Hey All,

i just got my d21 a month or so ago, and have started playing around with it. I have owned a 240sx for over 5 years and one of the things i did to it was remove the clutch damper. Makes bleeding the clutch 10x easier.

I didn't see a howto here for it yet, so i took some pics in case anyone else is interested in doing this.

First off, you will need a brake line coupler to join the clutch line together after removing the damper. I found 2 at the local OReillys, but the one you want has an inverted flair inside it on both ends (just like your slave/master cyl would have at the screw on point). Lance from JGSTurbo used NAPA p/n 7934A.

Next, pop your hood and remove your intake, put a rag or paper towel in the TB so nothing falls inside and you are forced to look later to make sure. Then remove the 2 bolts holding on the fuel filter bracket and bend the fuel filter out around the bracket so it's not in the way and you have more room to work.

I had to use PB blaster to get the couplers loose, so you may as well. Here is the clutch damper as i'm removing it. It is mounted with 10mm bolts to the firewall. The line connections are also 10mm.

Below is a shot of the removal in process.

Once you have the damper removed, you will have to bend the lines a bit to line up the coupler on both ends. I was able to bend them by hand and make it work.

This is the final result:

Reassemble, rebleed and enjoy a crisper clutch. I noticed that my gears don't crunch anymore, but the clutch does grab faster also, which can be seen as a plus or a minus. Being used to a 240 i like it.

cheers,Marko


Modified by EstoMax at 8:11 PM 12/14/2009

Nooooo, now when your grandma borrows your truck the clutch pedal might have some feedback! Well, at least she can still take the caravan.


Modified by seang at 12:08 AM 12/15/2009

I'd want to know what Rev and Desert rat would have to say before I did this to mine

its a common mod guys... its a personal preference thing really

one thing that it can cure is that 'ding' you get as the gears grind slightly under super quick shifting

I am of no opinion since I haven't done this mod myself yet.

nice i was looking for the damper on this thing couldn't find it i was looking under the truck like the 240sx lol

where is the bleed screw located?

there is a bleed screw on the slave cyl and one on the damper... you can look in the fsm for the procedure to do it with the damper but without it you just bleed the slave cylinder like you would do your brakes. After you take your damper out you will have to loosen the 12mm banjo bolt on the slave cyl to pump fluid through it to get the big air out of the lines... I was having trouble pushing air through just the bleeder screw at first.

Marko

If you are having trouble bleeding the system. Go to parts store buy a One man brake bleeder kit $10.00 works great.

Hello, I have a 1985 nissan 720 pickup 4x4. It sat for a few years and when I went to drive it, the clutch pedal would not go down, it was hard as a rock. I loosened up the line on the damper bypass while pushing on the pedal, and it went to the floor, but once I tightened the line it was hard again. Any idea what I should do to fix it? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

Sounds like the slave cylinder has seized, or the clutch disc has rusted to the trans input shaft, especially if you live in a humid climate. Is this the reason it was in disuse for years, or did this develope afterwards? I have not been in this situation before, and my experience is only with the later D21 pickups, but i would try to get underneath the truck, by the slave cylinder, and see if the small pushrod that sticks out of the slave cyl can be pushed in, then with someone else depressing the clutch pedal, see if the little pushrod extends. If it does those two things then the problem lies inside the transmission bellhousing. Get a prybar into the clutch lever/fork area and see if you can manually move that fork to verify that the release bearing/pressure plate/ clutch disc are free to move.

For anyone who happens across this thread like I did, I'll give my experiences.



Just pulled mine because my clutch was giving me issues. It basically went from three inches of deadplay to one after doing it. Pretty happy with the result, although it's no where near as tough as my Jimmy is, but that's a good thing in my book.


For those having issues removing the flare nuts from the hardlines, I had them stuck on there bad, and I ended up striping the sholders.

What I did was grab the thing with a small pair of locking pliers and that took three seconds compared to messing with spray and wrenches for two hours. I didn't see it anywhere, but the part of the mounting braket that the damper bolts to is also the dampers' back plate, but the damper needs to be unbolted from it to get that plate off unless you feel like dealing with flex adapters. Keep in mind that it'll drop out the gasket and plates when you pull it off, but don't do that until the lines are off as it'll be so much easier. I agree with attatching the bottom first, it was easier getting the nut and union to meet right from the topside than the bottom. It'll take you a while and a lot of fluid to get the air out, and a one man bleed setup works well here. The tube likes to spin the valve back closed if you put it on before loosening it, so there's that.



Good luck to anyone doing this, and thank you all above for the information you posted, it really helped me out on this.

to NICO JarredH!