough to matter. Shock loading the gears with hard shifts is much harder on parts.

North East Metro area.... Lake Lanier up by the Mall of Georgia to be precise. I suppose it's probably 1 1/2 hours or so, but I've never been there so I don't know exactly.

Yeah 1.5. Im in jihns creek about 1.25 for me if i drive speed limit

you confused me. it seems like you are describing the same thing.....

It sounds like Dreezy wasn't giving the engine enough time to wind down. Instead of letting off the gas at the same time depressing the clutch, he is gettting smoother shifts by letting off the gas then going for the clutch.

Yeah its cuz the srm holds the revs if you don't let it wind down it will buck if you let off the clutch too quickly

This is the problem I have with it. I've been driving manual trans cars for about 15 years and I felt like a complete idiot when I test drove this one. The guy asks me if I know how to drive stick and I say yeah sure. I didn't stall it but when we got back to the dealer lot, I over-slipped the clutch parking it and got a nice burning clutch smell (on a car I wasn't going to buy). I felt like a total a-hole.

I had a turbo Celica with an RPS clutch in it. It was an organic clutch, but it engaged pretty low on the pedal and I think the overall pedal travel was less. I really liked being able to modulate the pedal by pivoting my heel on the floor. I felt I had much better control over the engagement.

Does anyone know if there's a way to adjust the clutch pedal on this car? I'd like to bring the pedal down since half the travel is wasted anyways.

another 14 year clutch verteran and i still have a few jerky momments in my Z. sometimes i feel the clutch engagement point changes if the car is warm vs hot.

Ok good.I thought I went full retard but I guess I'm not the only one with some rough moments. Like u guys I'm used to just using my ankle and heel to regulate the amount of movmement on the pedal.. its a lot eqsier to control then having to use your whole leg

i see what you were saying now. agreed.

There was a thread on a 350z site, that referenced a thread on a G35 site, wherein such an adjustment was discussed. However, I never could find the original 'how-to' upon which the discussion was based. It seemed like it was deleted, maybe because someone realized it was causing damage to the clutch or trans. There WERE some folks reporting problems downshifting after doing this mystery adjustment.

[edit] I found this procedure. I have not tried it. It may, or may not, be the procedure I mention above. Looking at it, I think it would do the trick with no bad side-effects (may have to adjust the Pedal Stopper Bolt and/or ASCD Clutch switch). Do this at your own risk. I THINK posting this link is within forum rules, but I'm sure a Mod will correct me if I am wrong.
http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/Clutch_Adjustment

To read the procedure and compare to the diagram, realize that when the writer says "fork" he means "clevis".
When he says "rod" or "Rod with a hole drilled in it" he means "clevis pin".
When he says "bobby pin" or "cotter pin" he means "clevis pin retainer".

I'll be doing this today, can't stand the high engauge point!

Just finished, clutch is perfect now. The trick is to unmount the clutch master from the fire wall, then you can ajust it easy. Don't take the nuts off, just loosen them all the way, then there is room to work in.

Excellent! Goes to the top of my 'to do' list.

Excellent, I'll have to look into this.

But... does it cause premature clutch wear?

"at your own risk"
The net result of this mod is reduced pedal throw. So, if it was to cause a problem, I would think it would be balky shifting, hard to get into reverse, grinding of gears, etc (due to clutch not completely disengaged with pedal at floor). I would think if you have none of these symptoms after doing the adjustment, you are good to go. If you have ANY of these symptoms, and continue to drive it, you could cause premature wear to the clutch and trans.

If you feel like your shifts get harder, you have trouble getting into gears or there is any sort of grinding, immediately reverse this mod. My opinion is that you should be perfectly safe moving the clutch pedal a bit closer to the floor.

Hey, pokeyl
I forgot to ask: how many turns did you adjust the clevis? Did you readjust the "pedal stopper bolt"?

2.5 turns, and if you have free travel on both sides of the clutch (up and down) you will not have any problems. My clutch is perfect now, just like the my old Audi tt, before it was like my Dodge 2500 V10, sucked having to move my whole leg to clutch. NEXT I'll look at the top stop bolt to see if I can lower the pedal hight.

I'm confused. Turning in the clevis should lower the pedal, since the rod connecting it to the floor. You should probably check the clutch interlock switch after making this adjustment. With the pedal depressed, the clearance between the threaded end and the rubber stopper is 0.1 to 1.0 mm. You'll need a set of feeler gauges to check that.

Arnold, hows the shifting going?

It did not lower it and it all works perfect???? I just know I like it!!!!----

When I last had to lower my Z's clutch I was working on a 2003 350Z. That was 2 Z's ago, but the 370Z I bought today is going to need the same treatment. The salesman I asked about the clutch today said that they used to be adjustable, but nowadays the Z's have hydraulic clutches, which can no longer be lowered.

