Hey guys! Haven't checked in for a while, but I'd imagine you guys have made it just fine without me.

Anyways, here's the scoop:

A couple weeks ago, a few buddies and I rented out Grange Motor Circuit (fun little kart track) for some amateur grip and drift time. It was a blast, despite being very short lived for my Nismo.

Long story short, I over shot a really tight corner, went off the track, and a pretty deep rut/ditch had the better part of my very low Z. Power steering was shot and the clutch went pedal soft and stuck to the floor by the time I limped into the pits.

Pics to follow tomorrow when I get some light; but after some crawling around I found the little solenoid looking thing that sits atop the rack and pinion assembly was broken off and dangling by it's wire. This pretty much answers where all my powersteering fluid went. However, the clutch situation is what worries me. I traced the line from the master cylinder down to the trans and it all looks intact, no obvious leaks or breaks in the line that I can see. I then opened up the valve at the end of the line connecting to the trans and after a few pumps and some gravity, fluid came at first steadily, then intermittently out of the line. The pedal is a little stiffer now, but it's still about 80% to the floor and not returning on it's own.

I'm super confused and now I'm reaching out to my favorite car community for some advice. Thoughts?

 

Thoughts? First, getting some basic instruction (and maybe doing a track recon) would be a good idea the next time you do a rental. As you found out, the Z has enough weight and power to get you into trouble when you commit too early into a corner.

As for the stuff you tore up, you may want to examine your clutch CSC to determine if it's been damaged. Did you check your brake master and determine how much brake fluid you lost? Do some research on the CSC and you'll find some similarities to the problems you have.

 

I'll take a look at the slave cylinder when I jack the car up tomorrow. The fluid in the master cylinder reservoir was almost full so I'm a little confused. Thanks for the advice.

 

I meant to say clutch master cylinder, which is located near the brake master and is much smaller. If you bled the slave much, there should be a loss of fluid up above with a corresponding need for replacement. Use a DOT 4 fluid with a high heat threshold.

 

You sure you lost your PS fluid? If that sensor broke off or became disconnected, the steering gets extremely stiff. Might just need to replace the sensor.

 

Well I was leaking pretty bad on my way into the pits and my reservoir is empty, and yes the steering went VERY stiff immediately after I went off. I'm looking into exactly how that sensor/solenoid thing connects to the rack and pinion assembly. Ideally I'll be able to just swap it like you say.

That was the first place I looked prior to tracing the line, because I just automatically assumed I just bashed in a line and lost all of my fluid and hydraulic pressure, but to my surprise the level was near the MAX line. I then bled the valve near the slave cylinder ( not much by any means, just to verify the fluid was making it's way down there) and the fluid level has dropped very slightly. As it sits, I have plenty of fluid in the clutch reservoir and very little returning pressure in my clutch pedal.

 

So, to be clear, you checked the clutch master fluid level, not the brake master? If so, you should try to pressure bleed the clutch master to attempt bringing hydraulic pressure back to the clutch pedal. Failing that, you may have damaged the CSC and will need to drop the tranny to repair/replace it.