Thanks to Daniel B. Martin for telling me about "Maxima Clutch Groan" in my post back in June when my 99 SE had 16K miles. I decided to get my "groan" resolved.

After THREE trips to Santa Monica Nissan (one trip they "claim" to have replaced my clutch under warranty) the "groan" was still there. Santa Monica Nissan said my driving habits were burning out the clutch. Come on! I've never raced the car and I'm a "normal" driver. Are Nissan clutches made out of tissue paper? In addition, this time SM Nissan would charge me $650 to replace the clutch again!

I complain to Nissan North America about SM Nissan's questionable service. Nissan NA tells me to try another dealer. I go to Culver City Nissan and they fix the problem after ONE try!

The problem: the throw-out bearing was not centered correctly with the pressure plate causing uneven pressure and wear on the pressure plate fingers (factory or SM Nissan dealer error, I don't know) resulting in the groan and occasional clutch chatter. Anyway, Nissan NA authorizes that the clutch, throw-out bearing and pressure plate be replaced under warranty. It's been 3 weeks and so far....everything is fine. After SIX months, I'm glad to see that at least Nissan NA takes responsibility for their customers.

I hope this helps other 5-speed owners with "Maxima Clutch Groan". I know how annoying the sound can be.

 

Glad to see it all worked out for you in the end. It is nice to know that at least if you speak up you get heard.

SuDZ

 

Clee should throw this in the FAQ.. if i see him online i will tell him

 

Hmmm, unless one of the mounting tabs of the TO bearing fell off of the clutch fork I fail to see how somebody could misalign the TO bearing. For those who dont have a good mental image, the T/O bearing rides on the input shaft on the transmission and is operated by the clutch fork which is also a lever to the clutch operating cylinder that pokes thru the top thats visible with the hood open.

 

hmm....so is this misalignment a result of poor clutch use, or is it a flaw in the assembly of the cluth? If it's the latter, can "I get some fries with that TSB please?"

 

I may have the similar issue with my 5th gen. Can you please describe the problem? I have a noise coming up from the powertrain only when starting in 1st gear, and letting the clutch go slowly. You may call it the grinding noise, but it is not mettal-on mettal...From the factory, my clutch/shifts are weird, really have to work your pedal.

 

here is his first post http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=39545

 

 

Thanks, SprintMax, for giving Y2KMaxGXE-R the link to my original post. Y2KMaxGXE-R, if you still have questions feel free to send me a message.

EricDWong makes a good point. Being "misaligned" sounds odd. But when you look at the pressure plate, the wear circle created by the throw-out bearing was not centered around the input shaft hole on the pressure plate fingers. I'm not sure how this could have happened but the fact that the clutch groan has enough people complaining about it to result in a label "Maxima Clutch Groan" makes me think that maybe this issue is a factory/manufacturing defect.

 

thank you guys. I will see a dealer for this problem sometime soon.

 

It happens only when my car is cold. Daniel B Martin sad it was ok before. I have no warranty. What should I do? Is it bad driving like that? Thank you.

 

In my case, when I originally bought the car it had 45k miles on it and never made the sound once. However, I have sinced then replaced the OEM clutch with an ACT one. Voila! I now have that wonderful "moowing" noise AND it chatters a bit. People say it's something you should learn to live with but I don't think it should be. It sounds horribly wrong and I don't think it's "normal". I've had my ACT clutch now for almost 600 miles and though the groaning sound and chatter has lessened, as well as pedal effort, it is still present. I just hate the fact that there are so many variables and all are a pain the ***/wallet to diagnose/fix. I know what can cause chatter but what the hell is up with the dying cow sound? I just hope I'm not messing anything up until I can fix it.

 

I miss Daniel B Martin. You ask a question he answers it. Now there is no response from people.

 

I have that sound too and I have the same question as 190hpKiLLa is it bad to drive or no??

 

I'm not sure if it's bad to drive with clutch groan - depends on the cause. IF your case is exactly the same as mine (bad throw out bearing/misalinged TO bearing), I'd get it replaced. The BIG drawback is that the labor costs are about $400 to replace the $40 throw out bearing. The general advice that every mechanic gave me was that if you're going to take apart the transmission and pay for the labor, you might as well replace the clutch and pressure plate in addition to the throw out bearing.