I sure hate to post another thread, but I'm not getting answers to my questions from posting in another thread that was already there that asked a similar question. The faq is unspecific to my problem. So here goes:

I got the free 100 point inspection today. I was told that the pressure plate is weak and I will need a clutch. They didn't say how soon. I have 70,200 miles on my 97 SE. I mentioned before they started that the clutch has gotten harder to press down since I first got it the first of 2001. I thought that adjusting the tension on a clutch was part of regular maintenance or something, cause the clutch on the 87 sentra I had before had gotten tight and my mechanic noticed it and loosened it or whatever. That was a cable right? And the 97 is a hydraulic clutch, right? (I personally do not even know what aspect of the clutch assembly is hydraulic with a hydraulic clutch.) The fact that I only have 70,200 miles on the car makes me think that there really should simply be something that needs to be adjusted instead of me buying a pressure plate and then a clutch later. I get the feeling that a new pressure plate would not affect the tension anyway and this guy was just trying to sell me something. How do driving habits affect the clutch? I mean, I have known for years that you can ruin one by "riding" it and stuff, but I don't do that and I take my car out of gear and my foot off the clutch whenever I don't have my foot on the accelerator.

While whoever is reading this is reading it, there was something else. My brakes have been screaming since I got them replaced around December of 2001. Well they started doing it like a week after I got them replaced. Before I left the guy said I had "hot spots" on the front rotors that would go away. That slacked off it seems. I still feel a rough feeling making a quick stop or stopping down a hill. The stopping power is there. They've always stopped well. I took the car back to the guy w/in the 6000 miles 6 mo. period and they turned the fronts again but they started the squeaking again and have been doing it ever since. But another thing, they don't squeak until like the first mile of driving. Like they have to get hot before they start squeaking. Weird. Dealer said today that some aftermarket brakes are too soft and squeak. They're Raybestos. Fronts were $44 and rears were like $35. Does that sound like the price range for Raybestos quietstops? I don't know for sure what kind of Raybestos they were. Also, dealer said there were no hardware kits on the fronts. He said people throw them out when the aftermarket brakes you get won't fit with the hardware kits.

 

Your pressure plate IS what give your pedal it's force. There is nothing to adjust that changes the pedal force/pressure.

Your squealing brakes are caused by the lack of hardware/shims. You can get a shim kit from Nissan. You may also use some anti squeal on the shims when you put them back in your car.

Suggestion: Don't go back to the guy who did your brakes for any service. Your Shims were probably all worn out and instead of replacing them he chose to omit them giving you a cheap break job. There there for a reason, your brakes make noise because there not there.....

 

SO, njmaxseltd, if my clutch pedal is very hard to press down then that definitely means that the pressure plate is gone?

 

Something in the internals of the clutch is definately not right. The pressure plate is spring loaded and keeps the clutch disk firmly seated against the flywheel. If the spring gets brittle it could become harder to release it. Heat could cause that to happen, so yes it's most likely the pressure plate thats starting to show signs of age.