Well before a few days ago it was working fine and holding strong in each gear. Friday night I was coming home and somehow the stabilizer bar broke loose at the weld on the shifter linkage over the cat. Needless to say it was impossible to find a gear.. When I finally found one coasting with traffic it happened to be 4th. I sure as hell wasnt gonna try for another since I felt lucky just finding one and I was only a few miles from home. However I had to dump the clutch obviously at about 5k at each stoplight to get rolling (ohhh the smell of a burning clutch as you can imagine). Anyway, I pulled the linkage out and got it welded back together and put on the car yesterday. Now, today, I noticed slipping in 2nd and 3rd under decent acceleration and Im still getting a burning clutch smell even though its shifting perfectly. Will it continue to do this till it eventually gives out? Thanks guys,

Grant

 

sounds like it's done to me.

 

You could try to keep driving it around and see if it smoothes itself back out.... not always the best idea though...

 

Yep, sounds like it's toast.

You know, I've started in 3rd and 4th before to prove a point (although never more than once at a time), you don't need to dump it from 5k, just slip it from like 2.

 

if you know how to take her apart I would mos deff suggest that. but I would have to agree riding it out for a day or so just to see if the same thing happens. it sound like you have already been doing this but try to vary how you drive like hard to light maybe to just try and understand what the prob is.

 

Is it a stock clutch?

I've heard that clutches made of stock-like materials (organic, carbon-kevlar, etc.) can become hard and glazed if abused too much or excessively over-heated. Once this happens, it's toast; it won't go back to its natural state....unless it's a pure kevlar disk. Disks made of pure kevlar, while expensive, should be able to take much more abuse, and always return to their natural states.

If it was me, I would drive it for a bit and see if it gets any better...but I wouldn't be surprised if its gone.

 

wow... how many times did you dump the clutch at 5k?

Sounds like its done. Especially if you did at least a few dump at 5k in 4th gear. If you are able to change the clutch yourself then you wont have to dig too deep in your pockets.

 

Thanks guys, it is the stock clutch and you all have pretty much affirmed what I already believed to be the case. This happened at 4-5 stoplights.. If its just slipping slightly, any idea on how much time I have left on it if I drive conservatively? (ballpark guess?)

Thanks again everyone

 

very hard to ball park it. if it feels like its getting worse daily then depending on how bad it feels the next day could give you an idea as to how long might last.

Best thing to do is get it changed as soon as you can, and hope it lasts till then

 

Really depends on how bad its slipping. My estimation is, if you can avoid large hills, and not getting on the throttle hard, it should last for a couple of months, depends on how much you drive, id venture to say ~2000 miles. When i mean large hills, if you have to go up them, dont try go up in 3rd or 4th, down shift into 2nd.

I think 2000 miles is very reasonable, you could probably get away longer, but you will find it gets VERY annoying. You should see some of the crap i see that comes into my work..back 2 years ago, brand new 05 maxima with ~20K miles..slipping clutch..there were ***** of what looked to be hair..the friction disk was toast..it was worn pas the rivits, which destroyed the flywheel.

Good luck man, and for what its worth, when my tranny went (input shaft bearing literally blew up), i couldnt get it into 1st or 2nd so i had to take off in 3rd. I couldnt smell clutch but riding the clutch from 3000rpm just doesnt feel good. The smell of clutch will also stick around for awhile to lol..i tried a second gear burnout back in the day..and bailed..for whatever reason i didnt push the pedal back in i rode it out..the car smelt like clutch for 2 days.

 

Unless you want to put baby powder through the inspection cover several times a day, yes, it's spent.

 

yep, its a dying clutch

 

its gone man...i m doin mine rite now...

 

sounds finished,guess it was on it's last life.

 

my clutch is very very very light is this a sign its going down its like pushing on the brake/ gas pedal when i bought the car it was completely moded but i dont know if he put in a new clutch im guessing so since its so loose and sometimes when trying to get into 1st or 3rd especially 1st it just needs to almost be slamed in from 2nd i try to go 2nd to 1st but cant seem to just ease in have to force. and at high rpms in 2nd shifting to 3rd i have to push it in as well. i do have a short throw shifter thats pretty much as much as i kno.
let me know what you guys think.

 

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2003/20030707h.jpg

 

Ok guys, next move, new clutch.....

5th gen clutch or something after market?

Im doin the 3.5 swap next spring so I dont need to buy an awesome one right now that im only gonna use for a few months. What do you guys think?

Thanks,

Grant

 

'01 clutch or go home. Either that or you could get a stage 1 street in anticipation of the 3.5 swap (better option IMO).

 

this may be a stupid question, but wont i have to get a new one when i get the 3.5 or will the one on my 3.0 bolt up?

 

3.0 clutch on a 3.5 is fine.

 

I guess I'm the only one with a different view here,
if the linkage was broken/damaged, that could be the only problem.
If your linkage is not operating properly due to a mis-allignment from breaking/welding, etc. then you are going to have problems fully engaging gears and holding gears.
its quite possible that this has nothing at all to do with your clutch.

 

good point, when the guy welded it back he alligned almost perfect along the broken previous weld.. you think that little bit of variation could throw it off that bad?? I mean he said that this is something that should be done while the linkage is on the car but i can imagine it would make that big a difference

 

however........ this was the weld on the stabilizer bar, not the actual shifter rod....

