[dschrier]

My 90 b12 has problems with its transmisson. The weather here in NH has been far from cold lately and still, my car will not shift. Sometimes it shifts like a dream but others, even at a stoplight with my clutch pressed in for over 10seconds, the car will not go into any gear. Also, 50% of the time I grind my gears trying to get the car into reverse. I got a new clutch at 110,000 and trany oil changed at 125,000 and my car only has 140,000 on it now and I don't find myself to be hard on the clutch at all. Does anyone know what could the problem be? I would hate to drop money on a new clutch or redone gears if thats whats wrong since I'll be getting a new car in a year after I grad. from college. Thanks.

 

[dschrier]

I've been reading a lot online and found that I may need a new clutch cable. I adjusted the clutch a few weeks ago and the problem went away, but now it's back, I could adjust it higher up even, but I've read the higher the clutch is up on the pedle the more likely the clutch is to start slipping and burn out. Is this true?

 

[RiceBox]

You would be able to feel if the clutch was slipping.

 

[dschrier]

I adjusted my clutch again, and everything is running smoothly now. The funny thing is that I adjusted it only a few weeks ago and it was shifting fine then got bad again all of a sudden. It might be time for a new cable soon I guess..

 

[RiceBox]

The cable is easy to change. Make sure the nut on the opposite side of the adjustment knob is tight or it will keep getting loose

 

[dschrier]

Yeah, I made sure of that. It was pretty rusted before so I hope the locknut isn't going anywhere. How much does a new cable run ($)?

 

[RiceBox]

I paid $25 canadian

 

[racingnismo]

did the change of the cable fix the problem???

 

[mikewiebe1987]

ive been having odd clutch cable issues too lately, i adjusted the clutch to tighten it abit, barely, it seemed ok, a day later my car started stalling and sputtering on accelleration, if you hammered the throttle slow then hard and let the clutch out every so carefully half the time it would just run oin that gear but sounds like its on 3 cylinders,revvin out trying to keep up, the other half it would die, idle was fine, shifts were seamless, just throttle application,
it could have been all cylinders and major clutch slippage all iknow is i loosened the cable and now it feels loose obviously but it doesn't stall sputter or anything, im scared to adjust it right now im low im gas hahahaha so ill adjust it later but yeah, very very odd
ps plugs and wires did nothing

 

[bob89sentra]

Sounds like a stiking clutch cable. When you let the pedal out it probbaly doesn't engage the clutch fully, then slips the rest of the way causing you to stall. If you tighten the clutch up too far it can make the clutch slip, and/ or I have seen it make the cable bind up giving you inconsistant clutch ingagement. You might try replacing or lubing your clutch cable, so you can run the cable at the right tension.

 

[mikewiebe1987]

what should i use just like some axle grease or something

 

[bob89sentra]

I use a Teflon spray lubricant, but I think just about any oil or cable lube would work fine. I don't remember if you can remove the cable from the housing, if you can you could try a graphite or white lithium grease.

 

[mikewiebe1987]

hmmmm im at work now, drove my car on lunch break, seemed fine this mornin, first part ofl unch now its runnin shitty but i can still drive without stalling it or slipping it, or as best as i can tell im not....this is probably a bad cable eh? would it be worth it getting a junkyard cable?

you just mean powdered graphite right? i think thats all it is

 

[mikewiebe1987]

also, how much play should therre be on the adjustment knob above the tranny, help i have 15 min till im off and i gota try adjusting it with amonkey wrench and vice grips:S:S:S

e16s 87 4dr wagon frwd

 

[mikewiebe1987]

well i replaced the cable, which was a bitch, haynes neglets the 87's because u need to take the whole dash off for proper access , and even i had to pry on some heat ducting to slip the cable on and off, maybe it was just mine, anyways it feels tightn ow but if i drive hard itl start to slip and stall, i think i just need to adjust it properly now, which seems to be my difficulty,
also does the adjustment nut need to be pretty tight because it SEEMS like my cable looses tension if i drive hard on it after adjusting it, but im scared to overtighten it because i bought a napa clutch cable with a rubber adjustment knob that if i tighen too tight may damage the rubber or actually give it more play who knows

ps u also need to pull the steering wheel to properly take out the dash, didnt' have time to figure it out or go get a puller so i trimmed my dash underneath the guage cluster so it slips over but will be covered when i reassemble the dash

 

[bob89sentra]

well i replaced the cable, which was a bitch, haynes neglets the 87's because u need to take the whole dash off for proper access , and even i had to pry on some heat ducting to slip the cable on and off, maybe it was just mine, anyways it feels tightn ow but if i drive hard itl start to slip and stall, i think i just need to adjust it properly now, which seems to be my difficulty,
also does the adjustment nut need to be pretty tight because it SEEMS like my cable looses tension if i drive hard on it after adjusting it, but im scared to overtighten it because i bought a napa clutch cable with a rubber adjustment knob that if i tighen too tight may damage the rubber or actually give it more play who knows

ps u also need to pull the steering wheel to properly take out the dash, didnt' have time to figure it out or go get a puller so i trimmed my dash underneath the guage cluster so it slips over but will be covered when i reassemble the dash

Oh yea it is a B*%#H to get to. I did the prying of the heater duct, and got it on. The tension on the cable, should be as follows.
Drive the car a couple miles to warm it up (the clutch)
Turn engine off, pop hood, tighten the cable untill the arm starts to move, and there is no slack in the cable.
Next losen the cable untill there just starts to be slack, and go another 1/2 - 3/4 turn, and lock it down. The cable should be just loose enough to allow the clutch release arm to have a small amount of lash.

 

[mikewiebe1987]

wow, i so am not liking clutches right now
with excavating equipment its a rubberflywheel attatched toa pump
so yeah ill try adjusting it some more tonight but shit, is it possible i burnt out the clutch when it was slipping because i just can't seem to get the adjustment right, right now, so close to just paying for a professional adjustment

 

[mikewiebe1987]

man this clutch is really bugging me, by no slack meaning the actually cable should be taught? because the adjustment knob is getting hard to turn, i can barelyturn it by hand but if i go and grab the bare cable and pull i can feel a bit of slack, now ive gone to extreme loose and taughtness and it seems to slip the same, really frustrating. so the actual cable should be taught right? maybe its jsut because ive never adjusted a clutch like this before

 

[bob89sentra]

The cable should be slightly loose, so there isn't pressure on the throw out bearing all the time.
If the clutch slips all the time now you probbaly have something else wrong. It could be oil leaking onto the clutch, but not likely. I would put money on either a worn out clutch, or bent fingers on the pressure plate causing it to not release fully every time.
Either way you might end up dropping the transmission to find the problem.

 

[mikewiebe1987]

yeah im really hoping those few trips where it ran really bad didn't wear it out , im gonna see if i can return the napa cable and get an oem one because this one seems to bind and its shorter than the other one by a few inches and its stiffer so routing it around the various devices was tricky and the hardest curve is probably like....i dunno 100degrees, enough to make you take a second look, i wonder how much oem is gonna cost , think i could return an oem product?