2008 2.5 Clutch Spun & Destroyed Manual Transmission Input Shaft Splines

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CarMon225
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My daughter purchased this 2008 Altima June 2019 at 88,500mi and the car currently has a little over 93,000mi.

My daughter was driving her Altima 2.5 6spd manual and a grinding noise started and car began slowing down. Car would not move in any gear. Towed to mechanic who took it apart and realized clutch pad had SPUN against splines of transmission input shaft (TIS). The splines on the clutch pad are almost non-existent, while the splines on the TIS are ground down to the point where they are definitely compromised and cannot be relied on. Wow-That's insane. Mechanic also believes that clutch has been replaced before and believes the clutch has been abused as the flywheel has a little discoloration. I am not sure what lead him to the conclusion that clutch may have been replaced before as the pressure plate housing says "NISSAN" on it. The flywheel says both "NISSAN" as well as "LUK". Maybe the "LUK" implies aftermarket. I do not see a brand on the clutch disk but I only have a pic of 1 side of it - the wheel side. The old clutchdisk seems to look just like the new LUK clutchdisk.

Replacement used transmission with confirmed good input shaft splines has been received. The mechanic is insistent to replace the flyweel "bearing" and claims it is "seized". He is currently waiting on a used flywheel. He says "it is supposed to spin freely". I don't see how it is seized nor should it spin freely as I studied videos of the dual-mass flywheel and it moves back and fourth just a little bit like shown in the videos, and maybe there is something I am not comprehending or am overlooking, but I am not worrying about that over $75.

At shop I took the new clutchpad and put it onto the perfect-looking splines of replacement TIS, and checked for rotary play: There is some very slight rotary play which seems conceivably "normal" though I am not experienced with how much play is normal. It seems like there would need to be just a bit of play to slide the TIS back onto the assembled clutch for mounting.

The big question is this: Have any of you ever had this happen or seen this happen - the clutchpad outspins and chews off the splines of the transmission input shaft? That is crazy. I mean shouldn't it be designed that even with high RPMs and you pop the clutch that it can withstand such force & torque? Not that my daughter drives it like that, at least I would hope not (she's kind of a tom-boy when it comes to vehicles lol). The previous owner made mention that his son use to drive it. That along with the suggestion that this may not be the original clutch leads me to believe for sure the drivetrain has been abused.

What about LUK - is it conceivable they designed a subpar clutchpad spline (if indeed the old clutchpad is a LUK)?

Also since the day of purchase of the car in June when we test drove it, I gave it gas and drove it hard and it popped in the front. Since, my daughter also complained of a pop once in a while. I wrote it off as a loose motor mount but now I wonder if the pop could have been the clutchdisk jumping splines one at a time (with the splines possibly being already compromised at time of purchase of vehicle because there is no way I drove it THAT hard IMHO that it should have jumped splines).

We are $1875 into the repair at this point.

All tips, suggestions, experiences, and thoughts welcome. Thank you!!!

PICTURES
Old Clutch Splines
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... G_2768.jpg

New Clutch Splines
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... G_2769.jpg

Transmission Input Shaft Splines Worn
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... 075924.jpg

Transmission Input Shaft Splines Worn - better angle
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... G_2770.jpg

Flywheel
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... 080042.jpg

Pressureplate & Clutchdisk
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... 080225.jpg

Pressureplate Surface
http://TheAldensOrg.dyndns.org/Vehicle/ ... 080231.jpg


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WDRacing
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Wow...that is something else. Having abused many clutches and transmissions over the years I have never seen that. Usually the clutch will slip long before the splines will wear. I've smoked some clutches and ruined a flywheel but never had splines strip out.

Something faulty was installed at some point. An improper clutch with the wrong size splines, super cheap Chinesium brand clutch made for 25 foot lbs of torque...something like that would be my guess.

CarMon225
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Thank you for your response WDRacing.

I'm somewhat worried it could happen again if driven hard. Humm.....

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AZhitman
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Definitely. Considering the input shaft has now been compromised, that's gotta be replaced regardless.

My guess is the incorrect clutch was installed OR it was somehow misaligned (although I'm with WD - never seen that before, and I've installed a clutch in a rainstorm in a muddy junkyard with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, haha).

