usndocgreen

So..
After reading this I have to ask about my clutch. I got my 08 used with 16k miles on it. Ever since I bout it 1st and 2nd have never been smooth..very jerky. I have assumed that is similar to other people's problems but I am begining to wonder. I have driven standars before and this is kind of silly. I can not let the clutch out slowly in first without the car shuddering and dieing. I find myself engaging first between 1-2k rpm which i know cant be good in the long run. So.... please help.. is this normal??

jabrother

I think this is pretty normal. I bought a late 08 6MT and it was smooth when brand new but soon became "chattery" especially when hot. It also had varying pressure at different times, I think also from heat issues. One of the master techs came out and looked at it and just sat in the car and pressed the clutch and instantly said yeah your pressure is way harder than our new cars out on the ground. So they replaced the pressure plate I believe and it was better then new after that. After about 10k more miles it is still pretty decent in normal driving but when hot it gets chattery and hard to engage smoothly.

One trick I discovered on our 08 cars is that my floor mat was moving around and actually interfering with working the pedals properly. I pulled out the mat and it was much easier to drive the car smoothly. I'm looking into buying one of those weather tech mats but for the moment it's a lot easier to drive without the mat in there. On the 09+ cars, they added a 2nd hinge on the drivers side mat which obviously helps keep it in place better. The 08 cars have only one hinge on the left side of the mat, so the right side tends to move around and get up into the gas pedal even a little. Another thing to check is to make sure that you have the latest gas pedal programming. An overly aggressive throttle tune would make it very difficult to drive smoothly.

Good luck!!

bigwill0815

I was experiencing the same noise and jerky ride... went to the dealer, they put in a new throw out baring and then said they ordered me a tranny and they put that in this week... Ever since i got my car back it is so much smoother, quieter and feels like a new car again. I only have 11k on my car! Service guy said that some 08 VIN's were bad and needed trannys/clutch/throwout baring. Def. get that checked!

Atlanta_G37S

How much did that run you?

usndocgreen

So,
I talked to the dealer and I am taking the car in tonight for them to look at it tomorrow. Will let you know what happens.

Atlanta_G37S

I will be curious to see how much this is going to cost you.

jabrother

I think within reason most dealers will cover clutch problems under warranty if it's less than 20k miles or so, at least I would hope so!! I do think clutch chatter is inevitable with these cars, for some reason. As long as it's not too bad or slipping I think you're OK.

Atlanta_G37S

As long as you bought from them....if you bought else where and take it into a dealer and complain I'm pretty sure they are going to ask you fork over big $$$$ or tell you to kick rocks and warranty dont cover poo.

usndocgreen

So...
The chatter I am hearing is normal for the car so I was told by the tech who seemed to know what he was talking about. I guess its just the first manual I have driven with significant horsepower under the hood. I dunno. Hope I get used to this transmission soon!! Eventually I want to go FI but that requires a clutch upgrade and thats bound to be less forgiving that stock!

jabrother

I'm no expert, but from owning an '05 350Z, '07 G35, and now my 08 G37, I've had some amount of chatter with all of them from time to time. If it's severe then yeah you've got a problem but otherwise I think you'll just have to live with it!

majin ssj eric

One of the main reasons I went with the 7AT the second time around. Takeoff is smooth as silk now!

kschwar1

So the DTS came, immediately noticed all of the problems I was complaining of on my car, and some I didnt, and offered to replace the trans, clutch assembly, flywheel, all bearings etc... I am glad someone stepped up and vouched for this. The problems were obvious...

jabrother

How many miles do you have? Are they replacing with upgraded parts or the same old crap?

RadMav

This issue goes way back to when the G37's first came out in '08. The clutch pedal has real long travel alot of people have trouble engaging it smoothly. Even people who've drive manual for a long time. You can try engaging it with more RPM (maybe between 1500-2700) that usually results in a smooth engagement, however it wears the clutch faster.

rokuss

The clutch was redesigned b/c of all the people that ruined their clutches and transmissions in the G35s. If you can't drive a manual, stick with the automatic!!! I had over 92K on my g35 and was still on the factory clutch and transmission.