98 maxima 5mt 145k

Finally getting my maxima back on the road. However, the clutch pedal despite how many times I try to bleed the system encounters no resistance until its about halfway depressed. The car still goes in and out of gear, but just barely.

The car is currently at my mechanic, and he said that despite many attempts to bleed the system it appears that the issue is the clutch itself. I'm having my doubts about this as I don't recall the issue i'm having being one with the clutch itself, I thought it was a hydraulic issue. The car has a newer slave cylinder, and the mechanic says the master is fine.

My question is, is it possible for a bad (quite possibly original) clutch to cause an issue like i'm having with the pedal feeling like it has air in the line or is my mechanic attempting to take me for a ride?

 

Well you do have allot of miles on your original clutch. Is that the factory clutch? 8yrs old with 145 miles on it. My throw out baring went out outta no where before. I was driving normal and then at a redlight I stepped on the clutch and went to put the car in gear, and nope it didn't go into any gears. The pedal was stuck to the floor. So it can go whenever.

 

Are you bleeding it correctly? do you have any leaks?

 

Is this a new clutch? He has tried to adjust the pedal, correct?

 

I believe the car is on its original clutch, car with 145k.

I do believe I am bleeding the system correctly using the upper and lower valves. I and 2 mechanics can't get the clutch to engage as it should, instead get the feeling of air in the lines. However, the mechanic is saying all the lines are good as are the slave and master cylinders, he says the clutch has gone bad. I had been moving it around in my driveway though, and although it didn't feel great, it definately had enough grip left to move the car around with siezed rear calipers. Can a clutch be bad but still act like this?

As far as adjusting the clutch pedal goes, I have not tried that, but the pedal play is extreme enough that I think it goes beyond the realm of what the manual adjustment can do.

In addition, I think I have a bad or going bad throw-out bearing as I get the skateboard-esque noise made when going into/out of gears. That being said, should this be taken car of with a possibly new clutch or would I be better off just getting a newer used transmission to replace my higher mileage one?

Thx

 

do you have a leaky clutch line by any chance?

 

If you pump the pedal, does it seem to work better?

 

If the problem is with your clutch then replacing the transmission would do absolutely nothing - you'd still have a bad/out of adjustment clutch in the car...


Start with adjusting the clutch adjustment nut since that's the cheapest and easiest. I don't know if there is enough adjustment range to cause the or cure the problem that you're having, but it's an easy thing to find out.

The skateboard noise, if it's the noise I'm imagining (and that is actually a pretty good description of the sound of "grinding gears") is further indication that you have a clutch which is not fully disengaging. Start with the clutch adjustment nut.

 

Pumping the pedal does not improve or degrade the issue. The car still goes in and out of gear, but noticeably more difficult that usual due to the pedal only using about half of its available travel with resistance from the hydraulics.

The skateboard sound/noise I mentioned has been present for a few thousand miles of driving. It is present if I were to place my hand on the shifter while the clutch is engaged in any gear and the car is moving the noise is present without the car coming into or out of gear. I'm aware that a new transmission wont fix my clutch issue, but I was looking to gauge some feedback as to how well these manuals hold up past 150k.

I'll take a look at the adjustment screw for the clutch, but with what feels like at least an inch and a half of free play I doubt it could have come out of alignment that bad.

 

a bad clutch will not cause the system to "not" bleed properly. a bad master or slave cylinder might ... or a bad clutch line, but in my expreience, a bad clutch just will not engage and alow you to move the car. you try to take off on a hill and you're screwed, cause ya aint moving forward! at 145k on the OEM (?) clutch ... it's likely time for another one.

as for the Maxima 5spd in our cars ... they really are **** tranys .... not really, but in a sense they are. the bearings are "loaded" too heavy from the factory (a lot of times) so it causes premature bearing wear out. IPS (input shaft) and diff bearings are the ones that go first / most offten. the "skateboard" noise (and btw ... that is a really good way to describe it!) is likely the IPS bearing ..... time for a trany rebuild from the sounds of it. while it's out ... do the clutch, it's literaly a 5min job with the trans out.

 

I've heard mixed opinions on which clutch I should buy, however was wondering where I can come across a 5.5 gen clutch and from where? I'm looking to maintain my clutch as one thats easily dd-able, with a light pedal.

As far as transmission rebuilds go, how involved is the process for replacing the IPS/throwout/other misc bearings? The mechanic said it may take around 4 hours of labor to remove/install a new clutch, any idea how many more for tranny removal/rebuild?

 

if you're looking to have a shop do the rebuild .... look to pay between $ 700 - 900 or so. My sig has my rebuild write up ... it's pretty involved overall, but if I can do it, anyone can.

as for a clutch .... group deal forums!

 

I replaced the entire hydraulic system for my clutch last month and had the same issue. In my case it was 100% an adjustment issue. Loosen the locknut that secures the master cylinder rod and clevis to the clutch pedal. You'll probably have to lie down in the floor and shine a light up to locate it. Grip the rod and rotate it to load or unload the master cylinder and move the clutch engagement point up or down in the pedal stroke. A couple of turns on the rod can make a big difference in the engagement point. Set it where it feels right and tighten the locknut.