AceofSpds

iTrader: (4)

Im posting this topic for a friend, he'll post w/ his issues below me lol.

CreativeSkillz

I love you Josh. Thanks.

Ok, so here is my issues.

I was driving home one night, had to turn around so I put the car in reverse, then proceeded to pull forward, 1st gear, everything ok. Soon as I go into 2nd, car stops going forward. At first, I thought I just missed the gear and it was still in neutral. So I tried again, same thing. Tried first, same thing. I tried every gear 1 - 5 and reverse, car just acts like it's in neutral. If I rev the car up to like 6k RPMs while it's in the gear, it will INCH forward, I'm talking very slowly. Like slower than walking speed slow.

So I am fairly confident the clutch has gone out on me, but it's odd. The clutch never appeared to be slipping before. I mean, I never really rev/dumped the clutch or drove it like a hot rod. I do recall the clutch (throwout bearing most likely) making noise if the car was in neutral and the clutch wasn't depressed. Though the car never had any issues going into or out of any gears.

If that is indeed the symptoms of a bad clutch, I did some pricing. The shop I normally take my car to wants to charge my nine hundred and fifty something dollars to replace it and the flywheel. I almost died when they told me that much. I tried to call the Dealership today, but the people who could give me an estimate were out for the day so I have to try tomorrow. Called the local parts house and it's like $120 for the clutch kit and $80 for the flywheel.

If I do it myself, how difficult is it? I'm not new to replacing clutches, I used to own a DSM and I pulled the motor on it about once a week, no joke. LOL What's the best approach to get the transmission off the block to replace the clutch/flywheel? Going through the bottom or pulling it out the top? What size are the axle nuts? Was told they might be 36mm? Any other special/large tool needed for this job?

VQP0WER

I would look into the shift control rod. It maybe worn or broken, which would prevent the vehicle from grabbing the gears. Don't sound like a clutch though.

Is this a 5th gen?

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

Clutch jobs on FWD cars are cake. However, before tackling this job make sure it isn't something hydraulic. You can see the slave cylinder operate on top of the transmission, which makes things easy to diagnose...if it moves when the clutch is depressed, your hydraulic system is good to go. If not, start there.

However, seeing as how you said you were having throwout bearing issues, I'm leaning more toward that. Your clutch probably isn't bad since you said you noticed no slipping before, but since you're in there you might as well replace it. Buy the entire clutch kit including all bearings and seals, etc. and some redline MT-90 fluid.

Going through the bottom is pretty easy. Make sure you have a good jack, and with the front end up on jackstands, support the engine with a floorjack and a block of wood. You need to remove the center crossmember with the front and rear motor mounts attached and both axles for enough clearance. The rest is cake...the axle nuts are 36 mm. Make sure you have a large breaker bar for this job; I've broken a couple getting this nut off before... other than that it shouldn't be anything new to you, given your experience.

CreativeSkillz

Where exactly is this located on the car?

Yes it's a 2001 Nissan Maxima SE 20Th Anniversary

That is a good point. I didn't think that the clutch might not be fully engaging due to the hydraulics. I'll have to get someone over here to help me diagnosis that though.


It's been doing that a long time. As far as I know, the throw out bearing just allows you to change gears, while it's all moving in there. So technically, if this was the case and it was bad/worn completely out then I wouldn't be able to shift gears while the car was on. I'd have to turn the car off, change gears then start it back up. Right? Either that or RPM shift the gears and/or just grind the hell out of them until they grab.

That's the kind of information I needed! Thanks!

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

It's very easy to see. It's right on top of the transmission underneath the airbox, and is encased in a black flexible rubber surrounding. You'll see it move if someone presses the clutch pedal in.

The throwout bearing has to do with controlling the position of the clutch disc with respect to the pressure plate. When the pedal is depressed, the throwout bearing presses against the pressure plate, releasing the disc from being in contact. My guess is that in your case, that contact isn't being made, which is why you can't engage any gear (ie: the transmission cannot be connected to the flywheel).

metalpiotr

iTrader: (1)

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if it was a hydraulic issue you would probably be having problems disengaging (not engaging). You would have trouble shifting into gear.

Feldman

iTrader: (1)

you would think so but i had the piston on my slave cylinder get stuck in the disengaged position, my pedal was also all the way to the floor when it happened and wouldnt come back on its own. Its at least worth a try to look at the easy fixes before you dive into the bigger stuff

the most likely problem would be your pedal is not adjusted correctly. If not that it sounds like its time for a new clutch

CreativeSkillz

Ok so I got a friend to give me a tow to a location where I can begin work on dropping the transmission. I heard a noise on the passenger side while in tow, I put the car in 2nd while he was pulling me and the RPMs jumped up to about 5k. Once we got to the location, I was able to drive the car around just fine. No problems, clutch/transmission worked fine.

I then drove it back home, had him follow me. Hit a bump and suddenly I couldn't go anywhere. Had him tow me home.

The noise I am hearing is coming from the passenger side, it's the same side I've been having issues with the hub bearing. I've had it replaced about 5 times in the past 6 months. It may be related, but I'm not sure how.

CreativeSkillz

I ended up just taking it to the shop. They replaced that same axle when they replaced the bearings the 2nd time, because it stripped the threads so badly. So it will be replaced under warranty this time, hopefully.

If not, then I'd still much rather replace the passenger side axle as apposed to dropping the transmission and replacing a clutch/flywheel.

CreativeSkillz

This thing is really becoming a pain in the ***. Apparently it broke off a sensor too, so that's got to get replaced as well.

It wasn't the "CV Axle" but the extension axle that goes to the passenger side. That bracket broke. I just assumed it was all one piece, but apparently the passenger side portion is two piece. CV Axel --> axle Extension --> transmission

So far it's totaling up to ~$300 worth of work. The shop also claims that the cv boot clip and maybe some kind of seal/o-ring or something may have been damaged on I think the cv axle itself. They did replace that January and claim it might not be covered under the warranty. So I may just be replacing that myself, it looks simple as heck and it's only like $80 bucks for the part.