Nismo2k1

Hello my fellow Maxima enthusiasts,

I know I should've posted here a long time ago about my clutch issue, but I could really use some advise. I've spent nearly $4000 trying to figure out what is wrong with my car and I feel like I'm in worse shape than I was when I got started. I took my car to a local mechanic that a friend recommended and had the clutch swapped out for an Exedy kit. It still felt hard after the repair so I took it back. They swapped it again and same deal... They swapped the flywheel to alleviate a vibration that began after the first swap and also the master and slave cylinders. But the pedal was still really hard and squeaked when pressed. I took it to Nissan and they swapped out the actual pedal. This did kinda help the stiffness of the pedal and took away the squeak. I was happy to just drive the car like that, but a couple months after, the pedal broke again.. Nissan swapped it a second time at no cost. But again, it broke. They suggested I change the master and slave again... So I did. But no improvement. Then they said it's got to be the clutch. So I went back to the local mechanic and he swapped the clutch kit out once again. But the pedal remained just as stiff as it had been. I'm feeling sick at this point at the thought of all the money and time I've spent trying to resolve this issue. I just kind of gave up. I drove the car around as is and made the best of it. But recently the clutch pedal became so twisted from the pressure of pressing it so hard that it would no longer engage with the switches down there. I'm assuming it's a cruise control switch because that doesn't work anymore. It's not being pressed by when the clutch pedal is fully released, anymore. The pedal squeaks worse than ever and I can here a squeak coming from the engine area. Which from what I read is caused by a bad throw out or pilot bearing. So I can't keep driving the car this way. I take it to a new local mechanic who is highly recommended but my brother AND a close friend. I'm going to spend more money to finally get this thing fixed once and for all. Or so I thought The mechanic changed the clutch and welded the pedal. The pedal no longer squeaks. But as much as I tried to convince myself that the clutch wasn't hard to press anymore, I couldn't. It's still hard. And now I have a few new issues after this new mechanic worked on my car. The SES is on and giving two errors. P0507 and P0021. In addition to this, the second gear feels "spongey" when I try to put it in that gear, only. But this only happens about 1 out of 10 times. I took it back to this mechanic. He worked on it at no cost. He said he the timing chain tensioners were loose and there could be a problem with the Idle control computer. I left it with him for a few days and when I got it back, a few days later, the SES light is back on! GRRR! And the second gear is still having the same intermittent "spongey" feel to it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be causing the pedal to remain hard? I would freaking love it if I could get this fixed!!! lol... I'm not a mechanic but I have a few theories. I was wondering if dirty brake fluid could be causing the pedal to be hard to press. Since the maxima clutch is hydraulic and uses the same fluid as the brakes from what I understand. Or can one of the hydraulic lines be bent or clogged? The pedal seems to get harder when the car is warm or during warm weather. So that makes me think something is expanding. The hydraulic lines?
And what could be causing the second gear to feel spongey at random times? I hope it's not the synchros or anything internal... I really dont want to have to deal with an internal transmission problem. I'd appreciate some feedback from anyone who's had similar issues or knows what might be going on. Thank in advance!

hariaum

I'm experiencing a similar problem in my 2006 Maxima. A really tight clutch pedal that squeaks and pops. I have replaced my clutch pedal only to have the same problem.

Has anyone else experienced this and figured out how to fix it?

TheMaxima

You installed a Exedy kit which are usually racing clutches so the fingers on the pressure plate are stiffer than a stock clutch would be and cause a harder pedal and your clutch master and slave may not be able to handle that type of clutch