new clutch shop $1500

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My neighbor's 2002 Nissan Frontier was on its 3rd clutch at 38,000 miles. And that one was already starting to slip. He just liked to ride that clutch.
 
Sounds like a slave cylinder failure, which in this car is integrated with the throw out bearing, so the transmission has to come out in order to replace it. The clutch itself may be fine, if it wasn't soaked with brake fluid and it wasn't abused during the 62k miles it has been used. Changing it would not be a bad idea though, as this is a labor intensive job and I wouldn't want to repeat it in 50-60k miles again.
 
Originally Posted by KrisZ
The clutch itself may be fine, if it wasn't soaked with brake fluid and it wasn't abused during the 62k miles it has been used. Changing it would not be a bad idea though, as this is a labor intensive job and I wouldn't want to repeat it in 50-60k miles again.


+1

Aside from being expensive, it's a PITA to have a car in the shop, so on those occasions that it has to be there, why not take preventative steps to minimize the frequency of those shop visits? The tranny already has to come out to do the repair, why leave a clutch that's half dead in it? It will be cheaper and easier to replace the clutch now than to wait, break down again, be stranded, have to be towed, be without vehicle for several days again, all to save $100 now? It doesn't make sense.
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Older F150s had the slave cylinder internal to the bell housing and went through the same thinking and processes. I agree with these statements above:

replace the slave cylinder
replace all other wear parts in there since the bulk of the labor is already done; clutch disc, flywheel cleanup, throwout bearing, etc.
consider rear main seal replacement.

I actually prefer the consistent feel of the hydraulic clutches, differing from a poster above. Cables are only good to clutches of a certain size, and then you need the hydraulics. OTOH, every hydraulically driven clutch I've known at some point needed a master/slave cylinder replacement or both. Most around 100k. I tended to get 50-60k out of a clutch cable, with adjustments every 10-15k.
 
Originally Posted by sirgerman
The irony on the situation is that I bought a car with a manual transmission becasue I was afraid of the cvt transmission, they dont last that long


Well, mechanical and electrical failures happen all the time. However I hardly doubt you would get a CVT replaced or fixed for $1500.

This failure sure is early so I would hit some internet forums specific to this vehicle and find out if the slave cylinder leak is something common. If it is then there might be a revised slave cylinder or a better aftermarket one available.
 
Originally Posted by Miller88
Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Still lasted longer than a Nissan CVT.
Otherwise price seems reasonable by today's standards.



Not exactly always true....

275,000 miles on my CVT 2008 Altima VQ 3.5 L.


Congrats you won the Power Ball lottery of CVT units.
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An uncle of mine put 250K miles on a 41TE in a Caravan.

Still doesn't change the fact that I trust neither a 41TE or a Nissan CVT past 30K miles.



I am not advocating "trusting" anything or any part, any person etc etc etc....

Just stating my circumstance... Simple enough.

By the way... I have a buddy of mine who's CVT just went out in his Sentra... A 2013-14 model... Only 106k miles...
 
This won't a huge help on a fair price for a fwd clutch R & R, but in c. 1999, I paid about $650, with sales tax, for a clutch job on a Sentra SE-R. At a Nissan dealer. That might have been flat rate. The parts invoice today may reveal typical 300 - 500 % upcharges over normal parts prices.

With the CPI since 1999, that would about $1k today, with sales tax.
 
Manual transmissions used to be easy to get out of compact cars......'90's Honda Civics were some of the easiest! Today you must drop the entire Subframe on just about all of them.
I did a clutch on a 2010 Civic Si recently......Totally different can of worms!
 
Well Just got a call from the shop, they also have to replace the flywheel, so final price around $1900
I am not buying a Nissan ever again, I wish they make saturns again, love that car never gave me any problems
 
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Originally Posted by sirgerman
Well Just got a call from the shop, they also have to replace the flywheel, so final price around $1900
I am not buying a Nissan ever again, I wish they make saturns again, love that car never gave me any problems


I feel for you on this.

Too bad it's so far away time-wise from the Nissan 5yr/60K mile power-train warranty, which should have covered this. Had this been a ~2014, I would have campaigned for some good will coverage from Nissan. I've gone that route with them before and got them to almost entirely cover costs.

Is it really $400 for a replacement flywheel? This shop won't work with you at all?

My take on newer transmissions is, it's a kraaaap shoot with all of them, especially in a vehicle of this segment. regardless of being a CVT, MT or conventional automatic. Failures happen with all of them and it typically costs more than $1500-2000. I would not specifically buy a present day MT in this segment of vehicle for the exact reason you experienced. It's not necessarily the gearbox itslef, it's everything else!

Your question about them changing the gear oil? I doubt they will unless you specifically request it.
 
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Originally Posted by JTK
Is it really $400 for a replacement flywheel? This shop won't work with you at all?


Looks like it is a dual mass flywheel which should have been quoted upfront anyway.
 
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