maxima297

My 97 5spd SE has been acting a little strange for the past week. After I shift and let the clutch out, the rpms will jump up about 500 and fall back down to where they're supposed to be. It happens at almost every shift now. When I'm in 5th on the highway, the rpms are at 3k at 70mph and if I try to accelerate they jump up about 300 and drop down, no change in speed. It used to be if I stepped on the gas just a little, she'd speed right up. Now I have very little power. I still have the same codes I had before this started (fuel canister, rear o2 and egr), so I don't know what's causing this.

JvG

[QUOTE=maxima297;9074661]My 97 5spd SE has been acting a little strange for the past week. After I shift and let the clutch out, the rpms will jump up about 500 and fall back down to where they're supposed to be. It happens at almost every shift now. When I'm in 5th on the highway, the rpms are at 3k at 70mph and if I try to accelerate they jump up about 300 and drop down, no change in speed. It used to be if I stepped on the gas just a little, she'd speed right up. Now I have very little power. I still have the same codes I had before this started (fuel canister, rear o2 and egr), so I don't know what's causing this.[/QUOTE

You have all the symptoms of a slipping clutch. Time to buy parts and arrange a time and place for some quality time with your car. Your clutch will not last much longer.

I had the same problem with my 94 Nissan pickup.

maxima297

You have all the symptoms of a slipping clutch. Time to buy parts and arrange a time and place for some quality time with your car. Your clutch will not last much longer.

I had the same problem with my 94 Nissan pickup.[/QUOTE]

Will it make it til Friday afternoon, if I get the parts by then? My car is a daily driver, I work 2 jobs and need it to be on the road 6 days a week.

maxima297

I just got home and checked the codes again. Now my knock sensor code is back on and I've got the 1320 ignition code, which baffles me because I have no idea what's causing that. I've replaced the plugs and wires already, with Bosch iridium plugs and oem wires.

JoshG

They need to be NGK spark plugs, any others will cause weird problems

maxima297

I took a chance because my store didn't have any ngk in stock when I needed them. It's only been 10k...and I ripped 2 boots getting the job done because I'm horrible at removing them.

JoshG

well I would recommend changing the plugs to NGK, im pretty positive this is causing your power loss.

JvG

Will it make it til Friday afternoon, if I get the parts by then? My car is a daily driver, I work 2 jobs and need it to be on the road 6 days a week.[/QUOTE]

I suggest asking around who knows a good transmission place. You will want their diagnosis of a slipping clutch before you proceed. You might also consider having this done professionally. A shop might/should be able to do this in one day. It would take longer if you do it your self. It would be best if the flywheel was removed and serviced.

Do you have a sheltered place to work, or can you borrow a car for a while? If you do, the clutch could be feasible. Otherwise it's a few hours to remove everything and take the flywheel to the machine shop. Then a few hours to put it all back together.

It is possible to buy a resurfaced flywheel at the parts store. return yours for the core charge. Might save you some much-needed time.

Sounds like the main problem is that you need the car six days a week and work two jobs..

JvG

Really? Please explain how the engine would loose power while it's running faster. The spark plugs are obviously doing their job.

maxima297

I suggest asking around who knows a good transmission place. You will want their diagnosis of a slipping clutch before you proceed. You might also consider having this done professionally. A shop might/should be able to do this in one day. It would take longer if you do it your self. It would be best if the flywheel was removed and serviced.

Do you have a sheltered place to work, or can you borrow a car for a while? If you do, the clutch could be feasible. Otherwise it's a few hours to remove everything and take the flywheel to the machine shop. Then a few hours to put it all back together.

It is possible to buy a resurfaced flywheel at the parts store. return yours for the core charge. Might save you some much-needed time.

Sounds like the main problem is that you need the car six days a week and work two jobs..[/QUOTE]

We both work at separate Napa stores during the day and I deliver papers at night. He drives an 02 wrangler 5spd, which is my backup vehicle but it's horrible on gas and doesn't have much room (we also have 2 kids). My car has always been the main car. As for the 2 jobs, I'd love to give one up, but I can't afford to right now.

