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Nissan Xterra Manual Transmission Problems

199 messages,  Last post on Apr 29, 2013 at 10:43 AM

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Messages Page 18 of 21

#166 of 199 Re: Group Buy Info [orbframe] by offroadmike

May 01, 2011 (3:23 pm)

Replying to: orbframe (Feb 01, 2011 11:30 am)
Clutch on my 2005 Xterra just failed at about 59K miles-totally unexpected. In this case, very little warning of a problem-one week vehicle was fine, and the next week the clutch was slipping big-time, as opposed to one other clutch failure I've experienced (after more than 100K miles) where ample warning (gradually increasing slippage) in advance of total failure were evident.
 
This unexpected clutch problem also happened 1 week before a challenging, difficult 4WD back country trip into Utah that I planned to use the vehicle for. I'm very lucky it failed in the city, and not out there. It would have been really tough to tow the vehicle out with the other SUVs on the trip, or very expensive (like $3000 more or less) to have it hauled out to pavement. But that would by my expense and problem, not Nissan's, eh.
 
I've had other sticks and certainly know how to get long life from a clutch-this an inadequate/undersized parts issue, and not a driver issue, as many others on this site have said.
 
I found this Edmunds website and see that lots of you'll have this same problem w/ these Xterra clutches. Information sharing is power! Tx to this website, I'm not wasting my $$ on inadequate Nissan replacement clutch parts. This will be a $2K repair, and I dont want to go thru this again in 30-40K miles, and risk a breakdown in some remote, hard to get to place.
 
On 4/19/11 I ordered JWT replacement parts, at about $1000 (clutch, flywheel, TO bearing, bushing) total. Can I get in on some kind of group discount w/ others who have this problem, for these JWT replacement parts?

#167 of 199 2006 Xterra MT by mysport

May 11, 2011 (9:40 am)

Replying to: stickman409 (Dec 30, 2009 8:05 pm)
2006 MT Well after 3 clutches (3rd done at aamco), failed gas gauge (got $ back when recall finally happened), faulty electric window (body shop repair), rear diff/trans repair ($2300 at aamco). What an incredible experience - even with previous american cars it wasn't this bad from product to service to 'customer service' WOW. Nissan, hard lesson learned. - getting another toyota and cannot wait!

#168 of 199 Re: People... unite against Nissan now. We need your info! [ktsteven3] by dustidusti

May 11, 2011 (7:43 pm)

Replying to: ktsteven3 (Mar 19, 2010 2:27 pm)
I am now on my 3rd cluth for my nissan off road xterra 2008. The last clutch went out under 4,000 miles. In my 25 years of driving a stick, I have only had one clutch go out on my after 187,000 miles. They are says its wear and tear. We are not recieving any satisfaction and may be forced to sue.

#169 of 199 Re: Paperwork faxed to BBB [richsmit] by dustidusti

May 11, 2011 (7:50 pm)

Replying to: richsmit (Aug 19, 2010 12:32 pm)
My 2008 off road xterra is siting at the dealership, it needs a clutch replaced. This is the 3rd clutch to be replaced. It has under 23,000 miles on it. This last clutch has under 4k miles.

#170 of 199 Re: People... unite against Nissan now. We need your info! [dustidusti] by offroadmike

Jun 04, 2011 (9:18 pm)

Replying to: dustidusti (May 11, 2011 7:43 pm)
Just had my 2005 Xterra clutch (failed at about 59K) rebuilt w/ Jim Wolf Technology (JWT) repl. parts (see previous message #166 about my clutch problem).
 
It took about 4 weeks to get the JWT clutch parts (I elected not to throw good money after bad on more quickly available, but inferior undersized Nissan replacement parts). Ben w/JWT seemed pretty familiar with this Xterra clutch problem issue.
 
Total cost parts and labor (new clutch installed by a local independent garage) around $2K.
 
So far so good on the new clutch. Hopefully I wont have to go through this again as long as I have the vehicle. I'm also replacing the basic pretty lousy sound system with an after-market upgrade. Starting to wonder how good overall this Nissan product really is. Time will tell.

