CSC failure covered under warranty?
 

I'm going to have to replace my CSC on my 09 nismo with 39k miles on it. After reading the entire CSC failure post I feel like this should be covered under my powertrain warranty. Has anyone had any luck having this replaced under the powertrain warranty? Wondering if I should call Nissan USA and deal with them. The dealer I took it to said they wouldn't replace it under warranty. So i've been left scratching my head.

Mine just went out this morning. $750 to fix... not covered under warranty. I was told to call Nissan Consumer Affairs and plead my case with them. I'm at 36,606 miles... build date Jan 2009.

This is obviously a problem. My dealership recommends replacing the clutch disc/fly wheel at the same time since the transmission will be open at the time and they quoted me 1479. I'm not sure what i'm going to do at this point. I have an aftermarket guy looking at it right now, considering going aftermarket with clutch but i'm still stumped with the CSC. Can't decide if I want an OEM or aftermarket. The guy with my car says he's done TONS of aftermarket clutch kits with OEM slaves and never had an issue. He exclusively works on Zs and has done so for about 15yrs.

I plan on dropping the gearbox and doing the work myself in my shop. I will not, however, be changing the clutch and flywheel. I had planned on trading my car in and this is an unexpected issue that I have been forced to deal with.

According to Nissan service dept, the CSC is NOT a recall, nor is it a service bulletin. The aftermarket solutions that are out there are super expensive, but what other option do you have?

Maybe its your Z's way of getting back at you for even thinking of trading it in lol

Dropped off the car just now for this exact problem. Also doing the master cylinder. How long does the job take? Master and CSC.

I did mine 2 weeks ago, I have to check the slip but they replaced Master Cylinder only I believe. They did it in a matter of hours...

Was done under warranty...I tried explaining the CSC failure and what was happening to other people but to be honest I don't think that dealership see's many Z's, when I roll up I'm treated like a Celebrity, especially because its modded. So they had no idea but just said "hey, we'll fix it for free" so I said "Go ahead" :D

Working great, clutch doesn't come close to sticking to the floor

What year Z's are you guys driving? And what kind of driving? Crap! Reading this makes me paranoid.

09 Nismo, mine is a weekend driver with the occasional "spirited" driving while merging on the interstate but never tracked while I owned it. I'm the third owner second owner had it for about 6 mo he was a dealer and definitely not a track kind of guy. The first owner had the Master cylinder replaced at 27k and I now have 39k miles on it.

2010, I'd say aggressive (I live in 3rd and 4th gear) Its a daily driver 8 months out of the year and I have done time attack/lapping with it.

I have 41k on it, which is about 25k miles

Unlike a lot of people, mine was failing periodically. I would have one week, nothing, then the next week, every other time I drove, the clutch would eventually stick (then I pull it up with my foot)

Most people it just dies completely.

Mine is a 12 and only 6 months old. Just under 12k miles. I put in a lot of mileage taking very long road trips. Under warranty of course with the dealership replacing both the master cylinder and csc. I think it makes sense to replace both. It was still driveable with the engagement window at 2 inches but annoying. I'm sure it would eventually fail if I continued to drive. I'm going to check with Zeb at Z Specialty and Lou at Amplified Motorsport for their opinions on this.

I drive it pretty hard but it should not have failed on me this early. Hope they get it fixed soon enough so I can take it to Tony on Friday for the FI TDX NR CF w/ RHFC and drive it to wine country again for some wine tasting :)

Is there any way to tell if one is starting to fail? like what symptoms (if any) are there?

or is the more or less something that just happens outta the blue

I've had my car for 2 years, has 36k miles on it. I have never had an issue until 2 days ago. I installed a Z1 SS clutchline and motul fluid about 10k miles ago. I also have done the helper spring mod on the pedal. It felt great and never had any trouble with it.

Two nights ago I was beating on the car pretty hard and did a 3k rpm launch at the strip and the next morning there was a puddle of fluid coming out of the trans case.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...d/IMG_1700.jpg
I pulled the gearbox in about 2 hours, being careful. It wasn't as daunting as I expected..

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...d/IMG_1702.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...d/IMG_1699.jpg
You can see the corroded seal around the bearing, the fluid seems to be pumping out of that.


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...d/IMG_1701.jpg


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...d/IMG_1698.jpg
It also isn't cool that the whole inside of the case and clutch is coated with brake fluid.

Oh, well... new parts come in today and I'll have it back running this evening. I fixed it myself for under $200.

@ TypeOne -- Did you replace the CSC (Concentric Slave Cylinder) when you replaced the clutch 10k miles ago? They need to be replaced every time the gearbox is pulled. Good luck getting it back together. Hopefully you didn't get any grease on your clutch disc. PS- nice tie-bands. ;)


@ Wantme1 --
The CSC should be covered under warranty, but isn't the powertrain warranty only good until 30k miles? Otherwise the extended warranty should take care of it.

-zpower86

Its 5 year 50k

I stand corrected.

Drivetrain warranty in the US is 60 months 60k mi. At least for my 09. I have the booklet.

This is the best shot of all. Proof that the case is light. I like those zip ties you were using to keep your case suspended buddy!!!! :bowrofl:

My car's back in great shape. Warranty took care of the parts and labor. There were no visual leaks on the cylinder clutch, clutch lines, air bleeder valve, and CSC. The reservoir was full. The mechanic made a determination that the failure was due to an air leak allowing air into the clutch hydraulic system. They replaced the CSC, air bleeder valve, clutch master system, the flexible hose and bleed system.

Lesson is if the clutch pedal gives in, replace the entire clutch hydraulic system.

Parts replaced --
30610-JK00B Cylinder Assembly
306A1-JK40D CYL ASMY - CONC
30855-JK00C HOSE ASY Clutch
37120-AL60A BOLT (4 pcs)
Fluids

With a new car, how can air leak into the system? What caused it? Bad seals, hard driving, I dunno.