Rit

iTrader: (3)

An easy way to test your clutch for slipping is :

With the car stopped, engage the Emergency brake

Put the car in 5th gear

Let out the clutch slowly with the car running

The engine should stall immediately

If the RPMs go up, without the engine stalling, then your clutch is slipping.

If it stalled immediately, then you have another problem, possibly the spark plugs as has been suggested.

A simple test !

maxima297

Oh she stalls instantly if I forget to hold the clutch in while in gear, like I did this morning on my paper route.

JvG

The likely problem (clutch) is not quite that bad (yet). Two more good tests....
1. find a long hill to drive up. Climb the hill in your usual gear. any slipping?
then accelerate while watching the rpms. what happens?

2. Get on the freeway. put it in 5th gear. Then floor it. Watch the rpms. What happens?

If your rpms increase while the car does not go much faster the clutch needs work.

Do you smell anything unusual? Like burning brake or clutch?

maxima297

We don't have much in the way of hills where I live. I'm on the road now, so far no problems. I'll let you know how it goes on the Thruway.

maxima297

5th gear on the thruway, gas pedal floored, rpms jump but the car doesn't follow through. It's a struggle accelerating beyond 60mph. Right now I'm at 65 @ 2600-2700. There was an immediate burning smell after pushing the gas down.

JvG

Yes, you do seem to have a bad clutch. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Get the clutch fixed. All new parts. You only want to do this project once. It sucks too much to have to do the work again because you cheaped out the first time.
New clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, and serviced flywheel.

Note regarding flywheel. If you fix this soon you might be able to scuff the flywheel with sandpaper or scotch-brite pads while it is still on the car.

maxima297

I've never done anything this in depth. And I've done everything to my cat except the alignment. How do I go about this? And what do I do in the meantime? None of the parts for my car are available in NYS. I'd have to have them shipped to one of our stores. And I can't exactly afford a shop to do it....

maxima297

I tried flooring it in other gears. 1st and 2nd she goes. 3rd has a little hesitation. 4th and 5th just cause the rpms to rev.

maxima297

We thought the problem was the lack of fluid in the transaxle. We just flushed it 13k ago and yesterday it was bone dry. I know there's an axle leak but it wasn't that bad...3 months ago.

blissfulfantasy

hello, I'm not sure if this is relevant to this but I have a 2011 nissan maxima. When I'm driving locally or stuck in traffic on the high way, after letting go of the gas my rpm needle suddenly drops really quickly to about 500 and then jumps right back up. Sometimes i can feel a jerk in the car when this happens. I need help please!!

JvG

Sounds like you have two problems, unrelated, in the same area. This is what I call a
clustercluck. as in flock.

A dry axle creates whining sounds from ruined bearings. No way does it act like a burning clutch. I have had both a dry transmission and more than one bad clutch over the years.
You seem to hope that adding fluid to the transmission will solve both issues. Not true.

It is a given that the clutch will need to be replaced this month. You will need to remove the transmission to do this. In an ideal world you would carry the transmission to a shop which could help you.

There are instructions in the stickies at near the top of this forum. Also do a search in this forum. Others have done and have documented their work. Youtube could be helpful.

I looked on Amazon.com. You could get your parts delivered in two days for 2-3 hundred.
Buy good parts. Do NOT get cheap parts. If you do, plan on doing the job again.

You could do the work yourself if you have a secure place to work, have the right tools and borrow a car for a week. Spend the rest of today doing research and developing a game plan.

This would be an ideal time to have the transmission looked at.

If you cannot do the work yourself, maybe someone knows a shade-tree guy who could do the work at a reasonable price.

maxima297

I work at Napa, I get about 60% off retail price. All I need is a specific list of everything that I need to buy to do the job and I can save quite a bit of money there.

JvG

I already told you which parts to buy. clutch disk, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing. Some people also replace the clutch lever. .

maxima297

Thank you, and I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out wondering how much more time I have til I can't drive it. I drive 100-150 miles per day because of the distance to and from work. Taking my bfs Jeep really isn't feasible and we don't have anyone else nearby whose car we can use.

