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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 6 of 21

#45 of 199 Re: 2008 Xterra Off Road clutch failure #2 [phxjeff] by gfg

Sep 08, 2009 (5:12 am)

Replying to: phxjeff (Sep 05, 2009 5:44 pm)
A post in April suggested trying a Tribco (www.tribco.com) Kevlar composite clutch. I am still amazed that Nissan won't acknowledge this obvious defective design and take ownership for a better design upgrade at their expense. Mine was replaced by a dealer with the weak OEM design. Many who post their failures say their dealer won't replace under warrantee (clutch and brakes are excluded from the warantee), and a typical replacement charge is $3k or more. My '08 X is my first and last Nissan product, and will be sold soon. I feel I have been royally screwed by this company, and will be out many $k by having no choice but sell it and take the depreciation hit. I also feel guilty in selling it to an unsuspecting buyer, but hope that someone has the means to start a class-action lawsuit in the near future.

#46 of 199 nissan frontier clutch by tincanman

Sep 23, 2009 (5:23 pm)

I have a 2008 nissan frontier 4x4 6 cyl. quad cab. It has the factory tow package and a 6 speed manual tranny. In the process of towing my 21 foot sea swirl to go fishing ..........twice, the clutch burned out. At 22,000 miles! I have been driving a stick most of the time since I was 16 years old. I am 53. this is unheard of. Of course the dealer stiffed me. said it wasn't covered under the warranty. then they held there hand out and said I owe them 109 dollars to do the diagnostic. To make a long story short, I found a guy in San Diego Ca that makes a SOLID FLYWHEEL AND ORGANIC CLUTCH PLATE. It looks to be an inch bigger in diameter then the factory dual mass pos. and apparently weighs less. I am having Tustin transmission do the work. Screw Nissan.
The outfit in S. D. ca. is called Jim Wolf Technology. They specialize in Nissan. They are the only one I could find that was up to speed on the late model nissan frontier. After shipping and taxes they charged me 1,043 bucks for the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate, throwout and pilot bearing. one day shipping. tustin transmission will install it for a little over 550. That is under 1600 bucks as opposed to Nissan putting their pos in there for 2250 plus tax and it going out in another 15 thousand miles. Nissan is cutting their own throat, slowly.

#47 of 199 Re: nissan frontier clutch [tincanman] by gfg

Sep 24, 2009 (6:07 am)

Replying to: tincanman (Sep 23, 2009 5:23 pm)
Welcome to the club, unfortunately. I assume your Frontier has the same 6-speed and under-designed clutch as the Xterra. None of the posters here who have experienced premature clutch failure (averages 20k miles) on this site have stated they do anything but average driving, yet most have been stiffed by Nissan. Nissan fails to take ownership for a clearly defective design, and doesn't offer an improved clutch design even at the owner's expense. Since they are suffering financially as a company, it will likely take a successful class-action lawsuit to force them to have a silent recall or repair campaign, which would take years. Other than selling our Nissans and taking a big hit on the first years depreciated value, finding our own solution is the only other option.
This is why I truly appreciate you taking the time to provide the info you found on an improved clutch/flywheel set. I expect my wife's Xterra factory replacement clutch to fail again in another 10k miles, and plan to contact Jim Wolfe Tech to possibly secure a replacement set to have on hand. Thanks.

#48 of 199 the new flywheel and clutch by tincanman

Sep 24, 2009 (3:53 pm)

Tustin transmission should be just about done installing the solid flywheel and organic clutch I bought from jim wolf technology. However, I think I will wait till tomorrow to pick it up. Veteran of socal rush hour driving! I will post my impressions of its drivability when I do.
If there are any negative impressions of the saviour parts I will not hold back on my coments. Tustin transmission is going to box up the oem pos and give it to me after they have taken it out. I fired off an email to bar, bureau of automotive repair complaint department. I suggest anybody else with this problem do the same.
 
thanks

#49 of 199 jwt install is done by tincanman

Sep 25, 2009 (3:07 pm)

