Weird Issue with Clutch - Questions

[neverrain]

Hi,

Last week at work, I get in my car to leave for my break and my car doesn't go in gear. Ended up getting it towed home, took the next day off, went to AutoZone, picked up a new clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder and swapped out the master cylinder. I removed my clutch dampener (or damper, can never remember and I don't have my FSM sitting next to me) and bent the hard line very carefully and reattached it to the slave. I didn't replace the slave at the time because it didn't *appear* to be leaking or broken. No noticeable brake fluid on it and the little rod thingy felt like it was moving fine . Bled the lines alone with an $8 dollar self bleeding kit I picked up when I purchased the new parts. I spent a good amount of time bleeding it as this was my first time, but everything I read here and other places said if you can't see bubbles in the clear tube when bleeding, you should be free of air. When that was done, dropped the car, drove on it a bit and the clutch felt great. Nice and stiff. Drove on it with no issues (for the most part, more below) for almost a week and took it on a canyon run last night, again with no shifting issues at all, clutch still felt fine.

When I had this issue last week I had noticed that a few days before the actual problem happened it was getting slightly more difficult to put my car in reverse in the morning when I went to work.

Fast forward to today. I get in my car after it has been sitting all day, not being driven since I came home last night, start my car, sit there while to motor warms up, then go to put my car in reverse. Grind. Try to put my car into first, with some force, nothing. Won't slide in. Was able to pull it into second with decent force, but put it back in neutral for the time being. Cussed at my car (then apologized).

So I come inside pissed off. Let myself calm down and begin thinking. After I installed the master cylinder before, intermittently for a day or two after I put it in, the clutch pedal feels like its clicking on its way back up, like it is catching something temporarily. This issue has since gone away.

I worked up the energy to go out to my garage and move my car into it so I can raise it and take a look at the slave cylinder to see if it really is leaking. I line up my drive up racks (no idea what these things are called) and get in my car. Start it, and begin to shift into second and it slides perfectly. Same with 1st and 3rd (wtf, although I didn't check the other gears). I also checked the fluid level and it about the same what I had put in it earlier in the week, so it doesn't appear to be leaking fluid. At this point i still haven't checked the slave. I turned the car off and left it as it was, and came inside completely baffled.

Now to my question. After the initial replacement, the clicking feeling on the pedal had me wondering if the master I bought was just a piece of crap. When the issue went away I brushed it off. I'm starting to wonder if I should just order a new master and slave from Nissan, since the master I took off wasn't OEM, iirc. If I do this I'm going to buy SS lines as well. Does anyone have any clue what is happening here? If needed I'll run out and check out the slave again just to be sure, which I think I'm going to do anyway after I post this.

Related side question 1: Is there any specific brand someone can recommend for the SS lines? I found Taka Motorsports . They sell 2 different lines, one is for MC -> SC and I'm assuming the cheaper one is for the rubber line on the slave? Is Taka any good? Input?

Related side question 2: I recently (about 3 months ago) replaced my clutch because it was slipping. I had an Exedy replacement clutch professionally installed by the mechanic i've used for a while now for the things I can't do myself. Since day 1 of drving my car after the new clutch I have smelled a metallic greasy sort of smell, possibly light clutch burning (not sure) whenever I get on the throttle heavily, like on the freeway or in the canyon. I never really thought much of this because the car drives perfectly fine. Just figured maybe it needed to be broken in.

If anyone can shed some light on this for me that would be greatly appreciated. I'll probably end up renting a car tomorrow so I can go to work this week. Should I replace the MC, SC, and lines with oem and SS? I don't want to take the risk driving on it too much in case this happens again. I only have 1 150 mile tow left on my AAA and don't want to use it if I don't have to.

EDIT - In case someone asks, this car did not used to be auto. It is a factory MT.
EDIT 2 - Just took it out for a drive, shifting is flawless. WTF. It has to be a bad MC.

Also, sorry for the length of this, I wanted to try and describe this the best I could for anyone who can offer advice. Thank again.

[s13boy89]

the rpoblem might be just because you are using an autozone slave i have heard horror stories

[neverrain]

I know. I've read it too, just can't remember where. Everywhere was sold out and I needed it same day. At least it was cheap. I think I'm going to order the parts from Nissan tomorrow and the SS lines from Taka. What I'm mostly worried about is driving it somewhere and getting stuck.

If anyone else has opinions, please speak up.

[neverrain]

Yea I'm almost certain at this point it's either the MC or the rubber hose on the slave expanding. Either way I've ordered new parts from Nissan and I have also ordered Taka SS lines. Will post updates after they are on.

[clark]

Originally Posted by neverrain

Yea I'm almost certain at this point it's either the MC or the rubber hose on the slave expanding. Either way I've ordered new parts from Nissan and I have also ordered Taka SS lines. Will post updates after they are on.

if you have a digital camera, or a video camera, prop the camera facing the slave cylinder and rubber line, then go into the car and press the clutch in a bunch of times and get it on video. when done, watch the video and see what is up. or just have a friend press the lcutch in and you watch.

[ChicagoS14]

Also might be a throwout bearing, also did you try adjusting your clutch pedal? I did a clutch on a bone stock SOHC and after a while the car would grind going into gear if the pedal was pressed in all the way, however if it was pressed only 3/4 of the way in or something like that it would go into gear fine, so I merely adjusted the pedal and it works great now.

As far as clutches are concerned you need to properly break them in for about 500 miles, which consists of shifting gently and shifting at lower rpms. If you glaze the clutch it as a result of improper break in it will slip so make sure to break it in properly. Also if there are any leaks in the trans seal or the rear main seal of the engine then engine oil/trans fluid are possibly getting on the surface of your clutch and its causing issues. Theres just soo many possible issues that its hard to say without actually driving the car or looking at it, it also helps to know that the work done was done correctly.

Let us know how it goes, also list what was done and what was replaced.

Thanks

[ChicagoS14]

Reread your thread and to answer your question regarding the ss line, you can order a ss line from your hard line to your slave from SPL parts. Its about $20 plus shipping so a little under $30 shipped. $29.08 to be exact using ground shipping to my address... but shipping is quick and SPL is a great company and I have used their products on my car and have nothing but good things to say.