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xterraclutch@hotmail.com
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
After reading the comments on this site and others I bypassed talking to the service reps at the dealer and went directly to the service manager and the general manager, who I had dealt with when I bought the truck.
No problem in getting a warranty repair. Service manager pointed out to me that the powertrain warranty - 60 months or 60,000 miles - included the clutch cover, which is Nissanspeak for the pressure plate. I didn't get to see the actual parts, but the repair paperwork described the clutch as inoperative because of "defective pressure plate, one of the prongs was bad".
Parts replaced were the clutch disc, cover (pressure plate), and the release bearing.
Told me that they had also ordered a replacement flywheel, but the original was not damaged and didn't need replacement.
This experience leads me to suspect that the problem with obtaining warranty repair may lie as much with a particular dealership as with Nissan corporate.
Certainly I will be on the lookout for any early warning of clutch failure in the future. If it happens again and I have to pay for it I probably will go to a hopefully heavier duty aftermarket clutch.
JWT Clutch and Flywheel combo for only 695 + shipping.... We're trying to get a few more in on this...
I'm tired of my stock clutch, and the REPLACEMENT stock clutch, going out after only 40k miles. I've driven manual transmissions for 14 years now and "skill" is not the issue...
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?
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.
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.
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.
New clutch setup seems good so far. It was installed by a local independent shop that didnt get things totally right the first time and I had to take it back for minor glitches. Clutch pedal pressure seems lighter, a little surprising given that this is a heavier-duty clutch than the OEM stuff. Its a different feel, and a bit more abrupt and jerky than the Nissan clutch, but just a matter of getting use to it.
Gave the "X" a heck of a workout this weekend doing some really serious off-roading. No abuse, just used the vehicle as it's supposed to be designed for. Clutch held up fine. So, so far, so good.
I bought my Nissan Xterra S, 2012 last November.
A month ago, while driving at I-40 my clutch just broke, out of the blue, down hard stuck on the floor.
I had it towed to Melloy Nissan here in Albuquerque.
The total miles my odometer recorded was at 2810 miles, you see; I had it for only 4 months and I already lost the entire clutch assembly and the fly wheel.
My first car was a Honda Del Sol 1992-1997 it was a manual, followed by Honda CR-V 1997-2008 another manual and Honda CR-Z which I drove for a year; another manual; before I decided to trade it in for an Xterra.
They were still blaming me for the clutch, but they replaced it under warranty because they still can't understand why it broke at 2810 miles.
I've been reading a lot about Nissan Xterra's pre 2006 and after 2006 regarding bad clutches and it was a big issue, if you just google it.
I was trying to have them replace my Xterra with a new one, but they wont.
I know I will have to keep this car, but I will let everyone in the world know I got a lemon. I am also keeping a record of the repairs they made, starting at 2810 miles. I have 3100 miles in it now, gingerly driving it, so that I don't get blamed the next time.
Definitely will trade it in next year for a Honda or Toyota.
Shifter sticks either "up" or "down" when shifting to reverse. It seems totally random. One time it will push down and enter the shift gate no problem. Next time will not push down at all, resulting in no reverse. Next time remain pushed down. Seems to show up more after vehicle has been running. i.e. not first thing upon cold start. I have had it apart twice. The return spring is o.k, and I cleaned and greased the nylon "guide". Anybody else seeing this problem???
Turns out it was the small nylon bushing attached to the very bottom of the shifter. This bushing is what connects the shifter to the linkage. When you depress the shifter to enter the reverse safety gate this bushing is required to push down into the linkage bore. Mine was damaged...Somehow??...Anyway it was causing it to randomly stick in the bore. Unfortunately, this 50 cent bushing is not replaceable. New shifter required. $217.00 Canadian, 3 week wait. I also replaced the transmission top that the shifter and spring seat into. $ 58.00.
Shifts into reverse perfectly....For now :>
I've decided to purchase a JWT flywheel and clutch setup for its obvious benefits and reliability. Maybe I got lucky but I dont ever ride the clutch. I do religiously downshift to help the brakes out, So much so that when I changed out the brakes at 85k miles, the pads still looked new!
I seriously love this thing. Aside from a Battery and the fuel tank sending unit malfunctioning, this is the only major part I've purchased. So $900 for 105k miles is Well worth it.
The ABS brake light comes on and goes off randomly. While it is on the vehicle will not engage in 4 wheel drive, when the light goes out it engages quickly into 4 wheel drive. My dealership is going to look at it next week. Has any one else had this issue come up? thanks..
Frustrated by continual serious clutch noise / vibrations felt in pedal in my 2012 Xterra Pro X and Nissan's assertion that this is "normal" - even after they changed out the throw out bearing after. Looking for suggestions on where to turn?
These newer vehicles do not have the old strong clutches. I don't exactly like many new clutches, and hate DMF!, but they will do fine. Also have to remember, clutches are wear items just like brakes