Going to have mine replaced at Zspeed pretty soon. A few years ago he posted why the CSCs keep failing in the 350s and the 370s. It's a piss poor design and they've engineered much better unit.

This is the main gripe that I have with Nissan. We all know of recurring issues like this and many people try to get the issues fixed, but they always pull the "not under warranty" or "no recall" crap, so nothing ever gets done and they keep selling the same crap.

CSC, clicking axle, cupping tires. The list goes on.

well you can thank renault for that, as far as i remember the CSC in our transmissions is a french built renault unit and we all know how reliable french cars are :rolleyes:

My car has the OE clutch, and it has never been replaced. The Zip ties were just for uh... good luck. ;-)

I finished it up last night and it's as good as new now. Set me back about $200 and a few hours worth of my time, but at least I didn't have to deal with Nissan on it. I feel confident in my own work over someone elses.

I am dealing with this right now - 09' nismo. I have 43k on the car. Left me stranded last week and had to have it flat bedded. Nissan is telling me it's not covered under poeertrain. Has anyone successfully had this warrentied under powertrain coverage ? I would really like to know of a precidence before contacting nissan directly and arguing over this. What nonsense. Its an expensive car to have this habitual ossue and not cover it. The sad thing is that i am driving my '05 murano with 107k on it. Isnt that backwards ? Should the murano be in the shop for a failure before my damn near new car ? Already out $800 for a tow and master cylindar fro last weeks excursion and now they want more for the slave. Noy a happy camper.

I have to add one more thing. On a hunch I went to the actual Nissan website and did a parts search for the slave. I was curious how the classified the part themselves. Under powertrain ?!?! Who would have guessed ! It's pretty blatant that its a powertrain part. It's just a business decision to make in not-so.

:tiphat: this says Sentra...assuming same for the Z?!
my clutch did the sticking almost to the floor on saturday at test and tune...maybe just take in it NOW and have dealership fix it. and not wait on it to fail completely.

BC, they'll actually change the fluid to GTR fluid first I believe

:ugh2:so I should go ahead and take it in you think?
I'm thinking maybe sooner is better. then when it happens again (which looks almost guaranteed at this point) I will have already taken the first step. (?)

That's a good idea and better than dealing with it after complete failure. They should be able to replicate the situation at the dealership.

:shakes head: sigh.
I hate the thought of leaving it over night. horror stories in here about that crap.

:iagree:

And BC, they aren't going to drive it like you do, lol
And/or ask if the GTR tech can work on it

Your right - it says sentra - and altima. And every other nissan. I just find it ironic that they classify slave cyliders as powertrain components but they refuse warranty coverage because they are not powertrain components. Seems rather illogical to me.

:tup:yeah, well, they have to try you. See if you know the answer BEFORE you show up-if you do they back down. if you don't THEY WIN! :tup:
always do your homework BEFORE going to a dealership-just like buying a car...

^^^ you mean like a woman?! No-they will drive it really hard...remember, I got 17K+ out of the stock tires...not many people on here do that. sigh.

:rofl2: msbc makes ribbon art on asphalt.


if my car hinted failure, i would buy the master cylinder rebuild kit and also the reinforced slave from zspeed and have a local shop install both for me with their recommended clutch fluid. fix it for good.

why am i waiting for it to fail first? well let see.... replaced working 10yr old fridge with brand new maytag. the pos's compressor brokedown in 6months. :ugh2:

replaced working washer and drier with luckygoldstarstupid tunes. pos started leaking water in 8months. :mad: wtf

Were you guys completely not able to drive? (read one guy was on a flat bed)

When mine started happening it was intermitent, so sometimes I was pulling the clutch up with my left foot, did this for a week or so...which I'm sure wasn't advised.

Oh and my dealership replaced mine at no cost

I was mr. flatbed. It started a few weeks ago with losing clutch pressure slowly. after some trial and error i found the cause to be one scenario. driving withought shifting. like being in traffic, stuck in third, with no reason to shift. just putting along. or the highway cruising in 6th - same thing. if i drive around town it appears mostly fine as long as you keep shifting. Then about 2 weeks ago I was on the highway and started losing pressure fast. i was able to pump it up a few times then I had the pedal go to the floor and that was that. Couldn't get anything back. Stuck in 6th gear. Made it into a commuter lot and after checking everything, had to call a wrecker. The tow company is also a mechanical shop and they diagnosed it as the master cylinder failure. if i had them do it, it was a little cheaper and waved half the tow. i knew the master was out of warranty so i had them do it. i got my clutch back but the source issue was still there - the slowly losing pressure. Assumed the slave was covered under powertrain so i brought it to the dealer on saturday and you know where i am at right now.

Do you happen to know if they covered it under general or powertrain ?

I got 8k out of my last set. No burnouts. I may have taken a corner hard tho. Maybe 2.

Sorry to hear how it went down for you. Seems it was the same for me at first, in city was ok, longer drives it would stick to the floor (at first I just thought it was the heat or something)

I "believe" it was covered under powertrain for me but let me go in my files when I get home and double check

I had to tell them many times it seems the CSC or MSC was going out on Z's everywhere as they heard nothing of the reports

Well, if you happen to find that and it says powertrain, you may be my new personal hero. I would love to have a little precedence because I know they are going to deny me. The thing I really don't understand is that if you google "CSC Failure" you get a million hits on 370's and G37's popping up first. Then there are recalls on 350z CSC's, bulletins on infinity g35s, yet they are still saying exactly what you said. It's not a known issue. This is the first we have hear of any issues ! Ironically it's the only bit in the powertrain made from plastic too from what I have read thus far.