I am experiancing this clutch howel, but it is a very intermitant problem. i took it in to looked at, along with my 3rd gear grinding, and they said everything looks fine. but i really want to get this fixed. i was reading the TSB, but i didn't clearly understand what nissan would do to fix the problem, are the going to replace the clutch? thanks for the help.

-Chris

they replace the clutch plate

When I had mine done, they replaced the flywheel, disc and pressure plate. You can reproduce the howl by slowly engaging 1st gear from a stop on a steep hill.

hmmm... clutch plate... pardon my ingnorance on this, but that is not the clutch itself, but the item with all the little "fingers" on it which puts pressure on the clutch? or am i thinking of something else? i really need to brush up on my manual transmission knowledge. thanks...

-Chris

did yours do it all the time? mine only does it sometimes... but lately more then ever. i can not really say there is a "link" to when it does it... I.E. it does not do it more if i am hard on it, or when i take it easy. also, did you just tell them that it was doing it and belived you... or did they actually hear it then fix it? they wouldn't fix mine unless they heard a problem.

-Chris

Hey Chris,

I've had my clutch replaced twice for this problem and now it's back again. As for the third gear grind, I have that problem as well but they seem to think it's normal. We should bring our cars together someday to the dealer and give em hell. I live in Boston. Good luck....

Mine was getting pretty frequent when I had mine fixed at 18,000 miles. I had it fixed at Fireside Nissan in Attleboro, MA. They did not believe me when I told them about the "howl" until I showed them in person. They replaced just the clutch plate. They had never seen this problem before until I brought it to their attention. They gave me a loaner because I told them to take their time. I now have over 65,000 miles on the car and NO MORE "howl".

was this done free of charge to you, or did you pay for this?

-igS

It was all warranty work at 18,000 miles. It did not cost me anything.

Best to bring it in to the dealer with a printout of the TSB. Find the shop manager and reproduce problem for him by putting on parking brake and slowly slipping clutch while giving a little throttle in 1st gear. That's what I did, and they replaced it no questions asked. If you leave the car there for them to reproduce the problem, chances are they will not be able to duplicate the noise.

The reason they are not familiar with this is most dealerships do not see a lot of 6-speeds.

I see.... well there goes a wasted day at nissan... lol. well, i will try doing that next week. also, i am a little worried that my car may need a clutch soon... for some reason i think that the person that owned the car before me didn't know how to drive the car. i always thought the clutch should grab stronger... i especialy sense this after i have been driving the car hard, such as on the hwy, or round town driving. i go easy on my car about 95%, but i can't resist it sometimes! but my question is, is that i just bought my car about 1.5 months ago... do you think nissan will honor the car and replace the clutch if it is bad since i just go it?


-chris

Yes the pressure plate is part of the clutch. It is the piece with the fingers on it. When the throwout bearing applies pressure to the fingers, the clutch is disengaged. The plate has a "disc" inside it which meshes with one side of the clutch disc and the plate bolts onto the flywheel with the disc sandwiched in between.

The same test in reverse should work also since the gearing is similar.

ok, I understand now. so, they replace the pressure plate... i wonder how that produces a noise... and i wonder what is getting damaged in the process. would this problem affect the way my clutch pedal feels? because i sometimes notice that the pedal has more resistance then normal.


thanks..

-Chris

The feel is the same as before. I'm not positive, but I think the TSB "might" be for the disc and not the plate, but don't quote me on that . . . I think the updated disc uses a slightly different friction material which doesn't produce the howl.

Clutch Howel! HEHE It's "Clutch Howl"

don't post *****.

I'm getting the clutch howl as well. It just started like a month or 2 ago when i slowly take off in 1st or reverse. I have the biggest feeling it won't do it once i take the car to the dealer so they can hear it. As long as it's warranty work, it's all good.

I get it occasionally, for no apparent reason. My question is - is it really hurting anything, or is it just an annoying noise? I don't much care about the noise if it's not physically hurting the clutch. Oh, and I have a 2k 5-speed.

It's just the noise and is not indicative of any damage. You make a valid point - to replace the clutch disc, the tranny has to be dropped and the clutch assembly fully disassembled. It is a big job. If you are going to have this done, then you want to make sure that you're going to a good dealership who won't screw the job up.