Ok, so today my clutch pedal started going acting up and I have never seen or heard of this before.

So if I push the clutch pedal quickly all the way to the floor, it engages perfectly, and the pedal comes back up to it's original position. However, if I push slowly, or even if I barely push at all, the clutch pedal goes straight to the floor and stays there. I have to pull it up by hand. Could this be the plunger in my master cylinder failing? or is it the slave cylinder? Where is the slave cylinder anyway I can't seem to find it?! Please guys any help appreciated.

 

Might need to bleed your clutch. It's fairly straight forward. The slave cylinder is located at the front of the engine near the battery. If you get underneath, you should be able to see it. Here's a link to the FSM if you have any problems.

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1994/cl.pdf

Have a friend check that the slave is extending and retracting properly. I've never experienced master cylinder problems so I wouldn't know what to tell you to look for. I'm sure someone on here can help with that.

 

gonna try to bleed it now. hopefully that does the trick. I doubt I'll be that lucky. Anyone else wanna chime in? Anybody else had this problem?

 

Ok, so found the slave cylinder. I remember reading somewhere on this forum that fluid often "hides" in the boot of the slave cylinder if it is bad, so I pushed on the boot, and sure enough fluid came pouring out. Looks like I'm ordering a new slave cylinder from autozone. Anybody got any tips/tricks for replacing this thing?

 

completely empty the reservoir, and get rid of all the old fluid possible.
disconnect the line before removing the slave cylinder from the transmission.
all I have for now.

 

i've experienced a similiar problem and the culprit was the slave cyl aswell. Not sure exactly about the whole pushing it fast or slow thing but im sure if you use the search function under 3rd gen,you'll get a tutorial almost 99% sure. It's a simple bolt off and on procedure, other than bleeding. Someone provided the bleeding process already use that. goodluck dude

 

On my first Maxima, the exact same thing happened. I just coughed up like $150 parts and labor and took it to a clutch place. That was back in like 1997, so I imagine it is more expensive now...

 

slave cylinder came today. 16.99 from autozone. Gonna start on it tonight, probably not finish it but I'd like to get the old one off and all the fluid out. Thanks for the input guys. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

GL let us know how it goes.

 

same issue happend to me it ened up being slave clyinder some how their was an air in my lines it was fixed after bleeding/fluid exchange GL

 

lux97max do you mean the exact same thing happened, with the clutch pedal working when pressing fast but when pressed slow it goes straight to floor? cause I just replaced the slave cylinder, and I'm pretty sure I bled it properly, and it's still doing it.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/8388251-post33.html

 

yea funny thing i forgot to mention when i would press down to accelerate the pedal would stay stiff id have to mash down on it to engage frickin wierd

 

check your throttle cables, that was also why my pedal was all jacked

 

Been drinking lately at all?

 

not at all officer

 

Then wth are you doing here posting useless and irrelevant suggestions for

 

im trying to help whats your problem

 

EXACTLY what/how is the throttle cable/s associated with the clutch operation? ............... explain that

 

geez back off officer insteading worrying about me help him he needs it im just relating to him and how i fixed my problem dont be a douche

 

Yes - I am the douche. See post #12 in this here thread for help on how to solve the problem.

You on the other hand could not have fixed any clutch problem on your car if you even had one by checking and adjusting the throttle cable/s .................so its you that are not helping at all.

 

Darn. Checked/adjusted throttle cable and still no luck with clutch. Who'd a thunk? Maybe I should check the air filter? lmao. In all seriousness, l have replaced my slave cylinder, and it's still doing it. I have bled and bled and bled and it still does it. Maybe it's my master? When someone pushes on the clutch pedal I can hear a slight "whoosh" coming from the master cylinder. Could it be the plunger going bad?

 

Oh just saw the link you posted lvr, thanks. I'm gonna dissassemble the master now. It's got be the problem. is it worth rebuilding or just get a new one?

 

Depends on what exactly is found to be wrong there - a kit is cheap if the cylinder itself is in good condition ................ but you guys can get such cheap spares over there that I suspect its gonna be easier to simply replace the whole MC

 

Bought new MC as it was only 25 bucks from autozone. Installed it. Now have ZERO pressure in pedal. I mean it goes straight to the floor and stays there. I can't even bleed it because Jo fluid flows from the MC. I can completely remove the line from the MC and nothing comes out of. The MC is full, and even when I push the pedal down nothing comes out.

 

The MC itself is obviously not filled or bled - if you cannot get fluid into the thing, you need to remove it from the car and bench bleed it after you filled it from the outlet sideNope its not full!

 

sorry, I should have specified, the MC RESERVOIR is full. I read something on another forum about the rod from pedal to MC possibly not being adjusted properly. Tonight I'm going to play with that a little, and pull the MC off and bench bleed it. Hopefully that does the trick.

 

I'd say reverse that order of things to do. First remove and bench bleed and only then start playing with the rod if you still cannot get any fluid through the MC

 

As usual lvr is correct. I removed master and bench bled. Within 3 pumps the pedal had pressure. Called the wife out to do the ole "pump n hold" bleed and voila! My clutch is as smooth as a babys bottom.

For anyone who stumbles upon this thread via Google, etc, how I bled master cylinder: remove master, turn on its side so that outlet to hydraulic line is on top.. Depress plunger all the way down. Pour fluid into outlet until it fills. Release plunger (fluid should be sucked into cylinder). Repeat process until fluid begins to gather in reservoir. Re-install master cylinder and resume normal bleed procedure.
Also, when I replaced the slave cylinder: in removing the bolts some aluminum threading from the tranny was pulled out. The bolts would no longer hold the slave cylinder in place. If this happens, go to the hardware store and get some bolts about 3/4 inch longer. The threads run deeper than the stock bolts so longer bolts will solve your problem. Again just trying to help as I wish this info would have been posted when I was searching.