RodWolf19

So I'm going home and my clutch says pound sand.
I can see the fork moving but I can't get in gear if the engine's running.
I work at an Irish parts store, turning my own flywheel isn't so terrible? Has anyone done this before?
And how shitty is my cheap Irish replacement clutch gonna be?
This is my first time delving so deep into a car, should I be worried about anything? I'll have the money for the cheap clutch in a few days, what should I do now to make this easier?
As usual, thank you for reading, I appreciate all types of answers and advice.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Go online, and get an Exedy OEM clutch kit. they're like, $120, and they're the OE supplier. Turning a flywheel is the same as turning a brake rotor. Extremely simple, if you have the right tool for it. It's a very straight forward job.

RodWolf19

Cool beans, yeah I can turn it at work.
With my discount the cheap clutch is like $70.
I had planned on an exedy stage 1 for the heavier pressure plate and a lighter flywheel, but unfortunately that's not how the cards are dealt.
Is locktite necessary for the flywheel to crank bolts or the pressure plate to flywheel bolts?
Thanks for the reply, y'all know a lot about these cars and your advice makes all my jobs a lot easier.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

The FSM doesn't mention using thread locker, but ARP recommends Loctite 242 (blue, medium, equivalent to HondaLok 1). A tiny bit of threadlocker on the flywheel bolt threads, and a tiny bit of grease on the flange itself, and torque to spec. 87 ft/lbs for the flywheel bolts, 19 ft/lbs for the pressure plate bolts.

Cheaper is rarely ever better. Save your pennies, ride the bus for a couple weeks or something, and get yourself the Exedy OEM kit. you shouldn't need to replace your flywheel.

RodWolf19

I'm gonna look into it more after I get off work. Hopefully it's just the MC, this will be the third one I put on, I really need to save up for a legitimate Honda part instead of the little cheap unit.
Are there any other options for the hydraulics that might be better than OEM? The local stealership wants $180 for an MC, Majestic says $105.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

They want...how much, now?

CENTRIC Part # 13740008 is $14.83 on Rock Auto, and is the clutch master cylinder for 92-00 Civic/Del Sol/Integra. Even their most expensive one (for USDM, don't know if EDM is different, but it has a different part number) is a Beck Arnley for $50. Considering your slave is moving the fork, though, I don't think that's the issue.

Did you properly adjust the clutch pedal free travel after each replacement?

RodWolf19

I've got a $30 part store MC on it right now, first one was dead out of the box, second one was good. The price I posted was for a Honda part 46920-SR3-A01, I'm beginning to think I really need to just start saving up and buy OEM parts for this little car.
I didn't follow that specific procedure, I just adjusted it to the height that was comfortable for me to drive, I like the pedal higher up.
If this turns out to be my issue, I'll have to use this procedure.
The starter already engages whether or not I have the clutch pedal depressed, I should be able to skip steps 7-11?

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Never skip steps. If you set it too high, that can do just as much damage as setting it too low. Follow the procedure properly, see if that helps.

White_EG1

Please please please get the exedy, it's totally worth it, I wouldn't trust a parts store clutch for more than a year. And who's to say you didn't get a faulty kit out the box.... Wanna do it twice? I can't tell you how many times this happened to me, of course never on a oem part.

RodWolf19

Yeah I already ordered the exedy, I like to get on it a lot and I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road when the cheap one drops out on me.
I've got the tranny hanging by its mounts now, all I need to do is pull it, cut the flywheel, apply new clutch and sew it back up. I'll get to her Saturday, might as well wait to get it right the first time.
As for the break in, pretty much drive it like an old lady? Should I be avoiding hills where I would need excessive slippage?

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Drive like an old lady, don't go past 3500 RPM for 300 miles. If you do mainly highway driving, up that to 500 miles. I like to use my scheduled day off work to just drive around town all day - should give you plenty of mileage to break it in.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

You people and your clutch break-in periods. Stay off the gas for 500 miles?!?!? Ha! F#&k clutches.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Some of us like to do things correctly. Some of us like our clutches to last 200k miles.

RodWolf19

Yeah this one is at 227k.
That helped make up my mind on getting the Exedy.