 

A mis-allignment could easily cause a problem, regardless of what on the linkage broke.
I'd be inclined to find out WHY it broke, seems unusual, my best guess would be resistance/slamming it in gear(likely 1st and 2nd which are on the same line)
1. Have you had any issues recently (clutch/shifting)
2. Is it the stock tranny/shifter
3. How many mi/km are on the car

Honestly, other than the burning smell, there is nothing in your post indicating a clutch issue, it seems more likely a tranny/shifter linkage/gear selector yolk/rod issue.

 

gears are either engaged or they aren't - there can be no slippage in a manual trans. if he says there is slipping going on it's not a problem with his trans or the shift linkage - it's a clutch problem.

 

I wouldn't recommend letting it die out, you wouldn't want it to leave you stranded at a really bad time, mine did but luckily i wasn't far from home.

 

try bleeding the clutch?

 

thats not exactly true. thrust loads on gears can cause the synchro's to want to disengage, if there is a selector fork rod that is just .5mm away from fully 'locking' with the poppet/detent ball then it can slip.€
the question is, is the shifter slipping out of place at all, or feeling like its not fully engaging? obiously you wont 'feel' anything in the clutch to indicate issues unless its a hydraulic problem.

 

I kind of see what you're saying, however I have never heard of this happening. Ever. Synchros themselves really cannot produce enough force to affect the car, if it started to "slip" from the tranny, it would basically let go altogether.

This is a clutch issue, dumping from 5k in 4th gear 5 times in a row will eat up a lot of clutches. The clutch material isn't really "used up" so to speak, it's just glazed over--it was heated to the point where the friction surface basically melted and became smooth and slippery.

Honestly I doubt it will get much worse as there is still material there, but I wouldn't want to drive a car that I couldn't go WOT in without the clutch slipping.

 

thanks for the help everyone.

Now, clutch options... Ive always heard good things about the Spec Stage 2. Anyone have some insight?

Grant

 

It wouldnt be the sychro's themselves that are creating the force, its the gears that create axial force and can cause the sychro's to disengage the gear if the shifter fork is not fully secured.
Im obiously not saying this isnt the clutch, just that there is a possibility, especially due to the linkage failure, that there may be an issue with the gear selector.
when you disengage the clutch(push the clutch pedal down), can you engage all gears?

 

^^^ yes, I have no problem getting in any gears and all are very crisp shifts as they have been in the past.

 

AFAIK, SPEC Stage 2 and 3 just don't hold power. ACT uses a high clamping force pressure plate, so the pedal is stiffer but it is definitely a strong clutch. Exedy uses a milder pressure plate, but their discs grip harder. A lot of the boosted maxes used to run Clutchnets. You can also do a hybrid setup like ACT pressure plate with a Clutchnet disc.

RPS is popular clutch in the 240 community. Mild/moderate pedal feel, but they will hold plenty of power. They also make clutches for Maximas.

You going for strictly streetability or track/street? I would really consider going 6-puck if you're planning on doing any track stuff. With a puck disc, you can clutch drop/kick all day and you won't ever glaze it.

 

You just wind up with a shattered tranny.

Not much of a reason to clutch kick in a Maxima, even if you did feel like spinning the tires you'd probably just get a crapload of wheelhop.

A clutch slipping and the gears disengaging are a completely different sensation. If it were the tranny the car would just "let go" altogether, the engine would immediately redline and the car would go nowhere, whereas with the clutch it will "let go" gradually and still pull a little bit. The synchros are the only mechanism in the transmission that could mimic that sensation.

 

i must say the spec stage 2 hold power pretty well. It has yet to slip on me regarless of the abuse plus it feels stock.

I must say the clutchnet red is a strong clutch, peddle still feels relatively stock but clamps hard and engagement feels almost binary either on or off.... can get annoying.

heard great things about the rps and the ACT.

 

well im goin for high 200s in both HP and TQ with a tuned 3.5.....

Ive heard hit or miss things about both ACT and Exedy but my friend swears by his Spec II. Now, he only had an untuned 3.0 so........

This will be 99% street driving, I may go to the track once or twice.

On the group deal sale it says the Spec II can hold 300 lb-ft..?

 

A quick search turned up these opinions...

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=371467

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=403685

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...12&postcount=8

too much inconsistency.

 

the situation you are describing would not cause a slipping action while in gear like he was describing. other than the grinding of the splines on the coupler sleeve on the engagement teeth on the gear - which would be IMMEDIATELY evident from the horrible grinding sound you'd hear - and the car wouldn't move until the grinding stopped and the coupler sleeve fully engaged the engagement teeth on the gear - he's made no mention of any crazy grinding noises. No grinding from his trans means there is no slipping going on inside his trans.

 

I had the 5th gen clutch, from an 01 full kit, pressure plate, TOB, friction disk, and i really liked it, compared to my old stock 4g clutch it gripped alot harder, pedal pressure was a bit stiffer but definately nothing compared to some cars. It took a lot of abuse, and when i had the tranny out for the rebuild, it was showing its wear, approx 30,000kms of it, so i got a hell of a price from a ACT stage 1, threw that in with my fidanza flywheel and ive been happy with that since.

 

so is it out of the realm of possibilities that if i drive really easily that it will re-surface eventually?