lurice01

i have replaced my stock 95 civic cmc with an omni-power brand cmc for a honda s2000. I used spacers to make it so that the push rod and everything is the same length as the stock 95 civic cmc. There are a couple guides on this very site that show how to do this. (btw both are hydraulic brake fluid clutch, not cable adjustable or whatever)

its been like a year now and at some point i stopped getting power when i stomp on gas in 3rd gear or higher. I can continue to accelerate normally in 3rd gear or above ONLY IF i go light on the gas pedal, letting RPM build gradually and slowly.

1st, 2nd and Reverse gears grab fine and I can use them all totally normally but when I get to 3rd, 4th, and 5th, - i have to go lighter and lighter on the pedal, or else the tachometer will go up, but the speedometer will not. You know, it will surge as if the clutch is slipping.?

When i stop the car, pull the e-brake, put it in 2nd and let up on clutch pedal, the car stalls out immediately.

I've tried adjusting the CMC pedal height adjuster nut all the way in and all the way out, i tried it with no spacers, with bigger spacers, no matter what - i can't fix the acceleration problem. I haven't tried going back to stock cmc because i modified my fluid reservoir and a new stock cmc doesn't come with a new fluid reservoir...

Is the clutch very slowly going out/going bad, or could it be my s2k cmc is causing this problem? I'm afraid to buy and install a new clutch if cmc is the real cause. I don't want to bother my mechanic and explain all this and have him drive it because i want to install the clutch if thats the problem.

tony_2018

Check to make sure the pedal isn't stiffen.

lurice01

hey tony, the pedal is stiff because I bled all the air out and its still a fairly new cmc.
the pedal isn't stickin either. It goes all the way down and comes all the way back up and it has a few mm of free play. and clutch pedal is same height as brake pedal.
So do you think my clutch is slowly going bad, or do you think the non-stock cmc could be causing my acceleration problem?

tony_2018

Back the cmc away from the firewall a bit more.

lurice01

ok tony i backed the cmc away from the firewall a bit more. It is back as far as it will go now, actually. my spacer i use is like half inch, if i try to add anymore then i can't fit the nuts on.

then i test drove it with the cmc clutch pedal height adjuster nut adjusted all the way in and i still have the problem. i tried it with nut all the way out and i still have the problem.

tony_2018

Do you smell any fowl smell?

lurice01

You mean like burning clutch? No. But one time when i got pissed off at it when i was driving up hill and when it started doing the acceleration issue in 3rd, i just kept gunning it anyway and then i did smell burning clutch.

i don't remember exactly how many years old this clutch is, but i remember i bought one last time that said "heavy duty" thats making me think its slowly going out but i'm going to be really upset if a new clutch doesn't fix this.

So do you think my clutch is slowly going bad, or do you think the non-stock cmc could be causing my acceleration problem?
What else happens when the wrong cmc is put on? what other tests can i do?

tony_2018

Hmm...are you experiencing any vibration in your clutch pedal?

lurice01

No vibration or noise in clutch pedal.
However, there are some times during neutral idle when i notice a kind of a low constant whirring sound coming from outside the vehicle and that sound disappears when i press the clutch pedal down. BUT As i understand that noise is pretty much annoying but normal gearbox noise.

tony_2018

I believe that whining could either be the throwout bearing or the ISB

lurice01

Could be. I will check those bearings if i have to put a new clutch in. Clutch kit comes with throw out bearing i think? If the throw-out bearing went bad that would indicate the clutch is having problems and is likely the reason for my acceleration problem? What else can I do to be sure?

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

I had an Omni power in my 99 civic years ago. The seal ended up going out in it like everyone's elses and would not engage my clutch. If you hold light pressure on the clutch pedal with the engine off does it slowly sink to the floor?

Pedal stiffness feel the same or naw?

lurice01

ohsnapzafingcu, No my clutch pedal does not sink to the floor if i put light pressure on it with the engine off. Pedal stiffness feels same with engine on or off.

