The Nissan service center is replacing my clutch and flywheel, under warranty, after driving my 350Z for only 5K miles (The entire clutch kit was black and fried to a crisp ) . The only upgrade I have done is installed an exhaust system. Can someone please tell me why this may have happened? I have told my dealer that I have constantly told the service center that there is a loud rattle noise when I idle and it goes away when I press the clutch all the way in. Also i have had to always feather the clutch to change gears or else it will not change smoothly.

For those who have manual gear 350Z please tell me how responsive your clutch is and if you have faced any problems changing gears or if you hear loud rattle noise when car is idle and clutch is not pressed.

For those who have experience with clutch and gear shifting. Compared to normal cars is the 350Z a real pain to change gears? Should I look into getting a new clutch and flywheel from JWT to feel better about having a longer life span on my clutch instead of a stock version that could not last me 5K miles.


Thank you very much for your responses.

 

No problems and i have about 17k. Do you drop the clutch a lot and spin out? That or a defect are the only things i can think of that would do it. My clutch seems fine, pretty smooth shift compared to other things i've driven. You shouldn't NEED an aftermarket clutch unless you have a pretty modified engine, but it wouldn't hurt at all if you have the money to spend.

 

Wow you must of really have rode your clutch alot, or used your clutch in a very bad way. Your car sounds normal to me except for your shifting. My car shifts just fine, and in comparison to other manual cars, shifts the same, only a different engage point of course. With almost 60k miles on mine, the clutch is still doing great, and that's with burnouts, clutch drops, power shifting, and daily driving.

Regarding your rattle noise, everyone hears it and for the most part it's subtle. When I sit in netrual with the clutch disengaged I can hear the vibrations. When I get around to it, the clutch will be one of my last mods, but since you have to do it now.. you may wanna go ahead with it as it's not a cheap thing to do.

 

Hi, the first 2.5K miles i drove the car calmly and did not go over 4K rpm when changing gears. Once the break in period was complete I started going to the high rpms and changed the exhaust system. I never turned off my VDC yet and I only speed when I was on highways the rest was traffic lights and I accelerated like normal car. I did not abuse the car or did any donuts or burnouts, tires are still new and fresh.. its brand new car TRACK trim and I paid cash for it so this was not a toy purchase.. How the hell would I have burned the damn thing in 2.5K miles?? This must have been defect and the dealer is changing my clutch and flywheel under warranty.

 

DING DING DING. We have a winner. That is the reason you fried your clutch in 5,000 miles. I can't believe they are replacing it under warranty.

 

DING DING DING!! We have a winner who cant read!!

I clearly stated that feathering is the only way I could shift gears. If i dont the car jumps and stalls... the reason they are changing under warranty is because they realized that there was a defect in the clutch and they SHOULD HAVE listened to me when i told them I was having problems with the clutch since i first purchased the car.

 

When you feather the clutch do you experience the typical burning clutch smell. If so, your def. riding the clutch to much. If not, then I'd say there are other forces at work here. I would let Nissan put a new one on for free and if it happens again go out and find a beefier unit.

 

yes the burning clutch smell comes out when i change gears and that smell started to become very noticable when i was reachin the 5K miles.. and thats when the service center finally decided to look into the clutch and check whats wrong.

 

Dude, you burnt your entire clutch away by feathering it too much. In 5,000 miles! That is the worst I have ever heard, go easdy on the clutch next time or it won't matter what manufacture your clutch is -- and just for the record, the JWT unit has a lot more clamping force, so it won't make things any easier for you!

Just devlop a more sensitive foot...

 

ok thx for the insight..

also i forgot to add that there was a time when i removed my foot off the clutch and it did not move up it stayed down this happaned twice in the 5K miles

i have drivin manual gear for over 4 years in different cars and i never had that happen to me only on my 350Z

 

I can read, and you have clearly told us why you fried your clutch in 5,000 miles. Because you feather the clutch every time you shift gears. If the dealer said it is normal, I am inclined to believe them. You need to adjust your driving style or you will burn up another one the same way.

 

I may have exaggerated by saying that I always feather the clutch. I did not do that every single time I change gears, it’s just that gear shifting was just a pain since I first took the car home.. and did the best I could to adapt to this problem so that the car does not jerk every time I change gears... anyway I will be picking up my Z with new stock clutch in a day or 2 and I hope that gear shifting will be smoother and more responsive than before.

PS I have driven manual cars for over 4 years..

 

Okay, what kind of issues where you having changing gears? I'm still learning towards just you shifting a little off-key. The clutch is a lot sportier than a normal car, and thus, you need to drive it a little differently. I used to be ***** to the walls everywhere for thousands of miles. But now that I'm finally starting to tone down a *little, I sometimes jerk the car cause i'm not paying attention and letting off the gas as I'm shifting, so the engine starts to bog and i in turn give it a little bit and I get the jerkyness. I developed a little bad tendency like that, but nothing to the tune of needing to ride the clutch.

 

Name the cars you have driven in those 4 years, and I almost guarantee the driving is going to be the same when you get the new clutch. You need to adjust or go back to whatever you were driving those previous 4 years.

 

Sounds to me like your clutch assembly didn't allow the clutch to engage completely, and you ended up riding the clutch even if you had your foot off it. If our car is anything like all my older cars, then it has a clutch cable. In my old car, the cable housing and cable got worn, and didn't allow complete release of the clutch, so in retrospect, it allowed the clutch to slip even after taking your foot off the clutch. That will burn out your clutch quickly.

Everyone has to feather in the clutch when starting from a stop, but you should be able to release the clutch completely once the car is rolling. I can't speculate on your driving style since I haven't seen it, but if you've driven the manuals for 4 years, and none of them exhibited this problem, it's probably the clutch cable.

 

I'm pretty sure we have hydrolic clutches and not cable clutches. He might have needed to bleed the clutch lines though.

 

ok man its the throw out bearing on your clutch it is obviously not working correctly so your clutch didnt disengage or fully engage ever. I Have been driving mine for 27k HARD miles and they replaced the clutch only with the transmission.