Is my clutch on its way out?

NYSpeed Automotive
1

This is on the Nissan. 52000 miles on it, mostly city, just out of warranty, driven like it was stolen. The past couple of days, I have noticed a sound that reminds me of the squall a bicycle’s brakes sometimes make when coming to a stop. This sound occurs only when I first put the car in motion after it has been parked for a while. Other than this noise, it seems like the clutch is holding fine. Today I noticed a smell, too, to go along with the noise. It certainly smelled like clutch, but it was not that strong so it was hard to tell.

Is this noise the first sign of imminent doom for my clutch, or is slipping usually the first sign? If this noise is not my clutch, what else could it be?

This was the first car I’ve owned with a manual transmission, so humor me…

2

every so often my car makes a noise similar to what you mentioned when im stopped on a very slight upwards incline, thats the only time it seems to do it, is that similar to what your car does?

my car only has about 38k and it hasnt been beaten either

3

It only does it the first time I take off from a stop. After that, I never hear it again until I park it for a while.

4

:gotme: maybe you’re down to the rivits on the clutch…who knows wait till it breaks lol

5

Or this could be the perfect opportunity to put in that lightweight flywheel… :naughty:

6

what clutch/flywheel combo are you going to use?

7

sounds like its going. If you smell clutch without any serious beating then that is a sure sign. What happened to me was a section of the friction material seperated from the clutch disc and was causing all kind of odd behavior, smells, and noises until the all the material seperated and the thing took a big fat shit. The car only had about 30K on it but I was hammering it. The friction surface was still thick… it just came apart.

8

Next time pull on the e-brake, push in the clutch, select a higher gear, say like 4th. Rev her up to 4k and drop the clutch. If your engine holds the same RPM then your clutch is no worse than mine. If it stalls you have plenty of life left.

9

Not sure yet. I may go with a Fidanza 8lb flywheel and an OEM clutch, since I don’t really plan on racing the car. I just think that the quicker throttle response of a lightweight flywheel may be more enjoyable for daily driving. If I use a clutch other than OEM, it will be just a standard street disc type, I’m not doing anything crazy like a 6 puck or anything like that.

I have to adjust my e-brake first before I can even try that… I replaced rear pads and rotors recently, and right now it only slows the car down a little when I pull it. :lol:

10

Centerforce dual friction is solid. Perfect for street. Trouble free unlike the hit or miss with the spec units.

11

SOUNDS LIKE IT’S SMOKED FIDANZA ALL THE WAY I LOVE THE LIGHT WEIGHT STUFF THEY HAVE