#171 of 199 file with nhtsa.dot.gov by agatka

Jun 05, 2011 (12:05 am)

Just filed the complaine with nhtsa.dot.gov about my clutch that failed last year at 20 KM on my 2007 xterra. I hope the govermanet will help us consumers to get NISSAN to take care of this problem.

#172 of 199 Any Luck with Luke Clutches? by winchester44

Jun 13, 2011 (3:04 pm)

Hi, I'm new to this thread, but wanted to add my experience.
 
I purchased an '06 Xterra 6spd Off Road Edition a little over a year and a half ago.
I bought it with 40K miles on it and in 1.5 years I have put 26K more miles of virtually
all highway driving. I had read earlier posts about the short lifespan of the clutch and babied
it around town religiously and have yet to have the chance to tackle anything tougher than a few inches of snow. Well, with no warning it started slipping very badly this morning and I drove
it straight to a trusted independent transmission shop. Well, the clutch is definitely toast. I guess I should consider myself lucky to have gotten 66K miles out if the factory clutch, but still that's a absolute disgrace that it should last that little time.
 
The transmission shop said they have seen a number of these and that the clutch is woefully undersized for an suv and is smaller than some 4 cylinder FWD clutches they see.
 
Anyhow, we talked about an OEM clutch, but they strenuously argued against it even though it was more expensive. With their reccomendation, they are going to install a Luke brand clutch that the shop paid $394 and will charge another $700 in labor, including re-surfacing the flywheel. I asked about a Centerforce, but they said they would reccomend switching to a single mass flywheel if I were to go that route and didn't reccomend it unless I was towing or doing alot of off-roading or the flywheel already needed replacing too. He did say that would be probably last "a little bit longer" , but a the expense of the smoother engagement of the dual mass flywheel. I looked into the JWT clutch too, but it would be at least a week to get one. I was told that the Luke brand is only sold direct to transmission shops and you would have a tough time getting one via retail. The mechanic claimed he has put in over a hundred of the Luke clutches in Fronteirs/Xterras and has only seen one come back for replacement. This is just one mechanics opinion, but I and several freinds have had excellent expriences at this shop. He even put his supplier on speaker so I could hear the prices being discussed and watch him write down everything to calculate the total quote.
 
On another note I called the local Nissan dealership for a laugh and asked what they would charge. First they insisted that they knew the flywheel would have to replaced as well as the clutch and this would cost at least $2600. I insisted on just repalcing the clutch and they said $1900 plus they would have to mail my flywheel out to be re-surfaced for another "Several hundred in shop fees and shipping". This is the same dealership that charged me $400 for a brake service on my wife's G37 and then informed me at checkout that is was "$400 per axle"
Needless to say the ensuing screaming match in front of other waiting patrons resulted in a deduct.
 
I just bought the wife a brand new Murano and she loves it, I love my Xterra too. Nothing else has gone wrong and it has been a great car. That being said, one more service experience like this and the CEO will be getting a letter about why we sold our Nissans and went back to 4 Runners. My last one, a 99 went 285K miles with zero unscheduled maintenance and zero mechanical or electrical failures.
 
Anyhow, just wanted to share my experiences with the other disgruntled owners out there. I will report back in a few months on the Luke clutch and tell you how its working out.

#173 of 199 Re: People... unite against Nissan now. We need your info! [offroadmike] by winchester44

Jun 15, 2011 (3:58 pm)

Replying to: offroadmike (Jun 04, 2011 9:18 pm)
Did you happen to purchase the JWT single mass Flywheel along with your clutch? My stock Nissan unit has a solid 3 inches of play in it after only 60K miles! That is just ridiculous. The cheapest dual mass unit I could find was $550 and Nissan wants just under $800 for their OEM unit. The JWT single mass in $450. Anyhow just wondering if you bought that too as I'm guessing you did from the $2K you invested. Anyhow, just curious on what the change to a lighterweight single mass unit does to the drivability.

#175 of 199 Re: People... unite against Nissan now. We need your info! [winchester44] by winchester44

Jun 16, 2011 (9:28 am)

Replying to: winchester44 (Jun 15, 2011 3:58 pm)
Just confirmed with local Nissan Dealership that the Dual mass Flywheel
is also a general wear item and is not covered under the "60K Mile Powertrain Warranty". A $780 wear item has got to be some sort of record.

Messages Page 18 of 21

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