Last ditch of effort....Clutch Sticking/stuck/clicking....

[LegendRacer]

someone please lend me a hand and tell me what is wrong with my clutch!!!

its driving me insane for the past 3 or 4 months! i went down to the stealership about 8 times these past 2 months, with NO RESULTS

they said they dont know what is making the clicking or the cause of the clutch to get stuck...

i know the 350z had a clutch problem before, but i havent heard anything about the altimas yet... I guess im the first? atleast on nico, but if you guys know ANYTHING, or any idea whats causing this, PLEASE TELL ME

a little detail about hte problem:

1) at cold start, clutch works fine2) after warmed up and driven for a while (steping on the clutch a couple times), there will be a creaky feel/not so strong feeling clutch

3) clicking starts ingaging (not very loud but can still feel the clicks on the clutch pedal)

4) clicking gets louder as i drive more (more use of the clutch)

5) once the clicking gets to the loudest point, the clutch will feel like theres no spring action or very weak spring

6) the clutch will be stuck/not popping back up all the way (it pops back about 2 or 3 inches only), still ok to shift, but how safe is driving with clutch stuck more then half way?

7) the clutch will be ok after i manually pull it back up, and then will be stuck again after 5 minutes or so....

so PLEASE HELP GUYS, the dealership is not being a good help (will be trying a new dealer soon) but i really want some idea wtf is happening to my damned clutch

[TheBourneAltimatum]

this has plagued the third gens. there is really nothing you can do about it. people were hoping that nissan would have fixed it but obvboiusly it didnt. i am also reading that this is now happening to G coupes, so i guess they went cheap on trannys. this worries me, if nissan didnt fix previous model problems i am getting scared concerning the butterfly screws and the precat

[mcheddadi]

I had the same problem on my 04 6MT Maxima. They said the clutch was dead and the pedal mechanism had no more lubricant on it. They replace the whole thing.

tell them to replace the whole thing, cluth, tranny, the whole damn thing.

[LegendRacer]

what is the chance that the dealership will replace my entire clutch and tranny system?

il call and talk to the manager about it since he was about to do it in the beginning. should i tell him about the maxima/350z/g35 with similar problems that needed entire clutch system replaced?

[mcheddadi]

He already knows about the prob with the other nissans, he might hope you don't so be sure to remind that stealership

[spockrock]

While we are on clutches, is this normal, but sometimes when the car is at a dead stop. With the foot on the brake I find the tranny will not let me put the car into first, sometimes with both brake and clutch to the floor, I have to put the stick into second gear, foot is still on the clutch, and then put it back into first, and with not problems its in first and then I can start taking my foot off the clutch and giving her gas. Sometimes if that does not work I take my foot off the brake, I can put the car into first, and then go from there. I know even on a 350z if the car is rolling sometimes it will not let you put it into first, but I dont think the car not letting you put it into first even when she is at a dead stop is strange.

[tman5000]

While we are on clutches, is this normal, but sometimes when the car is at a dead stop. With the foot on the brake I find the tranny will not let me put the car into first, sometimes with both brake and clutch to the floor, I have to put the stick into second gear, foot is still on the clutch, and then put it back into first, and with not problems its in first and then I can start taking my foot off the clutch and giving her gas. Sometimes if that does not work I take my foot off the brake, I can put the car into first, and then go from there. I know even on a 350z if the car is rolling sometimes it will not let you put it into first, but I dont think the car not letting you put it into first even when she is at a dead stop is strange.

I think I've had this happen to me at dead stop too, but only a couple of rare times. It happened on my last manual car, too. I'm not too sure, but I think it's the two gears pushing together right on the teeth or something, so they won't slide together, but that could be a load of crap. Someone else who actually knows transmissions can give an actual explanation.

The way I fix it is just to put the stick to neutral and let the clutch up. This seems to "reset" the transmission. Now you put the clutch back down and you should be able to shift into first.