EVERYONE, change your clutch fluid!!!!!!!

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

That is what i said about the brakes.... But they say that if you maintain your pads and you change them when they need to be changed and don't damage the rotors, that it is covered by your warranty!

DJ

[CPs G35 2003]

Yup, I pumped it many, many, many times. I even drove around for a week. And then I had a DOH! moment. By only changing the reservoir twice, I didn't completely remove all of the old DOT 3. Now it's mixed and I need to go back and do it all over again. I'll probably do at least a bottle and a half to ensure that it's completly DOT 4 synthetic now.

Live and learn.

Craig
Modified by CPs G35 2003 at 7:35 AM 11/2/2007

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

speaking about dot 3 vs dot 4... I had the dot 4 in my g but then when they fixed the slave cylinder i bet they put dot 3 back into the car!

DJ

[USAF_G35_Guy]

I flush my slave cylinder every time I change the oil. It's only like 2 feet away and takes like a minute to do if you got someone there to pump the clutch for ya =)

Not knockin the suck/refill/pump method...I just like to see the new/clear fluid coming out the bottom to show it's 100% flushed. I'm crazy like that....I also run new oil through my car at each oil change until it drains clear as well. Ya it costs a few extra bucks....but it's still cheaper than taking it somewhere, and I know it's done right!

[FanOfNissan]

I used the ol turkey baster method and it took many suck-fill-pump episodes to do it myself. I used a generic DOT4 and it took about 1 bottle before the fluid was clear.

Now that I've driven the car for 200 miles, I can fairly say that clutch engagement is noticeably smoother.

[SavG35]

Have you checked the fluid after you change it out? just wondering I changed mine a few days ago and checked it and its right back to being dirty brown color. Did I not get it all out or does it just turn that color fast?

[joe603]

Keep flushing it out...this is the problem with doing it the "easy" way

[rocket69GTP]

Just checked mine today after reading this and sure enough, it was the same brown color. I will be draining it tomorrow and changing it out with the DOT 4 fluid. Thanks for the heads up on this.

[gsxr6971]

Was your pedal sticking to the floor during hard accelerating? BTW this is my first post...Just purchased 05 G35 coupe and I will post pics this weekend. The pedal on mine is sticking to the floor I will be changing the fluid on Sunday, I hope that this will eliminate the issue.

[rocket69GTP]

I didn't have the clutch sticking to the floor but I didn't want to wait for it. The clutch engagement is noticeably smoother.

[gsxr6971]

Was your pedal sticking to the floor during hard accelerating? BTW this is my first post...Just purchased 05 G35 coupe and I will post pics this weekend. The pedal on mine is sticking to the floor I will be changing the fluid on Sunday, I hope that this will eliminate the issue.

Change out the fluid on Sunday and put about 100 miles on the car with no issues...Thanks folks saved me alot of money I was going to take it in and replace the clutch.

[MisteenoMike]

It's only been touched on by a couple of people in this post, but you REALLY should bleed the system completely if you're going to bother at all.

Think about it: you completely drain and refill the reservoir of the nasty brown fluid but the line (from clutch master to clutch slave) STILL has the nasty brown fluid in it!

The best way is to use the turkey baster to remove the brown junk from the reservoir, fill with clean fluid (this will shorten the time it takes to bleed the old stuff out), then get under the car and bleed the slave cylinder like you would your brakes (with someone pumping and holding) until you see new fluid and no bubbles.

You should only have to refill the reservoir once or twice doing it this way, and you'd KNOW that the fluid was clean from the top of the reservoir down to the slave.

I mean no disrespect, but if I paid someone to "bleed" my clutch and they only did the reservoir...well...I'd be less than happy. This would be akin to only changing your brake fluid at the Brake Master Cylinder and not bleeding at the calipers!

[jwick]

I also have experienced the sticking clutch pedal and my fluid looks identical to those shown in the pictures. I took it in for service today and they believe it is also a slave problem. For those of you that have had the slave replaced, did that fix your problem completely?

Just wondering if there is an actual fix or if this is going to be something that I have to continually watch. My car only has 1,400 miles on it and I'm a little pissed it's already in for service.

[joe603]

That's part of why I didn't get the 6MT with my 09. I haven't heard of any problems with newer G's...but it sounds like they're using similar parts as older gen G's. For my 05 coupe, they replaced the slave cylinder for me...but the problem was still there intermittently.

Really, the only 100% fix is a new clutch (that I've found). On my previous car, I ended up installing a new clutch and lightweight flywheel. No more sticking, but a new problem emerged...very noisy when in neutral and low speed engagements. (sounds like a big rig)

[telcoman]

I also have experienced the sticking clutch pedal and my fluid looks identical to those shown in the pictures. I took it in for service today and they believe it is also a slave problem. For those of you that have had the slave replaced, did that fix your problem completely?

Just wondering if there is an actual fix or if this is going to be something that I have to continually watch. My car only has 1,400 miles on it and I'm a little pissed it's already in for service.

I had the sticky clutch pedal last July at 92527 miles.
The dealer replaced the slave cylinder and the clutch fluid (Covered under extended warranty) and I have had no problem since.

Telcoman

[jwick]

I took my car into the dealer and they replaced the slave under warranty. Told me they had a TSB out on the slave. That was almost 1,500 miles ago and I've had no problem since.

[ca18detgabby]

love this, changed it out and truly changed the car. the fluid was actually below the Low level and made the clutch a tad sloppy.

I was suprized how firm the clutch is now

[joe603]

Glad this thread is getting some distance!

[nismo760]

hello everyone. after reading most of your comments, i've experienced the same issues. reservoir fluid was black, clutch stuck and a distinct burning clutch smell. at 27k and a second trip to the dealer, infiniti tech recommended a clutch replacement and a slave cylinder replacement. i could say that was a relief because i just purchased my g37s at 23k and as a certified preowned car which covered the replacement at no cost. the power of warranty is awesome