Clutch Chatter & Nissan Consumer Affairs
 

Z Owners,

I’ve been having a unique clutch problem since I bought my Z in July 2011. This is not just another complaint about how notchy/clunky the gearbox is or how it’s hard to shift smooth. Those are part of the (bad) drivetrain design. I wanted to document my problem and experience with the dealer and Nissan Consumer Affairs.

Detailed Symptom – Clutch is jerky:

When starting, the clutch chatters or is jerky. At the second before full clutch engagement, you feel a few sharp vibrations. This, of course, disappears when the clutch is finally mated to the flywheel. During this vibration, you can feel the pedal pulse a little. My windshield mounted radar detector will even bounce. This can be noticed in every other gear. It can be less or more severe depending on the situation. A rolling start in 2nd with medium acceleration usually results in a violent vibration/chatter/jerk. Starting in first on an incline is more severe. A more humid day seems to be less severe, while a cold, dry day is the worst. Extremely annoying and un-enjoyable to drive. I’ve had several of my car friends drive with me and they immediately noticed it and said it was ridiculous.

My Diagnosis:

The clutch disc is the culprit. It was either oily from the manufacturing line or the material properties were defective somehow. The solution is to replace the disc and pressure plate. Plain and simple.

The Dealer (timeline form):

9 mi – Bought my 370z :)

2000 mi – I had it diagnosed at dealer (waited until after break-in). Master tech identified the issue, and we scheduled a clutch replacement. After they disassembled it, their diagnosis then changed. They supposedly found nothing wrong with it. They wanted to replace only the concentric slave cylinder (CSC). I wanted them to replace the clutch disc and pressure plate as well which is clearly the solution. They insisted on replacing the CSC first and see what happens. . . They put it back together and, of course, the problem was as bad as ever. :/

2000-6000 mi – I put it off taking it back to see if it’d go away. Then I moved out of state.

8000 mi – Had it diagnosed at a new dealer. The service manager would not identify that there was even a problem. I brought it to the same dealer again and asked if we could compare to another Z they had. We drove two other Zs back-to-back (one had 6000 mi, another had 100 mi). We noticed a few things. #1, my pedal was NOTICEABLY heavier (about 40%?). #2, the other Zs had no jerking/vibration compared to mine. After all this, he told me I needed to contact Nissan Consumer Affairs. I thought the dealer should do this, but he sent me away to call them..

Present – I called Nissan Consumer Affairs. They started (or continued?) a case and got back to me a few days ago. They said the dealer will agree to replace the pressure plate since it is “out of spec” (noticeably heavier). They will also do the CSC, because it’s required, BUT, they will not cover the clutch disc because it is a “wear item”. I tried explaining... Long story short, warranty can’t cover it, but NCA is going to reimburse me the cost of the disc! I was pleasantly surprised.

Next Week – Once the parts come in, the dealer is going to install – all under warranty. :) I’m having them put in Amsoil gear oil in while they’re at it.

I’m really hoping this fixes it. With my luck the mechanic will probably smear grease everywhere lol. Has anyone had this specific problem? If so, how did you fix it? Feel free to comment if you see anything innacurate.

-zpower86


11/19/2012 Update:

See my follow-up post here.

Never had this prob, just the usual weird noise they make. But good to hear that all went well! :D

Actually I have the clutch pulse issue also but no chatter.
How many miles on the car?
Let me know if it fixes ur problem so I can take mine in also.. Thx in advance.

I had this issue when the car was new. It's clutch judder. I still have this problem with a brand new clutch and flywheel, but it's not as bad. It's pretty bad when I go in reverse for some reason. It judders violently making all sorts of clunking noises, and then it goes away. I'm thinking the master cylinder is having trouble keeping the slave planted. [shrugs]

You know how you fix things, you involve a local trouble shooter haha

That is how I got my roadster replaced from a local dealership in Edmonton. The car was in the shop five months finally just f*ck it, they took the car back and gave me another one for fear of being on the news.

Mind you my engine was shot and this is a clutch. Squeaky wheel gets the grease though man.

Honestly though you spend $$ money on a car customer should always be right IMO.

Chatter though is common..I believe. Vibrations though aren't.

I have 10800 miles on it, but like I said, this has been happening since day one. I'm taking it in tomorrow and will let you guys know how it turns out.

I never had these "issues". While my 370's transmission wasn't as smooth as a Honda's, it was very good IMHO. After some getting used to it, I found I could shift very smoothly. Even when driving aggressivly, I could shift really well.

Let me know when you acquire a dealership. I will buy all my cars from you.:tiphat:

UPDATE. The dealer finished the clutch replacement last week (all under warranty). I drove it about 150 stop/go miles so far. The clutch feel was unbelievably different and better. It was also much easier to push. It still isn't the easiest car in the world to make smooth, but my initial problem is gone.

While the clutch is better, I did have a lot of frustration with the dealer. Excuse the following rant. The dealer just doesn't pay any attention to detail. I had two problems with them. #1, they put my shifter together wrong and it wouldn't go into 5th correctly, but would bump into the "gate". Maybe this is because the mechanic was able to do the whole job in just a few hours... I had to take it back and they fixed it, but was a hassle. #2, they scratched my center console around the base of the shifter! They said they will replace it, but it just shows the type of service quality I'm getting. See the attached pic. How ridiculous is that?!

-zpower86

wow, thats pretty crappy service indeed...cool that they covered it under warranty, but seriously did they hire some amature to put your shiftboot assembly back together?

I know right. It almost seems like you'd have to try to make that many scratches.

When the shift boot is loose, the metal prongs underneath is what's scratching the console. I have to remind myself to wrap it up with cloth towel or old shirt so it doesn't scratch things up when it moves all over the place.