daedal_arcanum

Ok, so I've got a '96 GS-R. It has 195k+ on it. I've had it since around 165k. I think the clutch (OE-style replacement, I assume) was replaced around 60k ago. The previous owners were both 50-60-year-old gents, so it hasn't been beaten on and is completely stock (besides MC/ITR brakes I put on this summer).

So here's the problem. About a month or so ago, the clutch started engaging itself when I had the pedal depressed. It would chatter and vibrate when I was stopped, and occasionally it would go "bang!" and jerk the car and kill the engine as if I had dropped the clutch with the engine idling. But my foot was still on the clutch, fully depressed. I bled the hydraulics and that seemed to fix it for a while. When it started doing it again, I went ahead and replaced the master and slave cylinders since there was evidence of a bit of leakage under the dash (but no noticable fluid loss). Did the swap, filled and bled the system (nice fresh brake fluid all the way through), drained and refilled the trans with 10W30 (dealership was closed, I'll drain it and put Honda MTF in soon), and test drove. All was good, shifting was nice and smooth, happy day.

That was Sunday. Monday, it started doing it again. It seemed to get bad even faster than before. This evening, I couldn't get the car into gear at all after starting it in the parking lot and had to shut it down and crank-and-launch in gear (with the pedal to the floor, the clutch was definitely not disengaged at all) and roll through all the stop signs to get home. Then later I went to move it in the driveway and it wouldn't go into gear again. I moved the van, went back to the car 60 seconds later and it was fine - I could put it in 1st and pull it up the driveway like everything was normal.

I don't get it. It's the intermittent nature of the problem that really gets me. If there were a mechanical problem like the pedal needed adjustment (sits about 5.5", which is low according to the spec, but I don't think it's any different than it was 15 months ago when I bought the car) or the fork was bad or the clutch was shot and needed to be replaced, wouldn't it have issues all the time?

I pulled the boot off of the fork; it doesn't seem to have any play at rest. It seems like I read somewhere that it should have a lot of play in the fork, but I can't find a spec or anything for it anywhere. Is there another connection of the lines somewhere that commonly leaks or could draw air in without leaking? It never had any noticable fluid loss.

Any ideas? Help me, HT! Thanks in advance,

--Brandon--
Indianapolis, IN