AzMax

Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you have had this moaning sound when you start to give the car some gas and release the clutch. It almost sounds like 2 pieces of metal rubbing together. It seems to only do it in first gear and it doesnt happen all the time. I took it to the dealer and of course they said that they couldnt re-create the problem "although I think they were lying to me". But if any of you have had this problem and have been able to get it fixed I would like to know so I can tell my dealer exactly what needs to be done. My car only has 10k miles on it and its a 2000, it should not be making this noise.

Moe

My 01 makes a funny noise when I let the clutch out in first, sounds like the syncros suck. Sometimes if I rev the engine a little then pop the clutch normally it is absolutely smooth w/ no noise.

djmaxski

I hadn't noticed... I will check to see if it happens on my 2001 SE and let you know if it does this.

max2001se

I have only about 3000 miles on it but have heard no such noice from the clutch. Rattles and squeaks sure, but the clutch is fine. It may be time to take into the dealer.

blew226

I've got the same friggin thing. 18,000 miles on my 2kse. I took it to the dealer at around 12,000 and of course could not replicate it. Service writer looked at me like I was crazy as we spent 10 minutes on a hill practically frying my clutch to try and repeat it.

jashick

same thing happened to me. From a dead stop, release the clutch and there's some groaning noise which goes away
after the car starts moving.
Well, I took my Max (2000 SE 22K miles) to the dealer, they said couldn't duplicate the problem so I had the service advisor hop in the passenger seat as I drove around. Mechanic said I probably needed a new clutch so they replaced it (under warranty). After he finished the job, he said that he found some loose spring in the tranny that was rubbing against something else.
Anyways, the noise is gone and I have a new clutch.. all because I complained like hell.

good luck

Moe

I bought my Max in CT but I live in VA, will there be any problem if I bring it in to my local dealer to get the warranty work done on the clutch?

Moe

I bought my Max in CT but I live in VA, will there be any problem if I bring it in to my local dealer to get the warranty work done on the clutch?

blew226

I want to keep this thread alive to see if others are suffering from this. It seems like only 1 person was able to replicate it and get it fixed. I can't for the life of me ever replicate it in front of the mechanic.

dvyuan

I just noticed that same thing on my car. It is funny, it only happens when I'm trying to go up a hill. I think it might be the throw out bearing not being greased enough. I don't know if I want the dealer to mess with my car.

AzMax

I was successful in duplicating the problem for the service advisor. I should of just left it with him at that point but I had to be other places. So today I took it in to leave it with him so it could be worked on. So far nothing, I have told him of the findings that jashick and dvyuan wrote about, but I have not heard from him yet. He of course is unable to re-duplicate the problem (even though he heard it for himself last week). But I wanted to see if anyone else has had any more luck on getting this fixed without replacing the clutch.

nisMAXse

My 2K1 SE (7400 miles) also exhibits this "moaning sound"...but I only started noticing it around the 6400 mile range. Like you said, it doesn't happen all of the time...usually on hilly starts. I'll pay more attention to it and maybe even get a new clutch out of it!

nisMAXse

My 2K1 SE (7400 miles) also exhibits this "moaning sound"...but I only started noticing it around the 6400 mile range. Like you said, it doesn't happen all of the time...usually on hills, but also on flat roads. I'll pay more attention to it and maybe even get a new clutch out of it!

AzMax

I finally am getting somewhere. The service guy said they could'nt recreate the problem for the mechanic, but he said that the mechanic has seen this problem a few times before. They are replacing the clutch today and I'll hopefully have my car back by this afternoon. Thanks a lot to all of you that posted and helped. I kept on this guys *** and it seemed to be the only way to get some results out of the dealership. I'll let you know how the new clutch does.

Dave B

This problem isn't limited to the 5th gens. Us 4th gener's have the same problem. Unfortunately, it is something you really can't fix. Fixing the clutch is only temporary and the sound will come back. My clutch is as strong as the day I bought the car (2 years ago/35000 miles, currently 62000 miles) and it never slips, chirps 2nd hard and sometimes chirps 3rd. However, the groan has been there since the day I bought it.

You'll just have to live with it. I think what you are hearing is a little clutch groan and noisy 1st gear ratio.


Dave

young1976

I too bought my 2k SE from CT, but now I live in VA. My clutch moan first came out at around 12500 and it only did that during slow accelerations up a hill, or into a parking spot. And now it seems to do it more often even though it's still intermittent.

But it still grabs. I thought I was the only one with this problem. The car is only now 5 months old and it'll have a little over 14000 miles, I drive on the highway a lot, so I don't think I'm hard on the clutch at all.

But what did you guys do or say to the service manager to get them to replace your clutch? I'm thinking of persuing this before my warrenty runs out.

Thanks

AzMax

I basically told the service advisor that I was not happy with hearing that noise coming from the car and that I thought the noise was not normal. I kept telling him that the noise bothered me and that I did'nt want this to come back and bite me in the butt after my warranty was over.He finally gave in and is replacing the clutch now as we speak. He tried to tell me that it was common in 25% of all maxima 5-speeds but I think that is a load of crap since he himself has never heard it before. If it is a normal sound they should find a fix for it because it does sound bad. I love the car, but that sound is just not acceptable to me. It probably helped a lot that the service advisor actually heard the groaning. If he had not then I seriously doubt that I would of been able to get the clutch replaced. But I hope this helps, I better be getting my car back today, they had the wrong part for it yesterday, so I should have it in a few hours.

AzMax

Ok I have my car back and the only thing I can complain about is that the clutch is just too easy to push in. I want to know from you guys what would be better, especially for accellerating. Should the clutch be stiffer to push in, or easier. It just seems like i dont have a clutch anymore since its so easy to push the pedal in. And what does the dealer have to do to increase the tension in the clutch? Does it really matter? Please let me know what your opinions are. Thank you.

young1976

I think, from what I understand about clutches, easier could mean less pressure, but it could also mean more assist so it's easier on your left foot. I've driven large box trucks with clutches that are so heavy that a friend of mine was bearly able to push it in. I don't know if they can increase the tension, you should probably ask them or maybe someone who knows more about clutches can really answer that. Compared with Hondas and Subarus, which both have very good feel to their clutches, the maximas are very light compared to them and more predictable than the Hondas. But that's just what I think.