How do I know the Slave Cylinder for 2001 Nissan Maxima is bad. Dealer says to replace without even checking.

Question

Clutch became spongy yesterday, and this morning clutch would not come back up. Towed to dealer. Dealer says line is leaking (reservoir for clutch is empty). He says most likely the Slave Cylinder was damaged by running with reservoir empty. Any way to verify this before shelling out $500 to the dealer?

Would it make sense to suggest the dealer replace the leaky lines, then test the car? Would it really cost that much more to replace the Slave Cylinder AFTER testdriving the car??
Thanks.

Answer 1

Sounds like the dealer is taking you for a ride. $500 is a lot of money for that!!

You are absolutely correct in rectifying the leak first.

Get your local mechanic to look at it, then get your parts from Autozone or Advance Auto Parts. Forget the dealer.

Answer 2

I have a 2001 Maxima SE.... with a clutch. My clutch was becoming soft and loosing fluid. I replaced the master and slave cylinder, but the clutch continued to loose fluid. Now I see the real problem, it's the clutch hose that connects to the slave cylinder. It appears to be leaking at the slave cylinder end. I ordered a new lower hose that connects to the slave cylinder from Pro Street Replacement, $45 US. I believe that will solve the problem. I should have inspected the hose more closely but I've never had a clutch hose go bad so I didn't believe that would be the problem. I will install the new hose next week. In the mean time I will again add fluid to the fill reservoir and drive it. To get the clutch off the floor and take a fluid charge, crack the bleed nut on the slave cylinder and pump the clutch several times to bleed the line. You may need to refill the reservoir because this will force fluid from the bleed nut. After a pumping the clutch several times, close the bleed nut and test the clutch. I believe the lower clutch hose was my real problem all along. Note, apparently there is also an upper hose so check that one too. Good luck.

Answer 3

i am not 100% sure but this sounds like bull sht. i would make a few phone calls and get a second opinion. also, a slave cylinder is about $40 at advance auto. i would also get another estimate to replace a line and bleed the system. if indeed they are correct, they would have to rebleed the system which is probably another hour in shop time.