Clutch acting weird help please
 

hey everyone i need your help once again

sooo i searched around a bit under clutch problems but none were like my problem

there was my z in my garage just like any normal day, decided to bring her out then i noticed my clutch is soft like super soft i back her outa my house and right when i roll off and shift to second the clutch dont pop back up... i pull it up with my toes :bowrofl: so im in wtf mode and drive her more trying to see what happens... but when she warmed up (oil temps 180ish and water temp normal) everything was normal again?!? the clutch was hard like it use to be and then on the drive home in the afternoon from work everything was fine again?! so im like ok everything is good probably sat to long in my garage...

had a doubt in my gut so i drove her again the next day and wouldnt you know it... it did the same **** again :shakes head: clutch soft and then gets hard after the car is warmed up already? took it out the next following 4 days and it acted the same everyday no change.... the only difference is that it sometimes poped up but it was still soft as hell and then when it was warm everything was good again?

so has this happened to anyone else? is my car tryna tell me something?

i dont drag my car nor do i ride the gears in high revs or anything like that?

it pretty much sits in my garage majority of the time so could this be a problem?

any help would be much appreciated thanks in advance!!!! :tup:

This has been discussed quite a few times, not sure how you didn't see it.

Likely a bad clutch slave cylinder, ours are pretty weak. Get an upgraded one from Z1 or one of the other forum members.

:shakes head: damn man i was afraid of that.... but my only question is why does it turn normal when shes warmed up?

drove her again today and same thing :( but if my csc is bad wouldnt it just be soft all the way? after 5 mins of driving she always feels normal? could it be something else? low fluid maybe? lol i know im in denial

I am having the same problem. Taking to the dealership tomorrow. Did you figure out what was wrong with yours? Mine did it a few times, but always got better. Yesterday on the way home from work I lost all clutch pressure and it wouldn't engage until it was about 2" from the bottom and wouldn't come back up. Had to use my foot to get it back up. Then today the pressure returned?? Not sure what the problem is?

have you checked your clutch fluid levels by chance?

My assumption is the secondary seals in the slave cylinder

bro thats exactly like mine... it acts up then its alright all of a sudden... freaking retarded.... i drove it today and it was all good for the first time annndddd i spoke to soon i just moved it and its doing it again LOL :roflpuke2:


first thing i did and its full :( btw :hello: how you been man?

:shakes head: that doesnt sound good :(

Hey man im good. how you been.

If they wont warranty it, i would honestly try getting the SS clutch line and then bleeding the whole system and see if that helps.

I have experienced the same problem. Just completely random soft clutch. Doesn't matter how hard I'm driving the car, what the ambient temp is, etc.

In the morning the clutch can be super soft, then after 15 minutes of driving it's fine. Next day, fine all day. Week later, it's being temperamental again.

I have a SS line and some Motul fluid that I'm going to change out, but based on the frequency of the issue it really feels mechanical related rather than a simple fluid issue.

I'd bleed the system. Our cars don't have much clutch fluid as is so IMO there's smaller margin for error. Just a tad bit of air can ruin it. After changing out my clutch line to a SS line I bleed it three times and still was getting air. None as of lately. Might of been cause I drained the hole system which when refilling your bound to get some in there and nothexbleed out. And also when refilling a little bit of moisture is about bound to get in there. Which is hard to stop being as soon as you open the bottle moisture draws in. Not much, but it happens. That would be the first thing is do.

^ :iagree:

Definitely would try the clutch bleed first.

i will definitely try that out guys :D thanks so much :tup: ill get a ss line first

I know a few people where that happened to, but hasnt happened to since they changed to SS and motul.

the pedal is probably getting stiff again from you building pressure in the system by using the clutch, its probably not temperature related... i think youre just eventually building up pressure and when the car sits overnight its gone. when i did my upgraded CSC with stainless lines for my OSGiken clutch, i had the same exact thing you are describing happen to me. It was because when I bleed the system I didnt use a compatible brake fluid... the mixture turned into a nasty gray goop that didnt hold pressure. After pumping the pedal a ton it would work normal for a while, but the pressure would fade if it sat. It took massive amounts of bleeding to finally flush it all through.

That was just my personal cause. If nobody has added or mixed in fluid into your system to cause the same problem I had, then either the seals in your master are bad, or your slave is bad/leaking. Its a very simple system, the clutch. It works just like brakes. The only way temperature is going to effect the hydraulic part of the system is if you overheat/boil the fluid... so I believe you have a pressure leak in one of the two components I mentioned.

Z1 370z/G37 Stainless Steel Clutch Line

so this would be the thing to get right? :tup: and how many motul fluid bottles would i exactly need?

Sounds like air in the system to me. Clutch fluid is like most other fluids, the hotter you get it, the thinner it is, if the seals were crapping out, hotter fluid would = more problems, not cold fluid.

That's the one. You will only need one bottle. And you will still have plenty left over for a couple flushings. It doesn't take much.

kool man :tup: imma order this as soon as i can :tup:

phew i thought i was gonna need like 4-5 bottles i was like o crap this is gonna be an expensive change thank god its only one

did the line fix it?
I had the same problem not that long ago and the dealer replaced the "helper spring" which I didnt question and I should have... issue got fixed but I feel the problem coming back and want to beat it to the punch!

didnt order it yet man... now im worried about the steering wheel lock solenoid going bad so im gonna order that first :facepalm:

I always worry about that. Was that mostly with 2009 cars?

i believe so.... up to early 2010 :shakes head:

^^^ i keep ignoring that issue because its going to be a bad day when that lock solenoid takes a crap.

what does a new one cost? i figured i should wait and hope it goes out while under warrenty but im guessing my warrenty is probably up by now or about up... i have a 2009 with 36000 miles purchased october of 2009... actually not even sure what the warrenty specs are lol

Warranty is 3 years or 36K miles.

This is a first I heard of the ssolenoid lock up... I have an 09 and havent had an issue but I feel like now that I am aware of it i am going to have an issue... f*&$

@phunk a new one costs 500 bucks :shakes head:


thats the same thing that happened to me... i was just browsing and then i found out that i had to spend another 500 on something no one will see :shakes head:

I wonder if you have to actually have this installed or if can be bypassed?

i wondered that too man... i wonder if we can bypass it... :tup:

I guess you could always remove it and see if the car will turnover. I know who to ask about this though.

Installed the z1 stainless steel line and filled with motul rbf600 this weekend.

Takes a hell of a while to bleed all the air out. I happened to be changing out gaskets on my test pipes so I was able to get to the upper clutch line bolt easier.

So far it's not bad, I'm pretty certain I need to do a couple more bleeds to get some residual air out. Only time will tell.

May I be kind enough to recommend the Motive Bleeder? You'll probably get 99.9% of the air out.

Just an update: so far, the clutch line and fluid change has worked.

A bunch of disgusting black sludge was inside the slave cylinder when I changed the fluid out, which was also very dark. This is @ 30k on the odo. Not sure the cause for that, but I'm sure that thick goo wasn't helping matters.

I've had to use the turkey baster trick to change out fluid from the clutch reservoir because it seems like it's getting more of the junk out of the slave. Basically, I just took it out and refilled it with new fluid. Drive around for a few days so it mixes in, then repeat until it's all clean.

thanks for the update man.... i think ill be doing the clutch line trick keep me updated man