Ok, here's the problem
I was driving my 350 5 days ago and noticed my clutch slip slightly when accelerating while in 4th gear. It surprised me but i did not worry much about it. I have driven it less than 100 miles since then and now my clutch is totally gone! Before 5 days ago I have never had a problem with the clutch. How is it possible to go from a normal clutch to no clutch at all in 5 days!!!??? It will engage about 2" before it is fully released.
I took it to the dealer this morning (had to keep it under 2500 rpm or else it would slip) and left it. They just called me back to tell me that my clutch is worn out. They said it was due to improper driving and abuse so I have to pay for it!!! My car only has 11,049 miles on it. I have autocrossed it twice but was very careful. I do not drag race my 350 or abuse it in any way! I have had a number of problems already with my 350 (new transmission, tire feathering, grease streaks on the windows, and a stiff clutch).
Has anyone else had this problem with their car?(if yes what happened?)

Also, i noticed that, although the clutch disc is not covered under the warranty, the clutch cover (pressure plate) is. Is there anyway I can blame the broken clutch on this?

I'm open for any suggestions!
Thanks for the help,
Mark

 

i am going to be in the same position very soon. . .

how much did they say to change the clutch?

 

I do not know for sure, but I would guess around $1500-$2500. However, I refuse to pay for something that is obviously not my doing.

 

hmm... that is weird. my 350z had 22k miles on the clutch before i traded it in, no slippage noted. However, I have heard of a lot of owners complain that their clutches are wearing out VERY quickly.

 

$1500-$2500? No way a clutch would cost that much installed. Components are only a few hundred bucks, plus labour.

Now would be a good time to get the NISMO clutch and flywheel put in

 

I agree get the Nismo clutch and flywheel since there dropping the tranny. I changed my tranny at 10k only threw in the flywheel tech said hot spots but normal. I will probably need it soon and dealer will probably say some B.S. improper driving abuse story so for sure the nismo clutch I think like 600-700.

 

I bet you when the boys changed out your tranny they didn't rig up the pressure plate/clutch right and you weren't getting the correct pressures on everything...Is that a possiblility? The slippage wore out your clutch?...Only guessing...Good luck

BTW my 84 300zx has 260,000+ km on the original clutch...tell that to your dealer and tell him to stick it up his a$$...peace out

 

You could get a wholE new transmission for $2500

 

All I can say is good luck

I had to have my clutch replaced at 11,400 miles much like your experience.

One day it was just fine and the next day it started to slip bad and got worse in a hurry. Within a week it was all I could do to get it back to the dealer to install the JWT flywheel/clutch combo I purchased from Performance Nissan ($800 shipped)

The dealer wanted around a $1000 to do just the clutch and another $1000 if the flywheel was bad. The tech that looked at the car said he wouldn't recommend putting another stock clutch in the car since he knew it wouldn't hold up under any kind of hard use. Like you I wanted and had autox'd the car.

I had experienced a burnt clutch smell about a month into owning the car with less then 3k miles on it. My local dealer first told me it was not the clutch but some type of corrosion spray they used. Then at the 6K mile service told me that a fish oil type smell was normal when the clutch slipped a little but that the car was fine. Since it still engage properly up to the point is started really slipping I didn't worry. I thought, well, I had told them about it for months. Come to find out they never documented that I ever complained or they ever check it out. All I had was recordes that I brought it in for the quaterly service (oil/filter change).

The dealer said that the clutch would not be covered under warranty unless they could find another problem once they got inside. However it would still cost me $550 for the labor if all was OK. I was able to eventually talk them down to $425 to do the install of the new JWT flywheel/clutch combo.

I got the OEM flywheel and clutch back and from what I can tell, the clutch was warn out. Everything else looked OK. I think that like the tech said, the stock clutch and pressure plate are just too stock for anyone that is going to push their Z hard.

I still plan on calling Nissan and complaining that the stock clutch shouldn't not give out in less then a year and less then 12K miles. If the rest of us that are having problems do the same then maybe they will do something about this problem.

p.s. I just love the way my new JWT flywheel/clutch performs and handles. It is a whole lot better then the stock set up. Well worth the $800, just wish I could get Nissan to pick up the cost of the install

 

My first clutch went at 23k, completely worn out. 10k later, my 2nd clutch started feeling weird; I replaced at a furter 4k with a nismo clutch and pressure plate.