I'm really hoping to get some advice from some more experienced 350z owners. I have a 2006 350Z Roadster that I purchased used last fall from the dealership with 32,000 kilometers on it. I stored the car for the winter and have put just under 10k on it since I took it out this spring.
Last week of nice weather driving in these parts so I was out for a cruise when out of nowhere my RPM`s would fall and the car would seem to come out of gear. I immediately drove to the dealer as I have an extended ($4000) warranty on the vehicle. By the way when I purchased the car it only had 25K kilometers on it and had always been stored through he winter. I have manual transmission vehicles for 30 years so I'm pretty confident in my abbilities to drive one properly.
In any event about an hour after leaving my car with Nissan Windsor I recieved a call informing me that my clutch was shot and that the cost to repair would be 1600. Frustrated but feeling backed to the wall I told them to go ahead and order the clutch. Another hour passsed and they call back and tell me that they are sending my flywheel to be machined and this will cost me an additional $40. 'GO AHEAD" The next call is to inform me that my flywheel can`t be machined and that it must be replaced an additional $1750.00 Needless to say they had pushed me beyond my limits! Without informing Nissan I drove to the machine shop that does the work for Nissan and demanded that they return my flywheel to me. After some threats to call the police they reluctantly returned my flywheel. I then called Nissan and told them to prepare my car to be put on a flatbed and that I woulld be taking it elsewhere. I was furious to say the least.
After bringing the flywheel to a family member that has raced British cars for more than 40 years and having him examine the flywheel and his mechanic examine it as well they both advised that it didn`t appear to have any of the markings that you would expect to see on a clutch that was fried although it was slightly caved and this OEM flywheel could not be rotated. They were also concerned that to move the vehicle at this point there was sure to be parts missing so they strongly suggested that I needed to keep it there and let them finish the job and take it up with Nissan Canada after the work was completed.We have the parts that they replaced. With the flywheel in my possession apparently it will be impossible to switch my clutch, pressure plate and bearings because those parts apparently leave sirations on the flywheel similar to those of a bullet travelling through a barrel making them very identifyable or so I am told. I don`t presume to be an expert on this car by any stretch of the imagination and that`s why I am here.
Anyways, the next day Nissan called me again to offer me an after market clutch that they claimed wouldn`t be as good but would save me almost $800. only to call me back and tell me they couldn`t locate the ater market clutch so I was now looking at the original OEM clutch price. By this time I had found this forum and I am so glad that I did! I have now ordered an EXEDY cutch assembly with flywheel out of Mississauga Ontario for half the price they quoted and from what I have gathered here a much better performance part.
Has anyone had any experience with these clutches going long before their time
Also any opinions on this exedy clutch and flywheels assembly, I hope I`m not replacing a clutch every 30,000 kilometers. The car will unfortunately have to go and my heart will be broken Thanks in advance for any opinions or suggestions