We shall see! But I was digging around in my browser bookmarks and found this thread: it was the one in an Infiniti forum but it walked me through the clutch job 7 years ago and I reckon I'm going to go back and study it and the photos all over again.

It's a keeper:
http://www.freshalloy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73620

Believe me, the old clutch was hydraulic as well. Cars haven't come with cable clutches since at least the early 90's. Having a hydraulic clutch does not mean that the pedal isn't adjustable. Having the pedal lower on a hydraulic clutch simply means that pressing the pedal moves less fluid, which means that the pin which pushes the clutch release fork moves less. If you went too far with that, you'd reach a point where you aren't completely disengaging the clutch.

Chances are that what pokeyl did lowered the clutch, but not enough to be noticeable. This is basic geometry. You're talking about moving the attachment point probably 2.5 mm (assuming the thread pitch is 1 mm), which might move the actual pedal about 5-6 mm. This may not be enough to notice the pedal being lower by setting your foot on it, but would be enough to notice a significant difference in feel through the pedal when operating the clutch.

"The 370Z is giving me some trouble, but I'm very slowly getting the hang of it. My biggest complaint seems to be that it engages way too high...."- Arnold K

I am entirely in agreement with you: you can't shift properly with your knee up in the air. For one thing it's darned awkward and uncomfortable. But even more important is the ergonomics of hip flexion.

It is much easier for a driver to make small incremental changes in hip flexion starting with the hip at 90º (a low clutch) than it is to do so at 100 or 110º (a high clutch).

But ergonomics aside- there's no reason, and no EXCUSE, for a clutch to bring your knee up uncomfortably high. If I can't get Nissan to do mine (and I'm trying!) I'm gonna fix it myself. I've done it before (in 2004) ...and it was no joy to do- but it did the trick

Chatter in first
 

This is not my first manual transmission. I drove a '92 Mustang GT w/ the 5 spd, '95 Z28 w/ the 6 spd and some Toyota 4wd trucks. This is the only manual that I have had a tough time leaving the line without chatter. I either have to leave slowly and short shift to 2nd or get aggressive and rev it to 2nd - doesn't seem to be an in between. Must be the dual mass flywheel. I do like that way it hooks when I get on it. Seems like everyone is standing still and I'm 300 ft. down the road :). I have tried driving w/out SRM and have found it easier to leave with it off. I always tend to turn it back on within a few miles though.

Just adjusted mine, and took a brief test drive. Absolutely a 100% improvement. The cruise control switch still works, but is at the absolute edge. The switch gap is slightly larger than the 1mm max. I will adjust it tomorrow.

did you loosen the 2 master cylender bolts? it makes it so easy to ajust

Yup, that was a good tip, thanks!. The whole operation took maybe 15 minutes.

370 clutch woes
 

I've driven nothing but z's for 30 years, leasing for 3 years then a new Enthusiast coupe 6-spd.
In '07 and '04 I found that the clutch engagement point was way too high and too abrupt.
In both cars I had to adjust the clutch height using step-by-step instructions I got off various enthusiast fora. It was not an easy job, but it was a big improvement.

This month I was less than shocked to find the same problem is clearly present on my new 370Z Coupe (Touring options).
Once the weather warms so my hands aren't too stiff, I will again endeavor to crawl upside down beneath the dash, facing forward and down, feet up in the air, headlight squished against the floor, and again perform this unpleasant cramped but now-familiar adjustment.

Others may counsel patience, but my experience has been otherwise: it doesn't tend to improve on its own, so it becomes a question of how skilled you are at accepting it so.

I love to drive my Z's. Hard. And I simply refuse to accept that I must shift with my knee
up in the air.

Wait and see how you feel about in in 2-3 months... the first go at DIY adjustment can be awkward- it was a little rough for me!

either they built my car perfectly or i am a fantastic driver because my clutch feels fine :)

I've driven nothing but manuals for 12 years with 6 different cars and the Z's clutch is the worst I've ever driven. It took me like a week to get the feel but I still do some not-so-smooth shifts from 1st to 2nd.

In addition to the high engagement point, the return spring is insanely non-linear. If you do the adjustment, while the push-rod is disconnected from the pedal, you will see what I mean. The rube-goldberg linkage drastically changes the pedal spring tension.... right about at the engagement point (prior to the adjustment).

probably your previous MT cars were easier to drive than than the Z. that's why you think the MT Z is harder to drive.
my previous MT cars were a bmw 328i and a mb 320. I think they were harder to drive smoothly than a 370z (some car magazine reviewer wrote that a mt 328i could not be driven smoothtly. he's wrong, of course.) I drove the 370z fine the first time i drove it. the clutches on the bmw and mercedes were heavier too.

my clutch told me this morning it was kind of depressed :rolleyes:

... and, Jeff being an empathic person, it also made Jeffblue....

hahha too many puns for one day! :tup: