# 350z Clutch Number 2 has gone again, Any Idea's



## azza6969 (Sep 26, 2007)

Hi Guys, am new to the forum but would really like some feedback please???

I have a 12/2003 Nissan Black 350z Convertable that I bought Early 2005. Generally I hardly drive it as I am overseas 6 mths of the year and when I do, I take it easy. In 2 1/2 yrs I have only just hit 24,000 klm (About 15,000 miles). So here is my problem.

Just after I bought it, at approx 1000 klm (600 miles) the clutch and assembly totally went so I couldnt move. When I took it back to Nissan for warranty, They gave me a hard time, and made it out that they were doing me a "favour" by fixing it under warranty. and that was at 1000klm.

now I have approx 24,000 klm (15,000) it has gone again, but this time they want $4000 AUD to repair. While still under warranty.

The worst thing that I can possibility do to this car is reverse out of my driveway with a slight incline

I have had a look in other forums and see that I am not alone.

My question is 
Have I bought a bad model.
Do you think the genuine machinic's doing their job, 
Or is it a different problem that is causing the wear and tear.
Am I better off putting in proformance clutch assembly, and if so what brand.
Is there a higher authority that I can talk to about getting this problem fixed under warranty.

I assume if I give to Nissan again, I will be replaceing it in another 10,000 to 15,000 klm or maybe less.

Any feed back or advice appreciated, I am in Brisbane Australia and have Hiway Nissan looking at the car currently. 

New buyers of 350z, Please ask this question before purchase
Regards Azza


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## danny350z (Oct 15, 2007)

i have the same problem, i have my 2004 roadster and my clutch gave at 24,000 miles i dont know to keep the car or to sell it, thinking i might have more problems with it later on


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## azza6969 (Sep 26, 2007)

*350z Just a dud. And Nissan doesnt want to know about it*

What a Joke.. Bad Clutches throught the world and Nissan turning their head... Obviously the problem is well known... Is the Car to powerful for the Clutch. Or is the Clutch just a piece of shit... Does Nissan know af the Problem and just cashing in on it...
Nissan Machanic's or engineers, Please give a explaination...

This will be the last Nissan I will ever Buy...


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## Spongerider (Nov 18, 2002)

azza6969 said:


> What a Joke.. Bad Clutches throught the world and Nissan turning their head... Obviously the problem is well known... Is the Car to powerful for the Clutch. Or is the Clutch just a piece of shit... Does Nissan know af the Problem and just cashing in on it...
> Nissan Machanic's or engineers, Please give a explaination...
> 
> This will be the last Nissan I will ever Buy...


Without knowing the previous owners driving habits I would think they drove the car hard thus wearing out the clutch prematurely. As for danny, I don't know you either but if you did burn outs and or was rough with the clutch it too well cause a clutch to prematurely wear out. Are you the first owner? Did you do burn outs and/or was rough with the clutch. I'm asking this just to show a possible cause.


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## rbo1577186 (Jan 16, 2005)

What exactly failed on the clutch?


A clutch that is slightly underrated for an engine still shouldn't fail unless you are into the RPM ranges where the engine is making it's power. It's still not right though.....

Are you letting someone (that might be riding the clutch at stoplights, and driving the hell out of it?) else drive it while you're out of town? A old HS buddy of mine had a 240? 280? I can't remember, but I do remember him putting in 2 clutches in less than 2 years. Nothing wrong with the clutch, he simply drove the sh*t out of it. If this is the case, your best option is a heavy duty after market clutch.

If there is a factory defect I hope they get it fixed for you. I would be pissed to pay that kind of cash for a car that had a major problem like that.


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## danny350z (Oct 15, 2007)

i am the second owner and just replaced the clutch and flywheel and my shit is stilll making noise i am taking it to a dealer tommroow
my trans is making noise so its coverd under warrantee


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## danny350z (Oct 15, 2007)

i just had the car for about two or three days and i went down the shitter


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## Spongerider (Nov 18, 2002)

Danny, you took your z33 to the dealer, right? What did they say about your clutch?


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## metro273 (Sep 16, 2005)

I think it's the driver's frying the clutches! I work at a Nissan dealership and we hardly ever replace clutches except for the morons that come in there to complain that the car is a POS because the clutch is "fried" already! The driver's that know how to drive and shift properly, they NEVER complain about the clutch or slipping. The 1st clutch we'll warranty but after that, the owner is on his own. Personally, I actually think that the OEM clutch disk is not meant for the 350. It does need to be beefed up some...


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## danny350z (Oct 15, 2007)

i took it to the dealer finally and i am getting a new tranny because a seal or bushing broke inside, i have to pay for a new slave cylinder 100 because mine was leaking,

so i just replaced the clutch and flywheel right before taking it tothe dealer thinking that it was what is wrong iwth the car, i go tothe dealership and they said " we are giving a new transmission and clutch and flywheel because all of those components are fried" i am just thinking to my self i just rode the car about 30 miles from my friends shop to the dealer, and the dealer is telling me that my brand new clutch and flyweel and fried. they wanted me to pay 2200.00 for new flywheel and clutch, i just told them i am gonna have another shop install it lol i am just waiting for a new trans now so hopefully it all works out


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## Spddracer (Jan 31, 2003)

*Here's an idea *

Put a better clutch in it.


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## joshoatman (Nov 28, 2007)

You are not alone. I bought a 2006 Base Coupe model and I took my car in at 8000 miles with the clutch slipping, then at 18,700 miles the clutch was gone. After a few rounds with the manufacturer they finally fixed the clutch. I asked for them to put a better clutch in or if they would put in an after market clutch and I even offered to pay the difference but they said that they could not do that, they could only put in a stock replacement on warranty. Well when I got the car out it was just 3 days or so and the damn thing would not start. Turns out that this problem was due to another faulty part on these cars, the crankshaft position sensor. Well when that was fixed it was back on the road. That was until 33,533 miles when without warning the clutch was out again. Again it has dessimated the pressure plate.

I have owned manual transmission cars all my driving career and I have never had to replace a clutch until this car. Now I have to replace it twice in 33,500 miles. Rediculous! Nissan is hiding behind the lame wear and tear item loophole. This is wrong and there should be a class action lawsuit soon. Count me in on this cause my car is sitting at the dealership right now in pieces and I am not going to pay for it so my credit is going to be ruined. Nissan needs to be held accountable for putting out a flawed product. Does anyone know of any current cases against nissan yet? If there are please let me know cause I can add all my evidence as well.


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## joshoatman (Nov 28, 2007)

danny350z said:


> i have the same problem, i have my 2004 roadster and my clutch gave at 24,000 miles i dont know to keep the car or to sell it, thinking i might have more problems with it later on


Oh you will have more problems if you do not put in a better clutch. good luck getting them to do it under warranty though cause I asked for that and offered to pay the difference and they refused it. Go figure. Guess they wanted the repeat trip there to bring dollars to their pocket.


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## joshoatman (Nov 28, 2007)

metro273 said:


> I think it's the driver's frying the clutches! I work at a Nissan dealership and we hardly ever replace clutches except for the morons that come in there to complain that the car is a POS because the clutch is "fried" already! The driver's that know how to drive and shift properly, they NEVER complain about the clutch or slipping. The 1st clutch we'll warranty but after that, the owner is on his own. Personally, I actually think that the OEM clutch disk is not meant for the 350. It does need to be beefed up some...


You are full of shit man. Do you own a Z? Have you driven one that much? I would say the answers to those questions are no. If there were isolated cases of clutch problems then I would have to agree with your assesment of things, but considering the amount of cases of clutch problems we are talking about I can hardly believe that there are that many people that can't drive a standard transmission. If you are so confident about the Z and its clutch, then put your money where your mouth is and buy one, use it as a daily driver and see where you are a few months later.


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## joshoatman (Nov 28, 2007)

azza6969 said:


> What a Joke.. Bad Clutches throught the world and Nissan turning their head... Obviously the problem is well known... Is the Car to powerful for the Clutch. Or is the Clutch just a piece of shit... Does Nissan know af the Problem and just cashing in on it...
> Nissan Machanic's or engineers, Please give a explaination...
> 
> This will be the last Nissan I will ever Buy...


I agree with you. I want an explanation of why they are refusing to address the real problem with this car and still selling it as if things are fine. Too many people having the same problems with a product generally equates to the product being faulty or having many faults. The company should fix it or take it off the market.


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## birdsflyingover (Dec 19, 2007)

ok, first off i agree with the nissan tech. many clutches are prolly being fried due to the fact that a lot of owners are driving their cars like their heads are filled with throbbing ground beef and two eye sockets, also they probably have tribal tattoos on their bi ceps.

second. a car manufacture will not recall a clutch unless it fails 100% of the time within 10k of ownership. it is also a perfomance car, not something a single mother scraped by to purchase so her kids could get to school. it is not a safety issue, wich is why most recalls happen. is it fair? no. but i guess because you guys are walking examples of perfection that never screw anyting up should make other people subject to the same standards. yes it is a car, a major investemnt, but when it comes down to it, everyone is just someone going to work and screwing something up a little.


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## Old $chool (May 21, 2008)

lol @ all the Z haters. Buck up and buy a better clutch guys. Never had an issue with my stock clutch....until I dyno'd the Z with a few bolt ons, utec, and 150 shot of nitrous. Threw in a JWT flywheel and clutch and she was good...made double the torque of a stock Z too. Premature failure of any part sucks....trust me...I know. More so than most here. If you love the Z like I do, what's $500 for a performance clutch? Upgrade a few parts and drive the sh*t out of your Z...you'll be much happier. trust me.


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## 03fairladyz (Jun 3, 2008)

I think that there is definately a clutch issue with these cars. First of all why would the factory have a recall on tranny and clutch on the 03's if there wasn't a problem? I have no problem driving a manual tranny. I've had honda's, mustangs, and driven other sticks before my 03 Z and had no clutch problems. My Z had 36000 miles on it when the tranny went to the crapper so it was replaced with a new clutch due to the recall. 12000 miles later my clutch fries! I'm not a rocket scientist but Iive never seeen any clutch 
that was that fragile. It's a freakin Z! It's supposed to take a little bit and I don't even mean balls to the wall all of the time! If I wanted to drive like a grandma I would have bought a Buick! I think this is a real issue!


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## Old $chool (May 21, 2008)

^^issue is over when you upgrade your clutch...

My stock clutch was replaced at 20k miles. 

I've got 500whp on a single disc RPS Z32TT clutch and JWT flywheel until my SPEC twin disc comes in. No problems with syncros or clutch....only problem I have is getting it to the pavement. So if my tranny holds twice the power as stock with an upgraded clutch...I think yours will too.


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## Spongerider (Nov 18, 2002)

Old $chool said:


> ^^issue is over when you upgrade your clutch...
> 
> My stock clutch was replaced at 20k miles.
> 
> I've got 500whp on a single disc RPS Z32TT clutch and JWT flywheel until my SPEC twin disc comes in. No problems with syncros or clutch....only problem I have is getting it to the pavement. So if my tranny holds twice the power as stock with an upgraded clutch...I think yours will too.


In all fairness the Z32 clutch was well matched to our TT and NA stock but once you upgraded the chip the clutch burned out within a month. For me it lasted 4 days. (Back ground on my Z, 85,000 mile original stock clutch) 

I agree with the Nissan Tech. about the _majority_ of clutch issues were driver abuse (first timers to stick and/or 300 hp). And I also agree with the Tech that the clutches could have been made tougher.

Upgrading clutch,

The only problem with most upgraded clutch is the peddle pressure being too heavy for daily driving and the peddle engagement being about a 1-2" off the floor other then that they will last longer then stock.


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## Old $chool (May 21, 2008)

Spongerider said:


> In all fairness the Z32 clutch was well matched to our TT and NA stock but once you upgraded the chip the clutch burned out within a month. For me it lasted 4 days. (Back ground on my Z, 85,000 mile original stock clutch)
> 
> I agree with the Nissan Tech. about the _majority_ of clutch issues were driver abuse (first timers to stick and/or 300 hp). And I also agree with the Tech that the clutches could have been made tougher.
> 
> ...


JWT clutch felt EXACTLY like stock. The RPS I have in it now is a bit heavier, but not by alot....an ACT clutch I had in a civic about 9 years ago was way heavier. 

The Z33 stock clutch is a bit smaller than the Z32TT clutch....it really should have been made the same. The JWT flywheel has a pattern that fits Z32TT clutches...so if you upgrade, you can buy a performance Z32TT clutch and it will fit (and hold more power).


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## Spongerider (Nov 18, 2002)

Old $chool said:


> The Z33 stock clutch is a bit smaller than the Z32TT clutch....it really should have been made the same. The JWT flywheel has a pattern that fits Z32TT clutches...so if you upgrade, you can buy a performance Z32TT clutch and it will fit (and hold more power).


Have you seen this done and do you have one your Z33? I would be careful of what you say because someone might do what you suggested and come after you if there is a problem but if it's not hear say go for it. 

You mentioning a Z32 flywheel fitting a Z33 is a first for me. 
I have a question about compatibility?
1)What is the thickness of the Z32 flywheel vs. the z33?
2)What is the diameter of the z32 flywheel vs. the z33?
3)What is the thickness and diameter of the step z32 vs. z33?


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## Old $chool (May 21, 2008)

Spongerider said:


> Have you seen this done and do you have one your Z33? I would be careful of what you say because someone might do what you suggested and come after you if there is a problem but if it's not hear say go for it.
> 
> You mentioning a Z32 flywheel fitting a Z33 is a first for me.
> I have a question about compatibility?
> ...




The JWT 350Z (Z33) flywheel has the bolt patterns for theZ33 & Z32TT clutch....so you can buy a JWT Z33 flywheel and a RPS/ACT/JWT/etc etc Z32TT performance clutch and it will fit the JWT Z33 flywheel. Don't get confused. You cannot put a Z32TT clutch on a stock Z33 flywheel...nor can you put a Z32 flyhweel on a Z33..

Went from a JWT Flywheel / JWT Z33 clutch to a ATS/Carbonetics Triple Disc (gave me trouble...took it out and put back in my old Z33 JWT Flywheel).....and threw in a RPS Z32TT clutch until my spec twin disc comes in. 

Not only have I done exactly what I suggested to the OP...but I have provided a link that explains it for you guys. I don't open my mouth unless I know what I'm talking about. I wouldnt steer someone wrong...

Jim Wolf Technology website

under the picture...it mentions it has a dual bolt pattern to fit other clutches....this is refering to the Z32TT clutch bolt pattern.


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## Spongerider (Nov 18, 2002)

Old $chool said:


> The JWT 350Z (Z33) flywheel has the bolt patterns for theZ33 & Z32TT clutch....so you can buy a JWT Z33 flywheel and a RPS/ACT/JWT/etc etc Z32TT performance clutch and it will fit the JWT Z33 flywheel. Don't get confused. You cannot put a Z32TT clutch on a stock Z33 flywheel...nor can you put a Z32 flyhweel on a Z33..


*This is what you stated above.*
_"The JWT flywheel has a pattern that fits Z32TT clutches...so if you upgrade, you can buy a performance Z32TT clutch and it will fit (and hold more power)."_

_*Can you see why I'm confused?*_



Old $chool said:


> Went from a JWT Flywheel / JWT Z33 clutch to a ATS/Carbonetics Triple Disc (gave me trouble...took it out and put back in my old Z33 JWT Flywheel).....and threw in a RPS Z32TT clutch until my spec twin disc comes in.


*That is what you should have said to validate your statement.* 



Old $chool said:


> Not only have I done exactly what I suggested to the OP...but I have provided a link that explains it for you guys. I don't open my mouth unless I know what I'm talking about. I wouldnt steer someone wrong...
> Jim Wolf Technology website
> 
> under the picture...it mentions it has a dual bolt pattern to fit other clutches....this is refering to the Z32TT clutch bolt pattern.


*I have some links of your older post that made me question some of your answers and I can provide them for you if you like? This is why I stated above if this conversion was done by you or you have seen it done. Also the link provided is not adequate to support your claim since it doesn't specificly state you can use it with a z32 clutch but you have installed a Z32 clutch and that is all that matters.*

*The link say's,*

_"COMES WITH A DUAL BOLT PATTERN TO ACCEPT OUR FULL LINE OF OPTIONAL HIGH PERFORMANCE CLUTCHES."_

*So I guess, it mean's that is can fit any optional High Performance Clutch such as a z32, Sentra, Maxima, etc or does it mean it can fit other manufactures such as ACT, RPS, Clutch Master, etc for the Z33? *

*Again you installed a Z32 RPS clutch on a z33 and that was all we needed to hear. Btw, RPS does make a excellent clutch. *


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## Old $chool (May 21, 2008)

You asked for clarification and I gave you as much as possible before I went to bed (work nights ) ..i only speak from experience.

JWT is not the only flywheel that has a dual bolt pattern that fits both the Z33 and Z32TT clutch...can't remember off the top of my head which ones, but they exist. I know the Z33 pretty well having researched, modded, and now rebuilt the entire car. You learn alot as you go. People can either choose to believe what I'm saying and take my advice or don't. 

And you'd be surprised how many parts can go from one car to another. The Z33 injectors also fit the K20 honda motor. I remember using DSM injectors on my boost'd honda back in the early 90s. Anyhow, just here to share knowledge...not get into a debate.


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## Spongerider (Nov 18, 2002)

Old $chool said:


> And you'd be surprised how many parts can go from one car to another. The Z33 injectors also fit the K20 honda motor. I remember using DSM injectors on my boost'd honda back in the early 90s. Anyhow, just here to share knowledge...not get into a debate.


Sharing knowledge, debating, & learning is how all forums like ours should be ran. ;-)

After our debate, I've learned from you. :hal:


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## Old $chool (May 21, 2008)

^^ word. Glad I could help.


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## Sci201 (May 22, 2011)

Well add me to the list of morons then, but before you are so quick to judge, you had better realize that with all of these complaints Nissan has a bigger problem, reliability. I have been driving standard shifts for over 40 years. I taught my children on standard shift before they were allowed an automatic. I use my 350z only on the weekends to drive to Atlanta, Ga 150 miles all highway. My 2005 has only 42000 miles and the clutch and flywheel needs replacing. I am not a nauvice, I have owned Honda's, Datsuns, Saturns, and many other cars and never had a clutch wear out so early, it's a defect, whether you or your dealership acknowledges it.


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