I drive a 2008 G37S 6MT with about 33K on it. When leaving work today I came to a light (within 45 seconds of starting the engine) and waited there for a min or two. When it turned green I went to accelerate with some enthusiasm (not overly aggresive though) and my clutch never came up. The RPMs rose to ~4.5K and the clutch then came up about 1/3 of the way. It felt like an eternity but it came up enough for me to get it into second before it kind of stuck again. All the way to 5th gear it was a little soft/sticky.

Yes, I had the burn smell in my car, which BB correctly describes as a 'horrific stench of failure in your car for a little while to remind you to be better next time'. I've dug around the forums and found the below threads, but was curious if anyone ever had follow up issues after their first stuck clutch?

https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-cou...tch-pedal.html

https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-cou...my-clutch.html

https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-cou...my-clutch.html


I also called the dealer, who would love to see my car now. I'm not sure this is a good thing as normally they can make a bad situation worse! Do you think I should take it in just in case it is the slave cylinder, or was this my car showing some personality in 100 degree weather?

 

Sorry but this car has the weakest clutch of any car I have ever driven. Its so bad I traded mine for the 7AT (the only time I have preferred ANY auto to a manual)....

 

Quick update. The dealer had my car today and confirmed there was no issue with the hydraulics. They also took the car out for a spin and said the clutch felt normal. I was advised that my clutch is probably wearing out. This surprised me as 85% of my driving is on a highway in 6th gear. The response was they have replaced clutches as low as 20K and the mechanic has "never" seen one last past 40K on our cars.

Anyway, I left saying I will monitor it. Within 1 mile of the dealer, I now have what feels like clutch chatter. This was never an issue before taking it in. I am still a little unsure if this is chatter or the rpms were just a little too low on a hill start; but it did happen multiple times and my driving style has never caused this in the past (driven manuals all my life).

Needless to say a little confused and not thrilled about the prospect of a $3K clutch replacement. I have 15 months left on my lease, so if it is wearing out there is no way I will avoid a replacement. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

I have 60K on this weak, terrible clutch and it's still going very strong. I've had 0 problems. I burned it pretty badly twice (embarassingly bad holeshots on the drag strip). Still no issues.

I think a few who have these numerous clutch failures have bad parts but I think most are from user error. I'm not saying that's the case with you, but our clutches are not that fragile. A lot of us are not as good at driving a manual transmission as we think we are.

My brother in law is driving my '92 Stanza that has a little over 200K on it. It now needs it's first clutch replacement. I did replace a slave cylinder once at about 90K.

 

^^^I suppose that could be the case but there are an awful lot of clutch failures on this board alone. I've heard that the clutch is undersized for the 3.7 liter VQ and that can lead to premature wear. All I know is that I did one (thats right, one) drop-clutch launch in my 08 at like 5k rpm and the clutch slipped to redline before I let off. Ever since then I was afraid the clutch would go any minute.

Try driving a new Mustang or Camaro. You can do drop-clutch launches all day long....

 

I've driven 100k's miles on other cars (240sx, MR2 (2)) and they would last 50-60k miles or more. I have 22k on my 08 G37S and am told my clutch is going bad because of chatter on hill starts ($2500, includes flywheel). Also, I'm on my 2nd tranny due to excessive gear whine. I have never dropped the clutch/burnt out in this car, never. Between me or the design - I pick bad design.

 

You seem to have some kind of sick obsession to validate your choice of buying an automatic transmission by continually regurgitating BS about how weak the clutch is on the G37. Yet even by your own words, you admit that the clutch on your last G37 never failed. It only "felt" like it might fail, as you say.

Give it a rest already. Most guys don't have any problem with their clutches, certainly not more so than you'd expect in ANY vehicle that offers a manual transmission. Just be happy with your automatic and stop hating on the guys who still choose to have a clutch pedal.

 

What you did was burn your clutch for sure. I did the same thing when I purchased my car once it 1,000 miles and I did an oil change I thought I was going to lightem up big time. The only thing I lit up was my clutch. I thought it would handle about 4,000 rpm with a popping lol! It just stayed on the floor until I let of the gas and it came back up. Learned my lesson. Im at 23,000+ and its smooth but it chatters and is noisy.

 

I don't think burning your clutch will cause it to stick to the floor..that will just make it not hold as well? My g35 had serious issues where the clutch would just stick to the floor or 1-2" from the floor but the my g37 has been good.

 

^^^^ Yes it will! Try reving to 4,000 rpm and pop your clutch! Bet you it sticks!!!

 

For what it's worth, I just had my slave cylinder replaced... yesterday. The symptoms were that the clutch originally caught high, and over the course of a day it caught lower and lower. I have 24,000 miles on my '08 g37s. I *barely* made it to my local shop, and at that point I had to put the clutch on the floor and it would barely shift - what I'm saying is it was progressive, the pressure loss over the course of my sub-10 mile commute.

Then, it was diagnosed by a local shop, I called roadside pickup as my car is still well under warranty, and Infiniti of Greenwich dealership fixed it in 2 business days. No charge luckily.

I asked if it was the way that I drove (which includes higher rpm driving, and I occasionally skip gears from 4 to 6 from a quick acceleration to cruise driving, or 6th to 4th or even 3rd to downshift/engine brake), and they promised me it was not my driving - it was just a bad part.

I hope you get your issue worked out!
DC

 

I am happy with my auto. I just wish Infiniti would make a 6MT I could drive without fearing a $2500 clutch replacement. I'm thinking an M3 with a proper 6MT next....

 

I had an M3. If you think any BMW is your ticket to a reliable ride, then all I can say is good luck to you. If you buy a BMW, you're certainly going to need it.

 

I certainly won't be getting an M3 for reliability. I'll be getting one because its just badass!

 

So as long as a car is "badass", it doesn't matter to you that it's not reliable?

You're talking in circles. You bash the 6MT because you think it's not reliable, but it's okay to buy another car that's not known to be reliable because it's "badass". Um, okay...whatever. No sense in even continuing this conversation, since you just got a 2010 G37 and I'm quite sure that you won't be driving an M3 any time soon.