93preludes

Hey all,

I've been working on a 3rd gen prelude with a friend for a while, and we finally were able to get it all back together after many many problems with bolts stripping, bushings etc. Our current problem is that when we fired up the car we are not able to get it in gear, i had this issue with another car, we just bled the clutch system and it worked fine, went into gear and everything is fine but when we bled the clutch system on this car the pedal pressure seems very weak, like theres not enough pressure being put on the pressure plate.
We replaced the slave cylinder, replaced a hose we thought was faulty and have bled it quite a few times already and we continue to get a weak amount of pressure from the clutch pedal. When the car is on and i press the clutch pedal you can feel movement on it from the motor but not able to get it into gear at all... I believe the issue might be in that there isnt enough pressure being put on the pressure plate to disengage the clutch... although after comparing with another slave it seems to be extending out the same amount. Looking for some help on this since we're running out of options, i'm going check for leaks at the master cylinder and in the hydraulic system in general. One other thing is that we go through the fluid pretty damned fast... it just flows it out once it gets pumping, but get little resistance. So any help thanks...

mike

93preludes

bump

mike1114

iTrader: (1)

Master Cylinder. Check to see if it is leaking around it down by the clutch. It can also leak inside so no fluid leaks out but it cannot build pressure. Usually when Slave goes out so does master, or vice versa.

Are you sure you bled the **** out of the lines after the slave cylinder replacement? U can try bench bleeding, although I didn't really figure out how to do it myself this will make certian there is no more air in the system.

One more thing to check is that sometimes bolts back out on the pressure plate. You can pull off your starter and check the bolts one by one.

I had a problem that I could not shift into any gears when the car was turned on. When it was off it would shift fine. I ended up replacing everything, Slave cyl, master cyl, shift linkage, clutch, flywheel, shift lever, turns our I broke one of the forks inside the tranny that shifts into neutral. I BROKE NEUTRAL!!!

93preludes

I looked over the hydraulics this morning, everything actually seems to be ok, the clutch pedal seems weak to me but i might be comparing to a "race clutch" feel which is much more stiff.. this does provide resistance.. just doesnt seem to be enough to disengage the clutch.
The one thing i did come across is the fact that the release fork feels loose,,, it doesnt feel properly seated, like its not set with the throw out bearing, the unfortunate thing is that we removed the tranny previously for the same reason teh fork felt very loose,,, I think the problem is in the fork so i'm likely going ot have to drop the tranny again, replace the spring, make sure its seated the the bearing, hopefully i can just pull the tranny off the block just a bit to where i can reseat the fork if thats even the issue, if its not i'm going ot be upset for the work i've had to do for it. but the way the fork feels it just doesnt feel like enough pressure is being put on to release the clutch. What would be the best way to check and see if the fork is seated properly?... I compared to my own car and although i get some similar movement when the slave is off its not the same when i try and rotate the fork, since its on the bearing obviously. So any suggestions would be great, else i'm going to continue on with pulling the tranny off a bit and doublecheck.

mike

kablamo

i'm also gonna say MASTER CYLINDER

i had almost the exact same problem with my 1991 prelude-it was the master cylinder. oh and by the way it had barely leaked any fluid... it's definitely worth changing that before taking the tranny out.

93preludes

Well... kinda crappy update on this, i pulled the tranny again, and the fork appears to have been fine.. clutch was on ok, spent most of the day doing this on my own... started teh car and had the same issue.. i'm going to do the master cylinder tommorrow. I'm never working on a third gen again.

mike1114

iTrader: (1)

Just to repeat myself from above;

"I had a problem that I could not shift into any gears when the car was turned on. When it was off it would shift fine. I ended up replacing everything, Slave cyl, master cyl, shift linkage, clutch, flywheel, shift lever, turns our I broke one of the forks inside the tranny that shifts into neutral. I BROKE NEUTRAL!!!"

When you have your tranny off, use a scredriver and manually shift the car into each gear and spin the shaft to make sure that it rotates the axles. This is how I found I broke neutral, even when the car should have been in neutral the axles turned, so that was telling me that the car was stuck in gear.

One more question, can you turn the car on, just not shift? I couldn't even turn the car on cause it was stuck in gear.

and again, the master cyl can leak with no apparent signs from outside.

93preludes

yeah the car starts up the only issue is that we couldnt get it into gear, my question is that if the master cyl is leaking or bad, would this cause weak pressure and not allow the car into gear? would there be any apparant signs like on the slave cylinder for example? What are some signs of failure?... just trying to find the next logical step as we're running out of options

HONDADNA

One Question. did you recently replace the clutch unit or fly wheel? then, you had this shifting problem?

JimBlake

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93preludes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... my question is that if the master cyl is leaking or bad, would this cause weak pressure and not allow the car into gear? would there be any apparant signs like on the slave cylinder for example? ...</TD></TR></TABLE>Yes a bad MC could cause that. Pull back the rubber boot over the throw-out fork. Have someone work the clutch pedal while you watch the fork.

Your original problem sounds like the clutch isn't disengaging. Could be air in the lines, or MC bypass, or something. Look for leaks & loss of fluid from the clutch hydraulics. If it's not leaking OUT, the only place for it to leak internally is in the MC.