Hey everyone - would appreciate a few experienced sets of eyes taking a look at what I've got going on.







The little I know about the car's maintenance history is that the slave cylinder was replaced in April of '07. If the clutch lever boot was in as bad a shape then as it is now, could that all be a result of clutch fluid sprayed into the bellhousing from the slave cylinder? Even if that's the case for the interior, I'm concerned about the seepage on the exterior of the bellhousing. Rear main seal showed no signs of leaking (although I replaced it anyway) . . . is there any particular tranny seal I should investigate first? The front one in the bellhousing doesn't look too bad, and it seems to me I'd have oil spread all around if it were leaking, not just on the upper passenger side.

Anyone know if Nissan still stock the shift lever boots & tranny seals? I'd rather not have to wait on shipping before finishing this job. Thanks!

 

that is from someplace else. if the slave cylinder were leaking you would be putting fluid in twice a day. the whole system holds less than a cup. how is your front tranny seal. power steering rack tight. front engine seal. looks pretty groddy but not really a lot of oil if the car is a few years old without cleanging. whatever was or is leaking was hitting the clutch fork and getting inside the tranny. if it were coming from inside it would probably be all over the inside not just where the clutch fork is.

 

Hmmm.... I'm thinking somewhere down the line that the tranny was overfilled and it gushed out the top vent. Either that, or someone was really sloppy trying to fill it.

I just had mine out and it was still pretty clean. A little dusty, and some gunk... but not like yours at all.

 

Slave cylinder definitely isn't leaking now - it's in good shape. But if the fluid all gushed out when it bad 3.5 years ago, I wonder if this is remnants of that episode. I've got a call in to the previous owner, but no word back yet.

Rear main seal was old & got replaced, but wasn't leaking (flywheel/clutch/pressure plate are clean). Pretty sure it isn't anything from the front of the engine, but I'll check again. Power steering is clean as well. And to inspect the front tranny seal I have to unbolt the front cover from inside the bellhousing, right? But like you said, if that were the cause it'd probably be all over the inside.

That could be - there's enough gunk that's been slung around the underside of the car, it's hard to tell where one leak might have begun and/or joined with a different one. But there is sludge that starts at the top vent & works it's way around down to the bottom.

It's also possible that the oil pan is leaking, when I changed the oil a few days ago there was some on the back of the engine as well. So it's possible that the lion's share of everything is coming from that. But I haven't seen any oil loss for the 3 weeks I've owned it (put about 1400 miles on it). Again, hard to tell the source when just about everything is covered . . . I'm doing my best to scrub it all down & get it clean so I can inspect in a few days time & better tell where it's coming from.

 

Oh, and just for fun, pictures of the old clutch disc:







Yeah, it was slipping. A lot.

 

Hmm..I can't really understand why the clutch would slip. It looks perfectly fine to me. Geesh...I have never seen a clutch disc that bad of shape. And really rusted too. Very much neglected. It should work like brand new, when you get a new one installed in there.

 

Yeah, any acceleration over the past few weeks required some . . . shall we say, finesse. I can't wait to get it on the road & actually be able to use more than a quarter throttle.

Managed to mangle the throwout bearing spring holder on removal, so I'm waiting for a new one of them before reinstalling. Should be here Friday am.

 

it is possible that who ever did the rear seal, didnt clean the bell housing and the fliud is old. the only parts that will cause that leak is tranny front seal (leak may be a bit to far forward as near the seal has no oil and dirt build up) or the rear main, oil is in correct location. that clutch is to the rivets holding on the friction surface and is worn out. replace and be happy