bigvibes74 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Firstly, Hi to all, I'm a new Z owner and new member here! I bought an '05 350z recently and have it back with the dealer already (its still under 3 month warranty with them!). I didn't notice the problem when I test drove the car but when I bought it and picked it up, I took it for a serious drive or two lol and then I discovered the clutch pedal got sticky. It stuck about half way down and I had to pull it back up with my foot although it didn't affect me changing gear. Also, when I am idling in neutral, I get a faint 'whirring' sound but when I depress the clutch it goes away and it also gives the odd click and clunk now and again! I have googled the problem and some american forums suggest that a clutch fluid replacement solves the sticky pedal problem (also something to do with hot weather) but with the whirring noise - some say its normal and others say get a new clutch! Does anyone have any substantive experience of this and can give me a solution? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu350z Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 The faint whirring is completly normal clutch chatter! It'll get noisier if you uprate your clutch! As for the sticky pedal...........sorry cant help but some of the more technically minded guys will be along later to help out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyla350z Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Pedal is a comman problem , im told its either the clutch master cylinder or the fluid getting to hot . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvibes74 Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Cheers guys, for the replies. Dealer I bought it from is also replacing a clutch link at the pedal but the clutch fluid change seems to have sorted the sticky pedal. Sooooo glad to hear the whirring sound is normal. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvibes74 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 Just got the Z back from dealer today with new clutch linkage spring - ahhh - superb, world of difference and once again a very happy Zed owner!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willieo Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Just had the clutch pedal go sticky and feel like nothing was there the first part of the travel. This happened when stuck in heavy M5M6 interchange traffic in hot weather. I am pretty sure what is happening is that the fluid is heating up and expanding and pre loading the hydraulic system. I was worried that it was going to fail all together. Once traffic cleared and it got going again the problem disappeared. I checked the level and it is obvious what is going on. When the level is at the high mark in the reservoir the cap plug goes into the fluid and the effect is that there is no air space for expansion of the fluid. I have taken out some fluid and believe the proper level to be no higher than half way between the low and high marks. There needs to be some air space or as soon as the fluid expands it will cause the problem all over again. So check that you dont have fluid all the way to the top plug as it is too high there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Just had the clutch pedal go sticky and feel like nothing was there the first part of the travel. This happened when stuck in heavy M5M6 interchange traffic in hot weather. I am pretty sure what is happening is that the fluid is heating up and expanding and pre loading the hydraulic system. I was worried that it was going to fail all together. Once traffic cleared and it got going again the problem disappeared. I checked the level and it is obvious what is going on. When the level is at the high mark in the reservoir the cap plug goes into the fluid and the effect is that there is no air space for expansion of the fluid. I have taken out some fluid and believe the proper level to be no higher than half way between the low and high marks. There needs to be some air space or as soon as the fluid expands it will cause the problem all over again. So check that you dont have fluid all the way to the top plug as it is too high there. i'm pretty sure that isnt what is causing the problem. The heat is getting to the master or slave cylinder which causes this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Just had the clutch pedal go sticky and feel like nothing was there the first part of the travel. This happened when stuck in heavy M5M6 interchange traffic in hot weather. I am pretty sure what is happening is that the fluid is heating up and expanding and pre loading the hydraulic system. I was worried that it was going to fail all together. Once traffic cleared and it got going again the problem disappeared. I checked the level and it is obvious what is going on. When the level is at the high mark in the reservoir the cap plug goes into the fluid and the effect is that there is no air space for expansion of the fluid. I have taken out some fluid and believe the proper level to be no higher than half way between the low and high marks. There needs to be some air space or as soon as the fluid expands it will cause the problem all over again. So check that you dont have fluid all the way to the top plug as it is too high there. i'm pretty sure that isnt what is causing the problem. The heat is getting to the master or slave cylinder which causes this. +1 Read this thread and take note of ZMANALEX's post viewtopic.php?f=10&t=51086&hilit=clutch+slave+cylinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Just had the clutch pedal go sticky and feel like nothing was there the first part of the travel. This happened when stuck in heavy M5M6 interchange traffic in hot weather. I am pretty sure what is happening is that the fluid is heating up and expanding and pre loading the hydraulic system. I was worried that it was going to fail all together. Once traffic cleared and it got going again the problem disappeared. I checked the level and it is obvious what is going on. When the level is at the high mark in the reservoir the cap plug goes into the fluid and the effect is that there is no air space for expansion of the fluid. I have taken out some fluid and believe the proper level to be no higher than half way between the low and high marks. There needs to be some air space or as soon as the fluid expands it will cause the problem all over again. So check that you dont have fluid all the way to the top plug as it is too high there. i'm pretty sure that isnt what is causing the problem. The heat is getting to the master or slave cylinder which causes this. +1 Read this thread and take note of ZMANALEX's post viewtopic.php?f=10&t=51086&hilit=clutch+slave+cylinder And if your problem still persists then swop out the master cyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willieo Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 If the fluid expands at all with no air gap it then forces the slave cylinder into part operation causing the symptoms seen. Once fluid cooled down in moving traffic again symptoms go and the pedal stops sticking. Once back in traffic and stop start with heating up the symptoms come back. The bite point of the clutch did not change thankfully. This is nothing to do with the master or slave cyclinders being faulty. It is either the wrong cap on the master cylinder leaving no expansion space when the fluid is at the high mark or the high mark is in the wrong place meaning it is over filled. Simple cure is get a few ml out of it with a straw. Shame for any poor sod who was misled into replacing either the slave or master cylinders for this problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Shame for any poor sod who was misled into replacing either the slave or master cylinders for this problem! We all stand corrected then, that filler cap must be made out of something fantastic. The freeways of California must be log jammed with 350z's on a hot day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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