Alright, so I was driving around today and my clutch lost a ton of pressure but was still engaging gears so I crawled to my friends shop which was luckily a block away.

They put it on the lift and bled the fluid and it came out BLACK and looking like tar (I bled the the whole thing about ~10,000 miles ago).

They disconnected the line that goes from the master cylinder to the CSC and pumped the clutch and NO fluid was coming out. So I went to the Infiniti dealer where they ripped me off for a new master cylinder but the shop closed and my car is still there and I'm bringing them the new master so they could install it but I'm very worried that the real issue is a CSC failure.

Now here's the dilemma. I rented a place in the Hamptons for a week starting on Saturday and I NEED the car fixed and ready to drive for then. If this is a CSC failure, should I bite the bullet and go to the Infiniti dealer and buy an OEM one to have them install it tomorrow? I've been trying to source an HD CSC but I don't think I'm gonna find one in NY by tomorrow.

Does anyone have a suggestion or how to get the car working properly before Saturday. I'm fine with a "bandage" fix so to speak because I have plenty of time once I get back to replace the damn CSC myself.

 

The "good" news is that it sounds like your master cylinder is the problem, not the slave cylinder. Cheaper and quicker fix.

 

I agree, I purchased a master cylinder form the dealer today and the shop is gonna install it tomorrow. The problem is that I've read the master cylinder usually fails along with the CSC. And when they bled the fluid it was black and tar like which is another sign of a CSC failure.

 

Did you bleed it yourself 10K miles ago or a shop did it? How many miles on the car?

 

Bled it myself at 74,000 now it has 83,000 on it.

 

Dark fluid is a symptom of master cylinder failure. The color is from the deteriorated seals. The CSC may be bad or it may not. The master cylinder is.

 

Should of been bled several times (really every 2 years for brake fluids). Starting with the MC is a good idea. Much cheaper in terms of both parts/labor.

You mentioned it came out like tar. I can see this happen if there are seal particles in the fluid. Question is are they from the master or slave or both. If after MC replacement the fluid gets dirty quickly, that could be an indication the slave is contaminating the fluid. You did use dot 3 or dot 4 fluid yes?

Make sure they do a good job of flushing the line too.

 

That's good to know. It's putting my mind at ease slightly. I think tha plan is to source a CSC from a Nissan dealer (forgot they're the same part) just to have on hand and return if necessary, but at least I have it ready in case that's the issue.

I put a lot of miles on my car, the 10,000 miles were done in about 8 months, and I was planning on flushing the fluid again soon. I'm gonna start doing it religiously after this. I used DOT 4 fluid last time.

I figured the particles in the fluid were from a seal of some sort. It stopped bleeding at one point from a blockage in the line, so they disconnected all the lines and blew them out with air. That's when they noticed the master cylinder wasn't sending any fluid to the CSC even though the cylinder was full.

I'm really hoping this problem is just the master cylinder. I'd really like to upgrade to the ZSpeed HD CSC but I'd be forced to buy an OEM one if that's the problem tomorrow.

 

This is still fresh for me as I flushed mine about 3 weeks ago. First flush in 3 1/2 years @ ~18K miles. There was a very light film of black particles at the bottom of the reservoir. The car sees a mix of city/hwy, probably 35/65% respectively. Wear happens each time the clutch is operated.

Ahhh the price we pay for driving a manual car

 

I drive mostly city but I wasn't expecting the clutch fluid to be that bad. Last time I bled it it had 25,000 miles on it and it was still yellow. This time it was dark with only 10k on it.

 

UPDATE:

Replaced master cylinder. Found a CSC at a Nissan dealer near my house. Friend towed the car to my house. Dropping the tranny now to replace. Should be done by tonight. Thanks for the help fellas.

 

How much was an OEM CSC?

 

$166 plus tax