4th gen max.

I had it sitting in a parking lot for 3 days without driving it and when I came back today the clutch had lost pressure. It drops halfway to the floor without much pressure and then from there you can hear it doing something, but its not enough to engage the clutch. Pumping it seems to have no effect on pressure. I didn't think to look under the engine bay for leaked fluid (that was dumb).

I was going to try bleeding it later today, but there's gotta be either a slow leak somewhere or the slave or master has gone bad?

Any initial thoughts before I go at it?

Other thing is the day I stopped driving it the exhaust hanger that holds up the main cat rusted/fell off (no idea how) and the flange ripped off the pipe directly downstream. I doubt this has anything to do with the clutch but I figured I'd mention it cause it's a weird coincidence.

 

Update: investigated and its got a minor leak from the slave cylinder out of the banjo fitting. Just gonna try to top it up, bleed it and see how long it lasts. I currently have final exams coming up as of Monday morning so I don't really have time to deal with it.

How bad of an idea is it to try to make it 3 hours on a freshly filled/bled line? Mostly just straight highway driving.

 

replacing the slave is an easy job, even replacing the short rubber line there aint bad either, bleeding was the longest part of the job for me (First time bleeding, took days for me to get it right, but now i'm the bleeding masta muwahahahahahahaha...)

Anyways, if you gotta drive it, you gotta drive it, I wouldn't drive a leaky clutch line in the city but on the highway no problem, when it gets stuck in gear, just keep your foot on the LIGHTLY accelerator pedal (just enough to hold speed without gaining speed) and then pop it out of gear and coast to your stop.

Keep your dot 3 and 10mm wrench handy when you do have to stop....

 

Is the line itself leaking, or is it the banjo bolt washers? Replace the copper washers and bleed.

 

I just replaced my clutch slave cyl & flex hose last wednesday. It has been leaking for the last 2 years. I carry a bottle of brake fluid in my trunk to top off reservoir. I removed the air cleaner intake, the air temp sensor conn & pressure. It took a while to bleed for a decent pedal.

 

replace SC and line w/ SS line...bleeding = easy peasy lemon squeezy

 

Thanks guys,

I was going to try to replace the line myself but I was told you need a special tool to get the line out of those fittings/the new one in (is that true?). SS sounds like a good replacement option if NAPA etc. stocks line that would work, anyone know if they do? Actually I don't even know how those banjo fittings are attached on either end, I'd figure they were threaded but not sure..

 

No special tool needed.

http://aackshunsgarage.blogspot.com/...utch-line.html

Instructions

and here's the full clutch line replacement...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-01...ht_2192wt_1165

 

Awesome, thanks Aackshun!

I just bled it and it will full disengage the clutch, for now. I guess I'm gonna see how long it lasts and try to drive it around a bit once I get the exhaust hung. If i can make it home like this I'll be installing that SS line kit.

Also actually, do you think if I just keep topping up the fluid it'll stay alright or will air be getting in through the point of the leak?

 

Ehhhhhh, if I'm simulating this right in my head, it will still suck in air.

That is just a temporary solution until you can fix the real problem, you're going to be re-bleeding it every week... Hell it's what I ended up doing before I rebuilt my slave (found another leak from there after I replaced the lines)

//Sidenote for future searchers:

If you rebuild/replace your slave you should rebuild/replace your master cylinder too, or be lazy like me and just rebuild the slave and hope for the best, 40k miles and 2 years strong since replacing my lines and rebuilding the slave, my master still hasn't failed (that doesn't mean I don't have a spare sitting in my toolbox as I type this!!)

 

+1 ive got that exact line installed. its crazy how much clutch line nissan put in there, i was amazed....and ya cant beat 40 bones + ship, its a cheap fix.

not to mention better peace of mind, rather than waitin for the line to give out or wondering if u have to bleed ur clutch or add fluid in the mornin before work

 

Bleeding that straight line is SO MUCH EASIER!!! I can not say this enough.

 

WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i swear i got to a point tryin to bleed the factory system that if the car wouldve been driveable it wouldve gone off a cliff. plus i prolly shaved 3 lbs in piping lol

 

Bleeding it was actually pretty easy when I did it, but doing a full replacement of fluid is probably more difficult. I'm about to go check the fluid level and see how much its leaked on it's own since yesterday and use a couple clothes hangers on my exhaust so I can at least drive it around a little.

Anyone have any idea why nissan put in such a massive clutch line? The braided SS replacement seems like a much cleaner/logical choice.

 

I took out the master, slave, joined by ss line and bench bled the whole sys before reinstalling it.

 

I believe it was done for comfort reasons....its not a sports car and shouldnt feel like one when shifting....the SS line will add a TINY amount of vibration to the feel or the pedal and i can feel the clutch engage slightly more than with the OEM setup.....2 cents.