Hi everyone, I have a 2009 G37S coupe with a manual transmission. Mileage is 58k. Last week I was driving and the clutch pedal dropped right to the floor. Rewind to about 6 months ago when it did the same thing. I limped home and checked clutch fluid, which was low. Topped it off and everything went back to normal. In the back of my mind I wondered why the fluid level was low, but decided to keep an eye on it. Then about 2 weeks ago I started hearing a bit of a whine coming from under the hood. My first thought was maybe a worn belt that would need replacing. Transmission shifted fine, so I didn't connect the two in my mind. When clutch pedal dropped again I checked the fluid level and again it was low - no signs of a leak though. I topped it off, but had no luck - pedal wouldn't build pressure and dropped right to the floor again. Couldn't get it in any gear, so had to tow it.

Insurance covered the tow, but only within a certain radius. Infiniti garage is across town, so I took it somewhere around the corner that has done some other work for me in the past. I assumed it was a bad master cylinder and a bill of approx $500. Well, shop calls me to say that it needs master and slave cylinder, plus a new flywheel and clutch kit. Total damage is $3800 parts and labor! If the car still drove then I'd get it over to the Infiniti dealer and have them give me a second opinion, but that's not possible without towing and additional cost. Plus, if I take it there then maybe the dealer is twice as expensive for the same work.

Here's what was quoted:
CLUTCH MASTER CYLINDER 1 $226.52
CLUTCH SLAVE CYLINDER 1 $241.09
CLUTCH KIT 1 $985.73
DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL 1 $912.88

My first question - does the scope of work sound reasonable and what about the cost? How does the clutch and flywheel all need replacing as a result of this, or am I being taken for a ride?

I'm sure I can get the parts cheaper myself, but I have to expect to pay a markup on stuff if this place is going to do the work. I have a good deal of mechanical aptitude, but don't have the space or tools to properly tackle something like this.

Second question - the shop has a note on their quote "RETRO FIT KIT TO SINGLE". The mechanic also said something about looking into a single mass flywheel as a replacement, so I assume this is what he's referring to. Should I be insisting on a dual mass variation to have the car operate like stock? I understand the basic differences btwn the two, and single is cheaper (how much, I'm not sure). Single is also supposed to transmit more vibration through instead of dampening it out. I don't want it to drive differently afterwards and want it to still feel like a luxury car.

As a final note - I called Infiniti consumer affairs to see if they'd help me cover the repairs. I am well within the 70k powertrain warranty from a mileage standpoint, but am outside the 6 yr time frame by almost a year. They denied the request, but mainly because they have no history of me spending money in their dealerships for service/maintenance. I understand their rationale, but it stinks to have this be the case. I do most of my own work because I enjoy it and have peace of mind knowing it's being done with care. I have low mileage and really try to take good care of my vehicles. It seems people like me are penalized for working on their own cars.

Thanks for any advice you guys can provide!

 

Sounds relatively reasonable to me for the work being done.

Infiniti Consumer Affairs will never help you if you are 1 mile or 1 day past your warranty unless there's an extensive record of you having spent a ton of money in the dealership service department over the course of your ownership. And often not even then either. They blow. You're not the first or last to have clutch issues. Mine went out just around 60K and I just decided not to go the warranty route and replaced it all with more robust aftermarket parts. I'd advise to pay a little more and upgrade the garbage OEM plastic slave cylinder with the heavy duty Zspeed Performance version. Costs more but worth it.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I did a little browsing and have noticed quite a few people with issues with the 6MT, very similar to mine. It's a shame that a luxury vehicle has a widespread clutch issue like this. At 58k miles I should not be having this kind of issue, especially if the vehicle is cared for and driven properly. You would think for the price point of this vehicle that it would buy you better longevity.

Any thoughts on the dual versus single mass flywheel? Perhaps the single they want to replace it with is better than the stock dual?

 

I replaced mine with a single mass lightweight steel flywheel. It's not better or worse IMO, but it is cheaper.

 

Alright so I ran into the same issue with my 08 G37 coupe I had a year ago, let me give you some information I got quoted around the same from Aamco transmissions shop and at the time it was unexpected and didn't have three k laying around to spend on oem parts. Did some research and heard great reviews on JWT clutch and flywheel kit and went ahead and go pricing from conceptzperformance which was local to me but also ship very reputable aftermarket parts company so I paid 1300 for a JWT kit which included clutch, flywheel, z speed concentric slave cylinder, oem master cylinder which you want the z speed concentric slave because oem ones always go out and they recommend it to me with the aftermarket clutch. Go to there website check it out conceptzperformance.com there JWT kit are around 700 and add the z speed concentric slave and oem master cylinder and pay labor at the shop in guessing around 400 to 500 and you'll be looking at 1800 out the door! Great clutch and great engagement now with a lightweight flywheel you will have chatter at idle which is totally normal and below 1500rpm. I loved mine and JWT are reputable company that make quality parts for our cars

 

My 08 37S (108k miles) had similar symptoms last friday driving home. Made it to the driveway and had to push it into the garage. I am trying to decide whether to have it towed to the dealership (about 40 minutes away) or take it to the reputable local shop. Both intend to use OEM parts and, based only on my description of the problem, guessed that I have to replace master, slave, and flywheel. Quotes range from $1200 to $2000. Dealership has been pretty good to me, but won't warranty the work unless I use OEM. Is the slave cylinder really "plastic garbage"?

 

Yes the oem is really plastic garbage and they go out all the time. There are low mileage 30k cars or less when the slave goes out specially in the 370z which is the same part as ours. Any other reputable shop won't guarantee the parts of there not oem but they are trusted parts you can rely on. I wouldn't have the dealer do it because when labor rates are so much more so find a reputable shop like you said and have jr done once you get the parts