so last night i was trying to impress a girl with my fairly new z. i pushed it a bit hard in first and second - around 5k rpm. when i shifted into second i floored it but all i heard was the engine revving hard and my car moving forward slowly. then comes the smell of burnt clutch! i then notice that my clutch is sticking halfway in, as in not fully extending when let go. i had to pump the clutch about three times before it finally popped out fully. can anyone figure out what happened? was it driver error or something weird with my car? i know i fully depressed the clutch pedal and felt the shifter lock into second gear before it all happened. if it was something i did wrong i'd like to know - i don't care how stupid i look. i just want to never see my baby in such pain again! also, could someone tell me what happens exactly when you smell that burnt cutch smell? is it something i should worry about right now?

 

maybe i should also tel you guys that when i was leaving the girls place 10 mins later, i wasn't even pushing it and it happened again. the clutch wouldn't pop out all the way. i had to pump it a couple times again. after that incident, it was fine the rest of the night. hey, i've been only driving stick for 3 weeks now so make fun all you want as long as it helps me to improve in the end.

 

Check to see if there's anything obstructing the clutch in the footwell, something that may move into place to keep the clutch from engaging all the way. Half-engaging the transmission is very bad for the car, if it happened once, I wouldn't worry about it too much, but every time it happens, you're shortening the life of your clutch. If it happens again, I would take it to the dealership. are you sure that the shifter has fully engaged the gear? Did you hear grinding noises as you shifter into gear?

 

Does it happen when you are just shifting normal and precise? If not then I would say it is driver error. Try just driving normal and focusing on the quality of your shifts and see if it still happens. if it does then you know it is not driver error and you should probably take it in to have it looked at. Give some more information about how and where you were driving at the time as well as more info on the car such as miles and the model of it.

 

I think what Johnny is saying is did the gears fully mesh and lock into place...

Sometimes the car can feel as though you have hit the next gear but not actually have meshed up and be in the next gear...

Also make sure that you are pushing the clutch in all the way and that you do not let it out untill the next gear is fully locked into place.

 

this is the first time it happened, but the car is brand new so it's hard to blame her. i definitely felt the shifter fully engage second and there were no grinding sounds. i fully expected to get planted in my seat when i pushed the gas in second but only got the engine rev and that horrible smell of stupidity. there is nothing to obstrust the pedals down there.
zed, it happened when i was trying to do a hard start in first and second. i wouldn't say i was 'flooring' it but it was close. first was no problem, second was. afterwards, i let my car cool down a bit, but after ten minutes, i was driving super-normal and it happened again - the clutch would not fully release. i noticed immediately and pumped it a couple times again to make it pop out. i drove from la to santa monica to oc after that and it didn't happen again.

 

happened to me once when tring to do a burn out. no clue why it got stuck. i had the same symptoms u described. it was fine the next day

 

shifting into 2nd?

 

check the level of the fluid, under the cover on the drive side, its right next to the master cylinder. if your having to pump the clutch to get it to disengage somethings not right, it may need to bleed. Just a thought

 

I would have the dealer look at it. Your clutch pedal should never get stuck like that. If there is a problem, you want to get it fixed *before* it causes damage.

 

I have more than 100 runs at the dragstrip, and my clutch is fine (knock on wood). If you're dropping the clutch at 5,000 rpm that's abuse (and you're 60-foot time will stink). But pushing the engine to redline, that's not abusive, its just making the 350Z perform.

 

You say you only been driving a stick for three weeks, now I don`t know how much driving experiance you have all together. During your shifting by any chance were you riding the clutch padel? what I mean if you were reving your engine and riding the clutch, shifting from 1st to 2nd. you are going to smoke up that clutch cause your preasure plate is only partly engaged and it will not give you a lot of traction...

 

That burning smell is not good, its a sign of accelerated wear...same thing as when you smell brakes burning....you want to keep it to a minimum. Not always, but generally if you smell it, it means you messed up.

I think whether or not he was all-the-way in second gear is a non-issue, and probably not related to the clutch....remember that they are somewhat independant systems (for example you can shift without the clutch, or you can grind the heck out of your gears and ruin your tranny without damaging the clutch).

I agree with what jakesford said, you definitely want to check your fluid. You probably rode the clutch, or allowed too much slip with excessive RPM at engagement, and that is probably what caused the smell. BUT the fact that the clutch pedal didn't come up should be a major concern. Take a look at the fluid, and/or take it back to the dealer to be checked out, and I wouldn't mention to them that you're new at MT.

 

I would take it to the dealer. Even if they don't find anything it will sill cover your @ss to report it to them now just in case it becomes a bigger problem later. Let me know what they tell you...

 

well i've owned a manual for only 3 weeks, but have known how to drive one for 12 years. i actually learned driving a friend's integra on the hills of SF for a year. still that's not saying last night wasn't complete stupidity... i'm just oblivious to what i did wrong if it was.

i didn't pop the clutch while revving hard for sure. i actually try to make sure that the clutch is fully engaged before i really floor it since i'm still somewhat breaking it in. i'm pretty sure i wasn't riding the clutch either.

the thing that worries me is just the fact that the clutch kept sticking halfway - once even after u turned off the car for 10 mins. i mean let's say i burned the clutch bad. is there anything there that might hmm.. melt? to cause it to stick to something? anyways, i'm pretty much chalking this up to 'one of those things'. i have to stop by dealership this week anyways and just let them look at it. i'm pretty sure they'll just tell me they couldn't find anything tho.

 

looks like something is wrong with your hydraulic clutch

 

I hope you get your car fixed..

 

This Happens to me a couple times too in my 05.
Did you do the lower your clutch engagement mod?
I Planned to have the dealer check it out soon.
Let me know what they say...

 

Same here. I didn't know in this car you can't do a burn out with out the tail lights disabled.

 

^^^wait huh? is this true? i wasn't trying to do a burnout tho... just trying to accelerate hard. won't be stopping by the dealer until wednesday so i'll let you guys know what they tell me then.