2001 MT 5 Speed on a 20th Anniv

So the problem started yesterday when I got in the car to go to work. I pressed in the clutch and it literally fell to the floor. Barely had enough to come back up, I almost had to help it back up. So now when I'm driving and I go to shift, I have to press the pedal all the way to the floor and it's rather difficult to get it in gear. Once I release the clutch, (probably lift less than 1/4") it's engaging.

I checked the fluid level of the master cylinder and it looks pretty good, it's a little low but it's not below the "low" mark.

I looked around for leaks and did not see any spots on the road where the car always parks.

What could it possibly be and how can it just all of a sudden give problems like this with no warning? The only other problem I have had/noticed is when the transmission is in neutral, and the clutch is out you can hear some minor noise. Pretty sure it's the throw out bearing that made that noise and it's always done that, probably since I've owned the car @ ~60k miles. It's at 135k miles now.

 

Has the clutch been replace before?

 

Unless the previous owner had it replaced, then no. I've had the car since ~60k miles and it has over 130k on it now.

Once the car goes into gear though, it's perfectly fine. On my way home from work, I just RPM shifted; instead of trying to use the clutch and that worked out ok.

 

If its 130k on its orginal clutch, then I think the clutch needs to be replace. But have your mechanic to take a look at it.

 

The mechanic will be me. Do you think this is a clutch problem? I've never known a clutch to do this when it needs to be replaced. Only ones I've ever seen that needed to be replaced had really bad slipping problems to the point that it would simply just free spin if it got too bad.

This seems to be something wrong with the master/slave cylinder, clutch fork and/or throw out bearing.

If the master/slave cylinder go out, get too low on fluid, air in the lines then it wont have the means to properly disengage the clutch, right?

If the clutch fork is broken/bent then it wont have the leverage to push the clutch out far enough.

Not sure what happens when the throw out bearing goes out, I believe it just wont go into gear at all when the engine is running.

Is there some kind of adjustment I can do on the clutch pedal to allow it to engage/disengage the clutch sooner? It really feels like the master/slave cylinder need to be bleed.

 

If it does end up being a clutch/TOB problem and I need to replace it, then where are some good places that I can buy a Spec clutch from? Does ACT offer clutches for our cars? If so, where can I buy one from?

Not sure which route I should go, if I do need to replace the tob/clutch. Spec or ACT

Future plans for the car will require an upgraded clutch, around 350 - 400 ft lbs.

 

anyone?

 

I've got a nice pressure plate for you


Anyways, allthough I have seen pressure plates cause similiar symptoms it is very very rare, the reason you clutch isn't disengaging is more than likely a faulty master or slave cylinder. Yes there is a minot adjustment on the pedal but it won't help your situation. Look over that lower clutch line for leaks one more time, they are so prone to it.

Also, hate to say it but the sound you are hearing with pedal out, kinda sounds like marbles in a can right? Throwout bearings usually result in a squeking sound when the pedal is pressed and load is put on the throwout bearing, what you most likely have is some input or mainshaft bearings going bad, allthough it might be fine for awhile.

 

I will be giving the car a good looking over from the under side this coming Monday/Tuesday assuming it doesn't rain on me too bad. If the lower clutch line is known for leaking, then I'd be willing to bet that's the issue here.

I'm not sure what it sounds like, in relation to something else. However, I have heard what a throw out bearing sounds like when it's going out and it sounds exactly like that on my Maxima. (I've had to replace a few on my DSMs back in the day)

 

dont mean to threadjack, but im about to do some shopping for clutch parts and this is what i've come up with: $120 for a clutch kit and $72 for flywheel (without ring gear) but $400 for flywheel WITH ring gear. which flywheel do i go with? car is a 2000 maxima btw

 

Is it a stock flywheel and clutch kit?

 

yes it is. I was quoted those prices from auto zone

 

Not sure if it'll help the OP but awhile back I didn't know I had a leaky slave cylinder. Kept replacing fluid but the 'clutch pedal to the floor' problem kept resurfacing.

It was a slow leak so there weren't immediate symptoms but the problem kept coming back. As previously mentioned...I would check master/slave cyl's
(and a clutch running up to 130k wouldn't do harm being replaced)

 

I am hoping that is my problem. I just bled the hydraulic system and it works fine now. I looked at the master cylinder earlier and it was almost bone dry, so I'm pretty positive it's a leaky system, somewhere. Hopefully it's the slave cylinder and not one of the lines and/or master. Changing the slave cylinder looks like cake work, seeing as how you can remove the intake pipe and it's sitting right there on top of the transmission.

I ordered some Redlined MT-90 gear lube, waiting on it to get here. Then I'll drain the oil in the transmission and replace it, 130k+ on the old gear lube can't be good.

Just gotta last me until I get my terminator back on the road, then it's going down for some toys.

I would like to know where a good place is to order some upgraded clutch kits and an aluminum fly wheel. When the car does end up going down for those toys, they'll need to be upgraded.

 

At least you have an good excuse to get a more aggressive one lol.

I think andy's autosports has some clutch kits (one of the longer termed orgers could probably give you much more detail)


http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...el-clutch.html

(this link seems to be more 5.5 but still informative...at least for me lol)

 

I'm not sure my car can use a 3.5l clutch/flywheel.

 

Well I just replaced the fluid in my transmission. However only about 3 quarts came out and I only put a little over 3 quarts back in. I had bought 5 quarts of Redline MT-90, and I sitll have almost 2 full quarts. It's probably like 1 3/4 quarts of the gear oil left.