I started having trouble yesterday getting the car into gear. I'm not sure what would be causing my problem, but it sure was a hassle to get home from work yesterday. It seemed like with each stop it was more of a struggle to get it into gear. Eventually I just kept the car in gear because I was afraid it wouldn't go back into 1st when the light turned green.

I'm not sure how to explain how it "feels". It almost feels like depressing the clutch pedal isn't fully engaging the clutch. Imagine if you pushed your clutch pedal down just a little bit but not quite enough to "engage" and trying to get the car into gear. Well, that's sort of what it feels like even with my pedal pushed as far to the floor as possible.

Once I get the car into 1st gear and accelerating, going through the other gears isn't a problem (although there is a bit of a "snag" going into each gear that I don't previously remember, but it's quite subtle).

Strangely enough, I went to poke around on it this morning and all felt normal again. I checked the master cylinder fluid level (it was normal), checked all lines for leaks, checked to make sure the slave cylinder wasn't seized or otherwise screwed up, and all looked normal. I topped off the gearbox oil just to be safe and took the car for a spin. After about 10 minutes of driving, it started getting hard to get into gear again. Hmph.

Does this just sound like a clutch pedal adjustment issue? For some reason I thought I recalled that our clutch pedals couldn't really be adjusted. Any knowledgeable guys still 'round these parts? Let's get your input.

 

Well, if the pedal was out of adjustment, it would always be out of adjustment, right? Have you messed with recently?

My guess is either the master cylinder or slave cylinder is the problem. After a few clutching cycles it may be letting fluid pressure pass by some worn o'rings in either unit.

 

Nope I haven't touched the pedal or anything on the car in about a year. I guess you're right on the out of adjustment thing.

Man, it seems like I change the friggin' master and slave cylinder on this thing every year. I swear in the 5 years or so I've owned the car I've gone through at least 5-6 sets of master and slave cylinders. If they're not leaking, the cap is randomly exploding, if the cap isn't randomly exploding, the fluid case is cracking, it's just one thing after another. I bet I've got a lifetime warranty on them but Lord knows with my luck I won't be able to find the receipts.

Makes me REALLY appreciate the cable transmission on my Civic.

 

Lol,

I think the aftermarket replacements you are getting are the problem, i've seen several past threads pin pointing autozone/advanced auto master/slaves cylinders giving people problems shortly after installation. You might want to try genuine oem nissan replacements, yeah they are expensive, but much better quality imo.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/30610-c...4-p-57168.html

http://www.courtesyparts.com/30620-c...-p-183765.html

 

Check the bolt going through the top of the clutch pedal bracket. That bolt is known to break the metal where it bolts into and when it does it allows the clutch pedal bracket to flex to the right. Over time, the clutch pedal bracket will flex more and more to the right and cause the clutch pedal to need to be adjusted to fully disengage the clutch. The fix is to screw some self-tapping screws through the clutch pedal bracket around the broken metal.

So just try and turn that bolt and if it spins freely then you've found your problem.

If you think it's the master or slave, I'd recommend Beck/Arnley brand. You can get them at kragen/shucks (partsamerica.com) where you should always buy parts, NOT at autozone (internetautomart is awesome too I hear).

 

Matt reminded me of a problem I had a few years ago with it. I've gone through several T.O. bearings on the car because for some reason the "ears" keep bending and/or cracking. I figured it was because I was using the "gimme" T.O. bearings that came with the clutch kits, but the car has a new OEM T.O. bearing in it as of about a year ago.

I'd almost bet money that the "ears" on it are cracking and/or bent just enough to be causing my problems. Especially since it gets so hard to get into gear once it warms up. Really don't want to fool with dropping the tranny and crap. Ugh.

 

You were right.

The other day when I read your post I went and checked that bolt and it didn't spin freely and was all the way tightened down.

But I decided to check today and take the pedal all the way off and see what it looked like in there.

That WHOLE area where the pedal mounts to the top there is broken out (that bolt was tight because the threaded nut was screwed onto the bolt and was held down flat against the pedal - so it was tight against the bolt but not anything else!).

There's not even enough area around it to screw some self-tapping screws into it, so I don't know wtf I'm going to do

 

ouch..
take it to a welder and see if they can weld some sheet metal around it and cover the hole. It'll be ugly, but you can at least get it fixed.

 

The problem is that I can weld adequately enough to do it, but dang, what a hard area to try to weld in! Absolutely no room to work, upside down, all that wiring in the way, the HVAC tube in the way and all the other crap

I think the whole upside down part is what sucks the worst. Haha

 

it'll make life easier to just pull the dash out and remove everything in your way. that way the only thing you have to deal with is the upside down part, which sucks, but the less evils, the better.

 

Yeah, mine was broken out a lot too and I didn't know if I'd be able to get any screws in, but I still managed to get two to go in. I'll bet you have some unbroken metal left to put the screws in. Just pick up a few self tapping screws and try putting them through near the edges of the bracket - away from where the bolt used to be. You could just pre-drill a small hole and with the drill bit stick stuck through it wiggle the bracket and see if you've gone through metal. Just try it out, it would be a lot quicker and easier than welding.

 

Preaching to the choir, man....

 

agreed with matt... that position looks all too familiar

I had my clutch pedal bracket bust on me back when i had a stage 1 clutch in there, so i took the entire dashboard out, zip tied the gauges in place, and drove it down to my friends shop to have a new bracket welded on