NVturbo

If you can't get the car into gear with the engine on, but able to when it's off.....you need to replace the clutch. I'm 100% positive that one of the springs in the clutch disk has come loose. As for the break-in period, don't listen to idiots like B Serious. I'm sure his cars on jack stands at least twice a week.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

FINALLY. Someone has the courage to say what everyone's been thinking for years and years.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Valid point. My clutches only last like 140k miles (after questionable use). But...an Exedy off the shelf kit is not a 200k mile clutch for most people. Buy a genuine Honda clutch/bearings for that.

That way, you'll be able to drive your 20 year old, 200k mile civic for 20 more years and 200k more miles. Which everyone ALWAYS does.

By the time you need to replace it, you'll be senile and arthritis ridden and you'll think to yourself, "God damn, am I glad I broke this $120 clutch in meticulously. That was my life's best memory."



I'll continue to be reckless.

RodWolf19

Opened her up yesterday and found the pressure plate side of the friction material was gone. Flywheel side looked good.
Flywheel and pressure plate were all sorts of blue and too warped to even cut.
Someone wasn't nice to her in a previous life or maybe a few too many people learned to drive a standard in it.
Today I'm tackling the rear main because it's leaking and reassembling everything.
Hopefully I'll start on my break in tonight.

RodWolf19

I've decided I like transmission jacks, took 3 of us 2 hours of wrestling to get that guy in.
Gotta take out the bitch pin anyways because I didn't pay attention to where I was putting the shift rod and now they're crossed.
Other than that, smooth deal went really well, will finish buttoning up axles and the wheels tonight.
I do have a question though, how far should the slave cylinder move the clutch fork? Mine only moves like 1in and a half, is that normal?
We only pressed it to see if it was all moving smoothly before I started torqing down the transmission bolts.

backinblue92

iTrader: (1)

I just finished a clutch job that was similar to yours in that I initially had issues of not being able to get into gear with engine running. Anyways, my thread titled "clutch engagement/fork issue" is a few threads down from this one and I have pics on page 2 of how far the fork should move. Regardless of model Honda, movement should be in the 1-1/2" range.

You either did the job right or wrong. You have to put it all together to actually test it anyways. If your clutch hydraulics aren't fully bled and MC push rod adjusted correctly, you're only playing a guessing game with fork movement as it is. Unless there is very, very little fork movement or it has excessive north and south movement, then that's all you can do until the system is "online".

Just make sure you check out the MC push rod adjustment before you call it a job well done. Generally, the rod will need to be almost fully extended with a new clutch, as the pressure plate will need more movement with a thick, new disc.

And I would listen to those who say to break it in. If you don't, its not just longevity that suffers, but immediate drivability. If you glaze the flywheel by driving it hard, it'll slip and chatter very very quickly.

RodWolf19

Yup I adjusted the MC and it was almost all the way out on the rod.
Clutch is disengaging and engaging perfectly.
This thing is making me feel like I'm having to learn to drive a standard all over again.
I'm in the process of breaking it in right now.
So far so good!

backinblue92

iTrader: (1)

You went with the Exedy oem replacement? Same as I did, though I didn't resurface the flywheel since it was in great shape. Just sanded it a little.

Feels great Doesn't it? Haha. I'd say it feels like relearning to drive stick, except a new clutch done right simply feels natural. I don't even feel the engagement half the time when I'm bring the pedal back up it's so smooth

RodWolf19

I'm 100 miles into the break in period. The pedal feel has gotten a lot stiffer. When I first started driving it the pedal was excessively soft and I was pretty upset about it.
But yes the action is very smooth and overall very nice.

backinblue92

iTrader: (1)

I'm like 200 Miles in, haha. Been trying to daily it to get more miles in it. The pedal has gotten harder? Mine hasn't changed at all.

Did u disconnect the hydraulics when u took the clutch apart? And greased up all the contact points on clutch fork? I mean if you're happy its all good but generally I don't think pedal action should be changing

RodWolf19

Yeah everything got greased up.
When I was first driving the car the pedal felt like it didn't want to come back up.
Now it feels normal and better than before, overall everything feels good.