SSOARES

I'm a new member with a 1992 Honda Civic - The clutch pedal started to feel heavy all of a sudden a week ago, so I just replaced both the master and the slave cylinders. I did the bleed routine at the bleed screw on the slave. Now the clutch again feels very heavy like pressing the brake pedal - It also will NOT go in all the way, stopping at the half point. If I manually move the fork, the pedal will collapse to the floor but becomes hard again after a single clutch press. I checked the play on the fork and it seems fine. If I compress the slave cylinder the fluid level in the reservoir rises with NO bubbles so I think all the air is out of the system.

ANY ONE SEEN THIS PROBLEM BEFORE ?

Thanks in advance!

Former User

Bone stock 92 Civic?

May be time to drop the transmission and install a new clutch and flywheel.

SSOARES

Ron - thanks much - I'm heading in that direction but just want to tinker a bit before to see if I can learn something.

Former User

If you don't have a transmission jack, watch for sales on this one:

450 lb. Low Lift Transmission Jack

I bought it on sale for $80.

SSOARES

Looks nice - thanks !

Former User

Given that it's on wheels, the jack also was a big help in removing and replacing our old oven.

And check online for 20% off coupons.

Former User

And Exedy makes a very good stock clutch kit.

SSOARES

I'll look into it - thanks Ron.

SSOARES

Ron - do you recommend using new flywheel and plate bolts ?

86azms3

Don't need new bolts...

The flywheel can be resurfaced if it is still in good condition.

And the exedy OE clutch can be found on amazon for cheap.

Former User

That's what I do.

SSOARES

Thanks Much - I'm getting everything together - planning on doing the oil seals too. Just FYI I'm original owner - model is a VX - still clearing 55 mpg with odometer reading 500k+ miles.

SSOARES

Just a couple more quick questions :

There seems to be a debate on whether or not to utilize loctite on the
flywheel bolts and whether it should be red or blue. The Honda shop
manual does not mention it, and I'm an easy driver - i.e. no high revs.
I would go dry, possibly overtorque a small bit - Any thoughts?

Second - how easy / difficult is it to detach the transmission from the
engine after removal of all the bolts? This is a first time for me and I'm
wondering if I will need a sturdy mallet, for example, to separate it out.

Thanks !

86azms3

The transmission should come out quite easy, if you didn't pull the starter, that's your issue.

I didn't use loctite and just torqued to specification. I feel that is sufficient.

SSOARES

Thanks much 86 !

zangxuma

oh thank you

SSOARES

A quick question - I will be changing the oil seals on crank shaft. I was thinking
of also doing the transmission. The seal at the mainshaft (clutch housing) seems
like an ordeal to replace. Just wondering if there is any experience with this issue;
it looks likely that I will leave this one alone for the future - car has 500k+ miles, and
how long do these typically last ?

I have separated and removed the transmission from the engine. The real culprit in
my problem is that the clutch release fork is in extremely bad shape. The pivot point
in the transmission case actually punched into the fork and wore a hole in it. The
fork was also in the process of splitting into two parts in this area - wow ! The
pressure plate and the disc are surprisingly in good shape and are within the
service limits. I do however plan to replace them.

So what was happening is that my first clutch press was pushing the fork against the
clutch housing, where it remained. Subsequent clutch presses simply jammed the fork
into the limit - which is why the clutch pedal became hard to press - the fork was not
retracting !