My fluid never dropped either.

 

Never paid attention the first time, unfortunately. It may have been leaking out of the slave and not siphoning more into it, causing the pedal to get worse gradually.

 

The third time this happened to me I poped the hood and there was no clutch fluid at all.

 

Stick it to them man! They should have replaced that clutch to, not the best techs there...

 

The service manager is consulting with Nissan, and doesn't want to replace the clutch, go figure.

On top of that, I have been smelling burning oil every time I drive somewhere, especially if I push the gas. I am afraid the tech did not properly seal something.

At first I thought it was just some burn off after the repair, but it is constant, so I now know it is something they messed up.

Then there is that vibration noise I hear now, that wasn't there before, coming from the tranny area, from inside the car.

Right now, all I can do is call the service manager, because my wife is going into surgery tomorrow, so that obviously is my main concern.

 

I hope everything goes well with her surgery (whatever its for), and that you both have your health. Car troubles are miniscule compared to health problems.

 

Just to update, my wife is fine, the surgery went well.

The car and dealer on the other hand, still not right.

I filed another complaint, and since the work I have smelled a burning odor, everytime I drive the car. They checked for leaks, but said they found none.

I will be locating another dealer, and see if they can locate the issue. NNA told me they would warranty the work, if another dealer found the problem.

On the bright side, the pedal pressure hasn't fallen to the floor lately.

 

Sounds like it could be crankwalk if the slave cylinder update doesn't fix it......

 

Veetec, when your clutch drops to the floor are you still able to wind out first gear and chirp into second? After few 3-4k rpm launches I *think* my clutch started getting softer and kinda fell half way in 1st gear.. but then it winded out and chirped second.. So then it still grabs.

 

No.

I let off the gas, to avoid slippage.

 

Hi all, especially VeeTec. I wanted to join the discussion, share my stories and information, and hope to help others and get help myself.

I bought my 07 Nismo edition 350Z in July. I immediately noticed the burning smell when running the car hard. I thought it was new car stuff burning off. I took it to Willow Springs in November, so it had a good 2,000 miles of normal driving before track use. It was GREAT on the track, but I noticed the clutch problem after several runs - 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off. And the "burnt" smell was totally pronounced. Took it to the dealer, they only replaced the clutch fluid - they said it was "black". Drove it off the lot, and the clutch problem was WORSE. Took it back the next day. They said the slave cylinder was burnt up. They replaced, under warranty. The clutch works fine, but if I take it up to 5,000 rpms, I'm getting the burning smell again. I'm not a bad driver, either. My fear is that if I take it to the track again, I'll burn up the cylinder again, and my Nissan dealer will balk at replacing under warranty.

So I first thought of swapping the stock clutch fluid with Motul 660. That's what I saw as the "solution" on various other threads on the Internet. But after reading this thread, I think I need to go check with my Nissan dealer to see what cylinder they installed in November - whether it was the "new" one or the "old" one.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress. I'm really bummed, because I LOVE the car - the looks, the handling, etc.

Mike

 

Keep us posted man! Nissan needs to address this problem with a TSB. Someone has already gotten hurt because of it, we dont need anything else to happen to anyone.

 

Yes, take it back, and insist on the upgraded slave cylinder.

I still smell a burning smell every time I drive the car in decent traffic, but the pressure has stayed up, so far.

I plan on taking mine to another dealer to find out what is causing the burning smell now, and NNA is aware of the problem since the last fix. I also have enough for the lemon law, but love the car too much to get rid of it.

 

Yeah that's when mine started to show weakness also at streets of willow, when I was doing 20 minute track sessions. It got so bad that I couldn't shift into second so I just kept it in third gear which killed my lap times . At least I drove my car back home .

My slave cylinder has been replaced twice already, this third one is a little stronger but under hard driving it gets soft again.

 

I think some of the following was already discussed in this thread, so apologies, but here's some of what I'm hearing/seeing from other sources.

Some are saying that the problem we're having with the slave cylinder is that, unlike in older versions of the 350Z, the slave cylinder in the newer versions (from '03 or '04) was put inside the transmission. Thus, it is not benefitting from the cooling effects of airflow. So it heats up, and burns up. If that's the case, how do we safely run the car on a track, or even just drive it hard on street? When you're driving at 7,000 rpms, you can be upshifting and downshifting perfectly, and you're going to have heat. If the slave cylinder can't take the heat, it can't take the heat, right? Is Nissan saying the "new" slave cylinder can take the heat that the "old" slave cynlder could not?

The stock clutch fluid can't take the heat from driving hard, whether on the road or track. That's why it's turning brown (or black in my case after a track event).

Questions I'm looking into and will report back with answers/information when I get to the bottom of this problem (but if somebody wants to opine answers, feel free):

1. Could the burning smell we're all smelling be from the clutch fluid burning up? Or is the the slave cylinder slowly burning up?

2. If you replace the clutch fluid with, for example, Motul 660, so that it doesn't burn up from the heat, will that save the slave cylinder from burning up?

3. What's the difference between the "old" slave cylinder and "new"? Heat resistance? What?

4. Does the upcoming Nissan GTR have the same problems? I've put a $5,000 deposit on one, and have it on order, but if it has the same problems, why bother?! My Nissan dealership is telling me that the slave cylinder on the GTR is outside the transmission, so it gets benefit of air-flow cooling, and will not have this problem. I'm going to have them show that to me in a visual, hands-on inspection. I just read the January 2008 edition of Top Gear, and The Stig loves the car, as well as the author who wrote a long article about the car. Articles from Road & Track, Car & Driver, etc. are in accord - the GTR is an outstanding car. But if it has this same problem, forget it, I'll buy something else.

 

Good point. I wonder if the smell comes from the clutch fluid boiling from the heat? Aside from installing a cooling fan to the clutch housing, that won't get much better with new parts for very long.

 

My is been sticking all the time pretty bad.When I check the clutch fluid reservoir it was almost empty so i replace the fluid with valvoline syntec ,and so far knock on wood for about 2 weeks the clutch feel allot better. I did tested driving hard and no more stick to the floor.

 

I have a problem too..... Everytime my car is idleing it makes this noise and when I press on the clutch it goes away.... I think it's my throw out bearing going bad????

 

I just noticed this yesterday as well.....

 

Does it sound like a squeak noise almost like a "hamster wheel", if so then yes your throw out bearing is bad.