cantgofast

This is my fist time posting on the site. I have a 95 Maxima with a 5 speed, 88,000 miles, no mods. On the way home today, I noticed that the shifts seemed a bit strange. I have not owned it for too long, but it felt like the clutch was not biting. When I downshifted, the engine did not rev up like it normally does, again leading me to believe that the clutch was not biting. This is where is gets strange. Later, after I let the car sit for a while, I drove it again and it felt fine.
It seems pretty confusing to me. The local dealer is charging $650 to replace a clutch, and I really do not want to do that. I dont understand why it suddenly seemed to fix itself. Could someone who has experienced this before tell me what the problem may be? Thanks.

P.S. This site is amazing. So many of my questions about my car have been answered by you all. Thanks so much

MAXIE

The same thing happend to me when I first got my car my clutch messed up about a week later try not to drive it to hard. do you smeel the clutch burning??? And does it feel like you have a loss of power???

ejj

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like its slipping.

Next time, do this...get to about 45mph, put the car in 5th gear and floor it. If the RPM's take off but the car doesn't, you're clutch is slipping and it needs to be replaced.

I've had mine slip once or twice under very hard driving, but never again. Clutches can do wierd things.

Or worse, you may have a rear main seal leak, in which case you can be getting oil on your clutch, causing it to slip until the oil burns off. If that's the case, be prepared to fork over a lot more than $650.

cantgofast

First, thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. I drove the carabout two hours later...no problem. Pulled very strong, no problem making solid shifts into second and third. I smelled under the engine and all around the car, nothing but the usual engine smells. I did not smell that burnt asbestos smell that a clutch makes and i certainly did not smell any burnt oil. I am hoping that it is just one of those freak things that a clutch does. Again, thank you for all your help, it is helping a lot.