UNLTD

Please help me out here my fellow Prelude ownders. I bought my 2000 Prelude Base 3 months ago. The guy I bought it from said that the clutch is OEM, but I do not think he knows the difference. This guy took precious care of the interior and exterior, but when i opened the hood up it was dirty and oil was low.

It's been 3 months and it's still a mystery to me, is my clutch OEM, Aftermarket, or is just something broken?

This has been the endless question thats been on my mind and I want to sell the car because of this. The clutch is so stiff and when you engage on 1st gear it rattles and shakes a little no matter how hard you try to balance the throttle and clutch.

I call the owner back and ask him a few more times but he persisted that it was indeed a OEM clutch. At first I thought all manual Prelude felt like this, but I wasn't sure and was very skeptical that stock Prelude clutch feels this harsh. So i try to figures things out myself, I drove my friend's Prelude that we knew for sure was %100 OEM clutch, and to my guessing, it was way smoother and does not rattle or shake hard in 1st gear.

I did bleed the clutch fluid which was literally black at the time. After the bleeding, it was so SMOOTH! I thought I fixed the problem, I was so happy. But after a week or so it went back to the same old stiffness.

Now this is my last resort before I sell it or replace my whole clutch system which is $.

So what could it be people? Please help me out. Is there anyway to see if the clutch is OEM or not by looking under it or do I have to take the clutch out?

Sorry for long read.

bb_one

After the week went by and it started exhibiting the same characteristics, did the fluid get dirty again? If the problem went away after bleeding, it sounds like you may have air in the lines. Try bleeding it again. If it indeed goes away after the re-bleed, air is somehow accumulating in your lines over time.

Just take your time and troubleshoot step by step. It is no reason for you to sell the car for.

UNLTD

Yea I have thought about air in the lines. I will rebleed the lines again. Is there something i have to replace so there won't be airs in the lines?

My292Ludes

Maybe the slave cylinder could possible be going out also?

bb_one

Check the condition of your master and slave cylinders. Also look at your lines as well. If there is a leak you should be able to see where the fluid is leaking, although I don't believe that's the case, or else your clutch would feel really spongy.

UNLTD

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bb_one &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Check the condition of your master and slave cylinders. Also look at your lines as well. If there is a leak you should be able to see where the fluid is leaking, although I don't believe that's the case, or else your clutch would feel really spongy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I was wondering if the master and slave cylinder can cause a clutch to be stiff and harsh? If so I rather just replace those then the whole clutch. You know what I mean?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by My292Ludes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe the slave cylinder could possible be going out also?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I rather spend $50 then $500. Could those 2 cause a clutch to have my symptoms?

My292Ludes

Not from my experience, but that doesn't mean its not possible.

UNLTD

Anyone else that can help?