JvG

I'd say maybe a week or so if there are few hills, and if you are gentile with the clutch. The main risk you take is that the car might be far away from home when the clutch totally fails.

For now the car can be driven to a shop or shade tree guy.
You don't have much time.

Rit

iTrader: (3)

Where in NY are you located ? Possibly some one on the Forum can help you if you are near them.

JvG

Agreed. Someone local who has been through this would be a good option.

maxima297

I live in Lakeport, on the northern edge of Madison County, mere houses off rt 31.

Rit

iTrader: (3)

I'm in Schenectady. A little too far for me.

maxima297

I found a set of videos on YouTube, and it doesn't look too difficult, transaxle weight aside. What I'm worried about mostly is putting it all together properly esp since in his video he did the linkage wrong and doesn't have 3rd gear now....also, do I really need to take the Trans to a shop to be rebuilt or can I replace the pilot bearing myself?

asand1

iTrader: (1)

I agree clutch. If you work at Napa you can overnight a clutch kit, and you probably have a shade tree customer than can help you.

I posted a link inr the NE regional forum for you.

maxima297

Thank you!

I ordered the clutch kit, and it'll be on the night truck and here at my store tomorrow. I also ordered the flywheel just in case I need it, but that won't be here til Wednesday. I'm babying the clutch as best I can. So far I've only spent $120 for everything, so that still leaves me about $200 for whatever else I need to get this job done.

JvG

The pilot bearing is something that you can do yourself.
You had mentioned that your transmission leaks. Some of the time it leaks from the output shafts seals. The reason is a bad bearing. I just know about that from reading this board.

Full disclosure: while I have replaced clutches on other cars,
I have not needed to do the clutch on the Maxima. Have not actually done this project.... yet. I have 200k on my car.

JvG

I recommend that a shop would examine the transmission so that they could tell you what it needs. Don't expect that opinion to be free. You could also ask this forum. Let us know where the trans is leaking. Someone might be able to help you.

maxima297

I need to get it home and jacked up before I can tell you. I know it's still wet underneath as it was filled Saturday. I'm just leaving work now and it's a long drive.

JvG

I just noticed that there is a good post regarding c/v axle replacement. read it. lots of good information there. they mention seals in the transmission that should be replaced in your transmission, also instructions.

ef9

iTrader: (8)

I did a manual trans swap on my 96 I30. Donor trans had 96k miles, so I only replaced the clutch. I did not resurface the flywheel and kept the same pressure plate.

I replaced both output shaft seals. Be very careful when removing and reinstalling the axle shafts. You could damage these seals causing a leak.

One thing I don't like about the manual trans is checking transaxle fluid is a pain as compared to an automatic.

To remove and reinstall the transmission, I used a transmission jack adapter. It allowed me to do the removal and replacement by myself. You can easily tilt the transmission to whatever angle you need. This jack adapter goes into a conventional floor jack.

Pilot bearing is not needed. Replace the throw out bearing. Be sure to clean and relube the clutch release fork.

JvG

If the pilot bearing is not needed, why did every stick shift car produced by every car company have a pilot bearing? Do car companies like to waste money?

ef9

iTrader: (8)

Most cars and trucks need them. Just not the A32 and A33 Maximas.

You can search on this forum. The trans input shaft doesn't reach that far into the engine.

I measured mine too before assembly and confirmed this. I wasted money on that part.

Half Assed

Slipping clutch no doubt, its a wear part that will need to be replaced every 100-150k miles depending on the driver.

It will go a long time with a slipping clutch around town. I drove for 6 months with a smoked clutch in an old truck that I had. It had 38" tires and after it warmed up it sometimes wouldn't move from a stop sign. Couldn't go any faster than 45mph it was slipping so bad.

No harm in driving it other than you can ruin the surface of the flywheel from heat buildup and you might need to have it turned at a shop. Or just buy a new one if its cheap.