I cannot imagine there should be ANY radial play once the splines are engaged - that's why a tapered alignment tool is used. In fact, a proper fitment should be slightly difficult to engage.

Can you discern a part number on the broken clutch? LUK is indeed aftermarket, but typically a perfectly usable OEM-quality brand (I have installed several).

WD is right - the clutch face material should have been smoked into oblivion before the splines failed.

Unfortunately, regardless of where blame lies, you're looking at a transmission and a clutch to get it back on the road.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Yeah if one of those bearings seizes up, I imagine you could basically fuse some of the components in there, and what is meant to slip or move independent of another component will no longer do that, which can lead to heat... a lot of heat... which can then strip stuff out, make a bunch of nasty contamination, etc.
I agree though, the disk should smoke before the splines.
Definitely replace the pilot bearing and whatever else the mechanic suggests. Hell, probably do a rear main seal while you're in there too.
For some reason I thought I remembered seeing "LUK" on some components at my time at Nissan, but I could be wrong.

CarMon225
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Thank you, gentlemen, for your guidance.

CarMon225
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UPDATE:
I went back to shop this morning planning to get a video of the slight radial play of the new clutchdisk while sitting on the splines of the replacement transmission. Well, the shop had already claimed to have received a replacement used flywheel and the clutch assembly was already attached to the flywheel and transmission being raised to mate the clutch at that moment. So no video available of slight radial play.

Also, someone had asked about the part number of the old clutchdisk that spun the trans input splines: The clutchdisk itself says "Exedy Nissan JA00A". Interesting....

I am thinking this is after-market and not the original clutchdisk. I wonder if it is possible that a previous owner replaced the clutchdisk without fully removing the trans and therefore was not able to use the centering tool to center the clutchdisk, contributing to this failure...
(Edit: But it seems to me the more I think about it, if a clutchdisk was installed without using the provided centering tool, and the disk was a little off-center, once the engine is started wouldn't the disk slip and subsequently center itself to the transmission splines almost immediately?)

I researched the VIN of the replacement used transmission. It is off a 2007 with 171,000 miles. I was discouraged to see such a high mileage manual transmission being installed.

Does anyone know how bullet-proof are these 2007-2013 manual transmissions? Thanks!!

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Yeah the alignment tool is just that... an alignment tool so that you can pass the trans input splines through the disk while also keeping it aligned to the engine/pilot bearing/bushing.

Manual transmission guts are usually pretty bulletproof. As long as the proper fluid (and amount) is in there, changed at some point, and they don't overheat, they typically last longer than the vehicle that surrounds them.

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AZhitman
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13k miles per year... pretty common. A lower-mileage example would have been nice, but you take what you can get with an older car.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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I had my Honda's manual trans rebuilt at 225k just because I had it out and it seemed like a good time. Standard stuff like bearings and bushings. The shop said it really didn't need it. Everything looked like it was almost new in there.

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RED_DET
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The part number on the flywheel is the OE part for that vehicle. The clutch disc and pressure plate are part of the Exedy OEM Replacement Clutch Kit for that vehicle.
https://shop.exedyusa.com/exedy-oem/exe ... 92961.aspx
The clutch was probably replaced at some point prior to your ownership, based on mileage.

I have used Exedy in the past and currently running their OE replacement clutch in my G35 without issue.

It is clearly apparent from the surface of the flywheel and pressure plate there has been some abuse over the years. But as others have said, the clutch disc surface should fail and begin to slip long before the deterioration of splines. Even if the clutch was over built and could take such abuse, gears should begin to shear off as well first.

I'm going with improper alignment during installation, gearbox or otherwise.

Are the gearbox to engine dowels missing or damaged?

CarMon225
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Thank you all for your responses.
@
RED_DET, I am not getting the old transmission back so I do not know if the dowels are missing. The shop didn't mention it.
Good question.

"Even if the clutch was over built and could take such abuse, gears should begin to shear off as well first."
Interesting point!

CarMon225
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Car is back together and my daughter said the clutch feels much better, so that is good news.
Hope this failure doesn't happen again. It was a very costly one.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Still cheaper than a CVT :)

CarMon225
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Yes sir


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