Well, I got the truck back. It is a little different to drive. Kept the dual mass flywheel. The mechanic said that they can be resurfaced if you know what you are doing. Any ways the feel is much more direct. The clutch grabs much quicker. There will have to be some muscle memory adjustments on my part but I don't foresee any big problem.
I equivolate the dual mass flywheel with off set golf clubs to compensate for a duffer slice. Bought some of those clubs one time and immediately started hooking everything. Plus they were cast instead of forged and so I had about 2% feel of the golf ball at impact. But......, I guess the proper way to relate what this new set up feels like is to wait a spell and when my muscle memory has caught up, post a note for you all.
Thanks

#50 of 199 Xterra Clutch Gone, claim denied by pittxterra

Sep 28, 2009 (2:51 pm)

So after having my clutch go 3 weeks ago ('06 Xterra 4x4, 33.5K miles) I did some searching on the net to see this is a growing trend. This is my 2nd Xterra manual, first one was an '01 4x4 (90K+ miles with original clutch) which i traded in for the '06. Despite a 4x4, this vehicle has never been taken off-road or beat up in any way. Nissan service at the dealership could not believe it went this quickly and have never seen this before...although after taking the clutch apart they said it was considered "normal" wear and tear so the Warranty would not cover this.
 
After spending $1500 to get it fixed (new clutch & resurfaced flywheel) while Nissan Consumer Affairs "researched" my complaint and to see if they would cover this under warranty, I finally received a call today to say after "careful" deliberation with their staff that they were not going to cover it.
 
I still have my burnt out clutch and other parts from the incident and plan on holding onto it in case a mass forms to move towards a class-action suit.
 
This is absolute BS in my mind and I know Nissan has definitely lost my business permanently (was actually about ready to purchase a Nissan or Infiniti vehicle for our second car).

#51 of 199 Re: Xtera clutch problem. [greg62] by 2008exterra

Sep 29, 2009 (8:21 am)

Replying to: greg62 (Jan 15, 2008 7:35 pm)
I have 16,000 miles on my 2008 exterra and the middletown NY nissan dealer said that the clutch is burnt. The flywheel is burnt. I been driving 30 years all my clutches have lasted 80,000 miles to 120,000 miles. There is a problem with the clutch. They want over 2,ooo to fix it. I called the 800# the (girl) says they will look into it. She calls me back with the same information that the dealer stated. NO Help. I did not pick up the car yet. I am calling the attorney General and all news programs in reguards to this inferior product.

#52 of 199 Re:clutch fly_W problem. 2008froner by pretty_sneaky

Sep 29, 2009 (8:49 pm)

Replying to: 2008exterra (Sep 29, 2009 8:21 am)
Dam; I thought I was the olny~1
with 2008froner 10k.000 miles
 
clutch~flywheel;Aside from warranty issues!
besides wanting to extort $1,600
I happen to go thru the same regional denial!
 
It must be pre~determine and they are in
 koo~hootz b/the tech.!
 
As my little pakistan women friend would say..
"what to do? , what to do?"
 
prettysneaky69yahoo.com

#53 of 199 Frontier Clutch by orbframe

Oct 06, 2009 (11:21 am)

I feel happy to know I'm not alone but PISSED knowing this is ongoing with Nissan not doing anything...
 
I have a 2005 Frontier V6 Nismo which I baby... it only has 30,000 miles in these 4 years. I've been driving 13 years now, all of which were on Manual Transmissions. I have NEVER had clutch problems before...
 
The clutch in the Nissan is absolutley horrible. No holding power what-so-ever. I roasted it once off road, once in San Francisco, and just recently it failed on me last week driving up a driveway with (gasp) 400 Lbs in the bed... stinky burned clutch and horrible noise...
 
I'm gonna do the job myself and get the flywheel resurfaced... Has anyone switched to a Daikin/Exedy clutch with good results?
 
Now If they would just fix my leaky rear axle seal.....

#54 of 199 Re: Frontier Clutch [orbframe] by grubz

Oct 07, 2009 (5:42 am)

Replying to: orbframe (Oct 06, 2009 11:21 am)
Daikin/Exedy is the OEM supplier so you'd be getting teh same bad part. went doen that road too as mine burnt up last year and there were no aftermarket clutches available at teh time. JWT makes a clutch now, as does Centerforce so at least you have options. MY mechanic just went over teh flywheel with emery cloth and said it was fine. As long as you really baby teh clutch once it starts slipping you shouldn't warp teh flywheel. Also it's not an aluminum flywheel as some have said. it's steel as i had him check that.

Messages Page 6 of 21

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