Clutch slipping

Something strange happened today with our 2010 ST-X King Cab. Had new tyres put on it this morning. Hubby picked the ute from the tyre shop, drove about 5km and parked. When he got back in the ute and drove about 100m he noticed there was a burning smell and the clutch was slipping. The ute has done just 21K km and we will have had it a year at the end of this month. He left the ute sitting for a few hours and drove it again and the clutch seems to be fine. Is this just a glitch or an indication that the clutch may be on its way out already?

Unfortunately the clutch is rubbing against a "dual mass flywheel". These DMFs have a very thin face and they don't dissipate heat very well, so they heat up very rapidly. Yours could indeed be on its way out.

If the driver has a habit of riding the clutch - either by applying too much power before the clutch is fully released, or even just using the clutch to hold the vehicle still on a hill instead of using the handbrake - then that's the cause.

It should still be under warranty. No guarantee Nissan will actually come to the party on it, because it is a 'wear and tear' item, but it wore and tore plenty early, so give 'em a nudge and see how it goes.

If they're going to replace it, have a chat with them about whipping the DMF out and putting a single mass (solid) flywheel in.

If they won't come to the party at all, that's what you should pursue - a single solid flywheel with a heavy duty clutch.

Thanks Old.Tony. Neither of us is in the habit of riding the clutch, the vehicle isn't used off-road and there are no hills where we live. We're in Perth for a few days and now (after telling me half the story) hubby says he stalled it on a slight incline today, applied some power and rode the clutch a bit and that was when he could smell the burning and the buring smell continued until he got to where he was going, a distance of about 2km.

Hopefully we won't have to replace the clutch anytime soon. I don't understand how a clutch for a D40 can be more expensive than having an entire clutch kit put into our late model Hino.

Do you guys do any towing?

sounds like the clutch system cant handle a bit of heat.

Melwa, if your vehicle is still under warranty, get the Nissan guys to fix that, no matter what. BUT if not under warranty period or after, get a aftermarket heavy duty one like I did and its heaps better! I got Solid mass flywheel with heavy duty 4x4 clutch and I could use it to hold the vehicle on a incline for a moment before the lights go green without it getting hot. I hear solid mass flywheel takes heat away from the clutch plate quicker than the Dual one. I was taught that recently.

The vehicle was purchased new and we took delivery on 29 December 2010. It has towed a 6.1m boat four times. Hubby is currently on his way home, 1200km from Perth, and just told me that while he was going through the hills at Bindoon the burning smell started again. I think tomorrow we will be contacting Nissan. Can warranty work be done at any mechanical workshop or do we need to drive to the nearest Nissan stealership? The nearest one is 450km from where we live.

MelWA said:

The vehicle was purchased new and we took delivery on 29 December 2010. It has towed a 6.1m boat four times. Hubby is currently on his way home, 1200km from Perth, and just told me that while he was going through the hills at Bindoon the burning smell started again. I think tomorrow we will be contacting Nissan. Can warranty work be done at any mechanical workshop or do we need to drive to the nearest Nissan stealership? The nearest one is 450km from where we live.

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talk to nissan first.....in your 'situation' you can have it done under warranty at your or nearest mech but there will be a few of nissan's hoops to jump through first.

Im not sure about remote areas, but as far as i know you will have to take it back to a nissan dealer.
When i was in my local Nissan the other day, i saw Nissan's navara catalogue that states, that if in the unlikely event that you have to have your Navara in for warranty repairs,(unlikely my ass) nissan will supply you with a replacement navara while your one is being repaired. It goes on to say how many they are supplying to the dealers blah blah blah.
You are probably best not to mention that you have towed with it, and take out youre tow hitch just so you dont give them a reason to stuff you around. I have read a few threads on here where people have had the clutch replaced under warranty. A few have had a struggle, but in the end Nissan have come around. I have also heard that Nissan will no longer have the dual mass flywheel in the 2012 (or it might be 2013) models, so that tells me they are quite aware that they are not up to the job.
Anyway good luck with Nissan, and keep us posted on how you go.
All the best, Nathan

Hubby rang the dealer we bought the ute from. They said they have had D40s with clutch problems and have replaced the clutch under warranty. Apparently we can get it done at a workshop here rather than drive it 450km to the nearest Nissan stealership. I suppose they will put the same crappy type of clutch in. We need to talk to the Nissan warranty people, maybe they will agree to us paying any difference between a crappy standard clutch and a heavy duty one.

The clutch is a wear and tear item as some have stated but the key is to get the vehicle to Nissan prior to the clutch packing it in. The warranty guy at my local Dealership told me that if they get one in and the clutch is stuffed then you're pushing "you know what" up hill to get Nissan to come to the party. HOWEVER, most clutchs are wearing prematurely due to the release bearing seizing and not allowing the clutch to disengage properly. As a result the clutch maintains contact with the dual mass flywheel and the failure happens extremely quickly.

So the warranty guy told me if they get a Navara come in presenting issues such as you describe, without the clutch being stuffed yet, then they open it up and when they find the release bearing seized up, then the whole job is covered under warranty due to the Dealership being able to tell Nissan that the clutch is failing due to faulty release bearing....instead of Nissan being able to tell you that you've worn the clutch yourself and it's not covered.

Hope that makes sense, but the most important thing from my long winded comment is to get you vehicle to Nissan prior to the clutch failing and have them conduct warranty work due to the release bearing seizing. This is a common problem that Nissan knows about, so any Dealership worth their weight will know of this issue and support you through the warranty claim.

DMF's - a gimmicky gizmo that should be shoved up the inventors arse. My missus just replaced a clutch and DMF in her Subaru forester - could almost have bought a new car for dollars charged (and now the gear box leaks oil).

Hope they sort yours under warranty - if not +1 on swapping it for a SMF and heavy duty clutch (exeedy or similar).

the clutch on my '10 st went at about 27k a few months ago. dealer replaced under warranty but told me that next time they would put a singlemass one in and that i would be paying for it. i'm not sure if its exeddy or extreme clutch though. if it does come to it and goes again soon i will look at the extreme clutch ...link;

http://www.xtremeclutch.com.au/page.asp?parentid=4&parent2id=25&productid=34

I think they are a bit over 2k. with fitting (i have no idea how to do it) about 2.8k

Hubby spent the best part of an hour on the phone today. Got hold of the warranty people. They reckon they have no record of the vehicle in their system. Told to call the dealer. He calls the dealer, speaks to whoever handles warranty there. That person calls back and gives hubby another number to call. Hubby calls that number and explains to several different people what the problem is and that it is intermittent. They ask if we can drive the ute to the nearest dealer. Hubby says he's reluctant to do that because of the distance, but we can put it on the truck - and who pays for the transport? Person on the phone says they will pay for the transport and the dealer's workshop people will take the vehicle for a drive. That's well and good but what if the clutch is having a good day and behaving itself? Perhaps we'll try the release bearing option that bluessy mentioned. What happens in the event that they open it up and find nothing?