Questions and Answers
Nissan Clutch Whine
Q. Hi Vince, On rare occasions, the transmission and/or clutch in my Pathfinder makes a kind medium pitch whining noise when the clutch pedal is depressed and the transmission shifted into gear. Shifting out of gear and releasing the clutch eliminates the noise. I say medium pitch because the noise is a cross between a whine and a vibration as opposed to a screech.
When this happens, it's usually the day after the Pathfinder has been driven long or hard. It stops just a soon as the truck gets even slightly warmed up, say within 5 minutes. Although this may be happening with greater frequency, it's still happens pretty rarely.
Recent repairs include the replacement of the Clutch Release Cylinder, the last link in the hydraulics which actually moves the clutch into an open position. Prior to changing this part, there was hydraulic fluid in the dust cover of the Clutch Release Cylinder, and the fluid was rather cloudy. When I did the swap, the clutch hydraulic lines were flushed and bled properly. Although there are no leaks or loss of fluid, the hydraulic fluid is cloudy again.
Could it be that the entire clutch hydraulics need to be replaced and that the cause of the noise is insufficient movement in the Clutch Release Cylinder piston? Or is this something more related to the clutch itself?
Here's the specs on my Pathfinder:
1992 Nissan Pathfinder XE
V6 3L, manual transmission
115,000 milesThanks again.
A. This is relatively easy to troubleshoot. When you hear a noise when you step on the clutch, it's a bad throw out bearing. If you hear the noise when the clutch is released, it's bad input shaft bearings. So the problem is most likely in the throw out bearing.
The problem you had with the slave cylinder is common for that vehicle. And I would not be overly concerned about the cloudy fluid. You can try bleeding the system again and that will help clear it up.
