Hi everyone, I'm pretty much new to the forum. I own a 90 300zx twin turbo, manual transmission. I was driving it over the weekend, when the car won't go into gear. It feels as if the clutch is not disengaging properly. I was told, when I bought the car that the clutch was replaced at 62,000 miles. It currently has 71,000 miles. I was wondering, if anyone had any insight into this problem. I heard that it could be the master/slave cylinders, or maybe even my throwout bearings.
Any and all suggestions, with your expertise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Is there fluid in master cylinder?

 

2nd.
If it's empty, put some in and see if you can find the leak.
The clutch slave cylinder is located on passenger side of trans and can be bled without jacking up car. Don't forget other bleed point under the hood.
Sounds like part of your hydraulic clutch system is not working. Either it's leaking fluid or it's a leak in the vacuum lines for that system.

 

Your slave or master cylinder may also need replacing. It's happened to me before, I had to bleed/refill my lines to get me home and then change my slave cylinder. It's not too hard of a job, just a little tedious. To bleed, I suggest using fish tank tubing (the clear stuff) to make things a little cleaner. Also, get a friend to trade off with you on pumping the pedal (your legs will get tired!)

 

I agree with EMO. It sounds like the slave cylinder. I find it hard to believe that the clutch would go out in such a short period of time, and normally, you replace the throw out bearing and pilot bearing when you replace the clutch and pressure plate. Get someone to push in the clutch pedal while you are underneath the car (not running - of course ) and watch the slave cylinder. See if it is pushing the throw out bearing arm. Also check for fluid around the slave cylinder.
Good Luck!

 

thanks guys for all the input. I'll check the master and slave cylinder and get back to you on how it goes. Once again, thanks again for all the help...

 

the master cylinder had plenty of fluid in it and i don't really seem to see a leak. I took the car to a local tanny shop and he couldn't really figure out what was wrong with it either. When the car is in gear, say second, and the clutch is fully depressed, the car will make a slight rubbing noise. sounds as if the clutch is not fully engaged. When you take it out of gear, the sound disappears. No such sound when the clutch is fully is released. I guess the fluid in the master cylinder was kind of low, (down to the low level line) but there was fluid in it. I still can't figure it out... HELP please... keke

BTW, when the tranny shop lifted the car up on the jack, we found a leak in the differential seal. Does anyone know how much does run to get fixed?

 

does the car make a woosh noise when the clutch is pressed down? my truck did that, and the pilot bearing ended up going out on me a week later.

 

Did you check the slave cylinder? How about the clutch cable? IF not that, time for a rebuilt tranny or a new one as there's something more serious (synchros?)

 

Clutch Cable?
What clutch cable?

 

Now that we know that there's fluid in it, and no apparent leaks, the next think to do is to properly bleed any air out of the lines.

These whirring, rubbing, whining noises seem to be common on these cars. My noises from the clutch are gradually getting louder as I approach the time for a new clutch. I'd really be worried about some clankity-clank noises, but you haven't described any of those.

I have no ideas on the diff seals.

BTW: You need to keep an eye on all of your fluid levels, like weekly. These are older cars, if your familiar with where all of your fluid levels are supposed to be, on a weekly basis, and you keep them topped off, then when one appears substantially lower than usual, you can go WTF, and possibly repair a problem before you get stuck, broken down, out on the road somewhere

 

ESPECIALLY the blinker fluid.


sorry.....had to....

 

btw, I couldn't get the right word, clutch line, at first I was thinking that maybe it's different on the Z32 than the S30, but they're both hydraulic, I mean the lines that come from the master cylinder. lines, cables, sorry for the mix up.

 

I had a problem with my clutch after I installed a high performance clutch and had to adjust the bolt going into the cylinder through the fire wall. My clutch would either get to tight or so loose it would not go into gear.

 

thanks guys... i'll try and bleed the lines over the weekend and get back to you guys with an update.
once again, thanks for all the input

 

i replaced the slave cylinder and bled the lines, but the same symptoms are still there. do you think its the master cylinder?
Thanks

 

I don't know about the Z yet cuz I haven't had any clutch problems. But on other cars I have found that there are two layers of metal on the fire wall where the clutch and brake masters cylinders attach. On those vehicle, I experienced leaking fluid on the master cylinder with no visible signs of a leak. It ended up that the fluid was leaking down in between the two layers of metal.

Therefore, you might try pulling the master cylinder out and check to see if fluid has been leaking out from the cylinder main seal. You might also try looking up under the dash for any visible signs of leaking fluid.

 

hey nimo...where are you at in indiana?

 

my friend had the same problem, squeeking and not going into gear, on his (hate to say it but) RX7. It turned out to be the pivot bearings on his throw out arm or whatever its called. They weren't greased right after a tranny shop put a new clutch in and they went bad......you might want to have that cheaked out.