I had heard before that at least one other person had this problem also, but since i bought my max back in october, the clutch seemed to let out at the floor, didnt want to go into gears easily,(grinded sometimes to get into next gear during a race), when I was at a stoplight sometimes waiting for it to turn green, I would have the clutch pressed all the way to the floor with it in first and it would slightly be pulling still like it wasnt completely disengaged, and last when i went to downshift, I would some times have to pump the clutch more than once to get it to finally go into the lower gear (usually 3rd or second)... Ok, now I know that there have been discussions about the clutch not being adjustable, BUT... the pedal is.. I just got my max back last week from a wiring harness melting, ( $792, but I told my insurance company it was an electrical fire, and they cut me a check for $692 hehe) and i decided to go back and ask about it today.. my mechaninc used to work at nissan, and grabbed a little wrench and a flashlight and adjusted the bolt up behind the clutch pedal.. 2 minutes later, he said " There ya go, try that" and now it lets out in the middle, and EASILY goes into every gear .. Im happy now. just wanted to let anyone know with the same problems..

 

I'm currently having much the same problem. Tried bleeding the clutch, and it helped a little, but still seems much worse when the car's hot. I did notice some brake fluid in the slave cyl dust boot, so I ordered another cyl. If that doesn't do it, I'll try you mechanic's fix. Thanks for the tip!

 

Then her is a few things that could be wrong...
Leaking clutch cylinder
Leaking slave cylinder
Leaking hose/fitting
If it is a cable clutch then the mechanic fixed it!

 

it IS ha hydraulic clutch, but everything was in perfect mechanical order, the cable running to the pedal just needed to be adjusted.

 

Well, now I've replaced the slave cylinder, rebuilt the master cylinder, put in all new fluid, and adjusted the pedal per the FSM, and the clutch STILL lets out at the floor! custmmax - can you ask your mechanic exactly how he adjusted the pedal? I've tried screwing the rod in and out, but neither seems to make it any better! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

well, i dont know if i will get a chance to go by the shop anytime soon, the only thing i could say is just to go by your local nissan dealer, and tell them to adjust it for you, and see if they can do it.. should only take like 5-10 minutes, so i dont think they will kill you on labor just to do it..

 

Did you bleed the fluid correctly? If not, you may not feel it but the clutch will "spongy" and you will be compressing air first and then fluid, giving you the problems you are describing.

As far as the rod is concerned, the adjustment is made like this. When adjusting, you want to push the rod in until it makes contact with the clutch master cylinder. You then take up any slack in the pedal by adjusting the rod out far enough until the rod can inserted through the clutch pedal. The pedal should allready be extended up as far as it can be WHILE you are doing this with the rod. Doing these steps ensures that as soon as you touch the pedal, you are actually depressing the clutch (actually the pressure plate) instead pressing against a dead space of travel. Make sense? If not maybe you could hit me up and I,ll see what I can do. Don,t live near San Antonio do you?

 

Yes, I've bled it 3 or 4 times now - I get no air bubbles, and the fluid is perfectly clear. After rebuilding the master cylinder, I know that the rod is always contacting the master cylinder piston by design. There's a snap ring and a metal disk which keep them in contact. The pedal is up about as far as it will go (there's a switch which acts as the stop), and the rod is screwed about all the way out of the clevis. There has to be some amount of "dead" travel, or else you'd be constantly replacing throwout bearings. It seems like I have about as much master cylinder piston travel as I can get, but not enough slave cylinder piston travel. Only thing I can figger is that when the slave cyl was re-manufactured, they changed the bore slightly, which would require more fluid for the same piston travel. I'd love to take you up on the offer, but unfortunately I'm in NE Ohio. Thanks anyway!

 

I've now rebuilt the master and slave cylinders, adjusted the pedal stops and rod for maximum travel, and bled the lines until the fluid runs clear, and the clutch STILL lets out at the floor and grabs between gears. If anyone has any ideas what the heck is going on here and how to correct it, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks very much.

 

If you are POSITIVE that you are bleeding it correctly (not trying to beat a dead horse) then I would guess that it could either be......
a pressure plate that is not doing a good job anymore (does the car not seem to shift right or make wierd noises when doing so). If the pressure plate diaphragm springs are not fully engaging, this will cause the symptoms you are describing.
a hose that is worn and it bulges whenever the clutch is depressed. This can be checked when someone inside pushes on clutch and someone outside checks/looks at the hose.
some fyi also..my 95 factory service manual shows TWO places to bleed the clutch. Check and see if you do. Ours has not only the bleeder screw on the slave cylinder (which is bled FIRST btw) and then another place to bleed SECOND. On a 95 it is a "clutch piping connector" and is located midway between the clutch cylinder and slave cylinder. Ours is located on a strut tower. If this was not bled, you will get that same problem as when you press in the clutch, you will be pressing air first and then the clutch. Once again not trying to beat a dead horse but both areas (if you have them) needs to be accomplished for a good clutch operation.

 

I thought about the bulging hoses also, but so far I haven't been able to detect any problem with them. Now that you mention it, though, I did notice a junction block between the master cylinder and slave which has a bleeder screw. However, there is another line running in and out of it, and I figured that the bleeder was for this other line (since my '93 FSM only shows the one on the slave). I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the tip!