I have a 98se 5spd. It is my first car with a manual. It has around 94k miles on it. When I accelerate, it seems like it doesn't want to go. It does it in all gears and only in the lower rpms. Nothing else is wrong. I have no check engine light and I think that it is the clutch slipping, but I'm not sure. I have also been researching on what it may be, but I am still clueless. I also did look at the stickies and all the threads. Any imput will help me out. Thanks

 

To see if your clutch slips, put it into a gear, at least second, and try to give it a lot of gas. If your rpm's rise real quick, without the speed or acceleration to match , it means that your power is not getting to the ground, and is most likely a slipping clutch. It will vibrate the car a little, and almost feel like you're spinning your tires, but you're not. If you want to stay OEM, look into the 5th gen. setup. Read both of these threads: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=357673 http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=360332

 

I would try 5th gear, at ~50mph going up a slight hill. The higher gears tend to slip first. If your engine races (and you're not accellerating) then your clutch is slipping.

 

Can the clutches be adjusted, or once they slip is it soon to be game over?

 

From what I here, the reason most clutches slip is due to glazing and the rumor is that if you granny shift your car for some time, your clutch will return back to normal. But this is only for glazing, if your disc is worn, then you need a new disc, no getting around that

 

A disk can slip for many reasons, and most of them are best solved by replacing the clutch.

I'd replace it. If you're short on cash, leave it until 3rd gear starts slipping. Hell, my beater was slipping 1st before I finally gave in and replaced the clutch.

 

here's another way to check for slippage. Park the car, pull the ebrake up, put the car in 4th and slowly let go of the clutch, if the car stalls immediately then the clutch is fine, if the car is still running with the clutch fully depressed then your clutch is toast.

 

Thanks everyone for your imput. It is all very useful to me. Thanks.