How do I tell when my clutch is going/bad?

ZeeBabar

My 2013 sports package with 10.5 k miles is now at the dealer. There are threads on the clutch issue. In my case, I was in heavy traffic and had to ride the clutch as I would put car in 1st, move 10 feet, then go again. The clutch felt different in that initially as you started releasing, it released too quick. Then, it would only come out a quarter of the way and not all the way. Then, I press, shift and the clutch would remain down. I would use my foot to pull the clutch out and then in again to shift, shifting became harder and then, finally, the clutch remained down, the car could not be shifted out of neutral. I was effectively stuck, cars had to go around me, people laughed and jeered at me and my spanking shiny car. Finally, a jogger helped me push the car to the side.
I had to call a flat bed tow truck, have my car towed 115 miles to a dealer. This happened last Sunday. On Monday, the service department confirmed that the Clutch Slave Cylinder had to be replaced and the fluid needed to be the one that is for the GTR.
Today, the CSC arrived but they did not have the GTR fluid which will arrive tomorrow. They have to remove the transmission to replace the Clutch Slave Cylinder. Hope to get the car back on Thursday.
It seems that Nissan is aware of the problem, that lots of 370z's and Infinity G37's have the same issue.
If you warranty is still valid, have the clutch checked out.

If you are out of warranty and your clutch goes bad, folks are recommending the ZSports solution to this issue.

MJB

I just love how the dealership brainwashes everybody with this so called "GTR fluid" lmao! Its just an expensive DOT 4, and that isn't going to solve the problem. Sorry to say this, but the csc they are replacing for you is going to fail again at some point. Only cure of this CSC failure BS is going after market with either the Zspeed HD unit or Z1 external slave setup.

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09 Nismo #0483 sold. Viper or C7 next time around.

ZeeBabar

First, I am letting the dealer do it because it is under warranty and free for me. Second, check how many 370Z manuals are out there running on the streets and see if everyone now has the Zspeed.

Yes, it is possible that it may happen again. I had the 2010 370Z and it never happened at all in the 4 years before trading it in. Since I do not track or race, I am not going to go after market yet. Once they replace the CSC, I will ask them if it has its own warranty.

Fact is that I have had some 10 new cars and maybe a half dozen used cars in my 44 years of driving cars and I have never had anything major that is after market in any of them except for one stereo in one used car. Mostly, its been filters and oil.

MJB

I understand. Might as well make them do their job since its under warranty. Nissan just really pisses me off. The whole "We are going to use GTR fluid in your clutch system" is just a cover up. I guess they want people to think that since the fluid is used on the GT-R its supposed to be magical or something. The csc failure rate is obviously a huge problem.... IMO bigger than the whole steering lock issue. I feel if you have a stock csc, it's inevitable that IT WILL fail.

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09 Nismo #0483 sold. Viper or C7 next time around.

ZeeBabar

Actually, the GTR fluid is legit. When my dealership placed an order for a CSC and fluids, the GTR fluid did not come along and so we had to wait till today. It arrived today and they intend to start working on this afternoon. Said they might be able to finish this afternoon.