However u have to set the nut on cmc all the way out so that no threads are showing for pedal to come up all the way up for that 10mm of free play. Otherwise it falls down and there is no freeplay at all, and it makes the pedal lower than the other pedals

Did you have an omni power s2k cmc on your 99? or was it an omni made for your 99? did you ever get any symptoms like i'm experiencing?

tony_2018

I believe they worked that out already. Could be wrong cuz I'm actually using the oem s2k cmc.

lurice01

yea i also understand omni fixed the bad seals issue.

my mechanic just now looked at car real quick. first i showed him my cmc modification and he felt the pedal and said its really stiff like it feels like someone is already holding clutch down. i explained the omni quick clutch has that quality so you can shift faster. he inspected the slave and how much play it has while i was pressing clutch in and out. he said the clutch master and slave does seem normal and that it could be the flywheel causing my problems. He said the whirring noise was the throw-out bearing and it will come with the clutch kit but i will also check isb.

so i'm thinking its the clutch flywheel causing my problems but i still feel myself wanting to try the oem 95 civic clutch master cylinder to see if anything changes but i cant find a reservoir. what could i use as a temporary reservoir?

tony_2018

Hmm...

I guess try the cheaper route...not everybody got time and money to swap out the clutch 2ice

lurice01

ok tony, i finally replaced the omni-power s2k-CMC with the Stock CMC on my 95 honda civic and i STILL had the acceleration problem so looks like the clutch and or flywheel is going out plus that throw out bearing and or isb.

Two things I still wonder:
1. Is it possible that the Omni-power s2k-cmc CAUSED this clutch problem? I hate the stock cmc and i can never go back to it now so I will just have to make sure i have the s2k on exactly correct. Clutch actually feels worse with stock cmc - like omni power cmc might be whats making this wore out clutch still feel drive-able for so long somehow..
2. The omni-power s2k-cmc APPEARS to need the 1/2" spacer, because omni cmc is longer than the stock cmc.. HOWEVER, It adjusts much more like the stock cmc if i Do Not use the spacer. The spacer doesn't seem to help with anything so I'm starting to think I don't need it again. I originally figured i didn't need the spacer and i didn't get it until after a couple months when i got the acceleration problem.

tony_2018

How is your clutch line ran?

lurice01

I used TWO of these MAP Braided Stainless Steel Clutch Lines. Ran them right along where the old line was.
https://www.amazon.com/Braided-Stainless-Clutch-1992-00-Integra/dp/B016R8NODS

Why do you ask? Could that be the cause or are you just wondering?

I was speaking to another kinda mechanic and he said it sounds like a plate is glazed.

tony_2018

The glazing part does make sense. I was told that you can try to get rid of the glazing by launching the car at a high rpm.

mk378

Wow you're making this too complicated.

With the engine off and no one pressing the clutch pedal, take the boot off of the slave / clutch lever part and see if there is any tension from the slave cylinder on the lever. You should be able to push the piston into the slave cylinder, proving that the hydraulics are not holding the clutch lever in when no one is pressing the pedal.

Another test is to crack the bleeder to release any pressure-- there shouldn't be any, so fluid should NOT spurt out and the lever should NOT move from its resting position.

Once you confirm nothing is holding the lever in when the pedal is not pressed, that means the problem must be inside the bell housing, likely that the clutch disk is worn out-- so drop the transmission and replace the clutch set. It's only going to get "glazed" If it was slipping first, so go ahead and try a few high speed launches, though I think that isn't going to do anything but seal its fate as needing replacement.

tony_2018

But hydraulic fluid would still weep out of the csc though because its being gravity bled, amiright?

lurice01

how exactly would you do a high speed launch on my 95 civic? How hi rpm and what gear? Against a tree or with e brake or on road?

lurice01

ok i did the high speed launch and burned the clutch and after it cooled down it did seem to help a little... not really at all... idk.

Anyway i'm neck deep in the new clutch install on my 95 civic ex d series and the pilot bearing that came with the exedy clutch kit won't sit flush in the new lightweight fidanza flywheel. Its poking up about 1 mm or 2 mm.... a 1/16 of an inch... i think bearing is resting on the lip on the front of flywheel like it should... do i need a certain pilot bearing for the fidanza? should it have came with its own pilot bearing? Am I using the correct pilot bearing?

mk378

If you still have the old stock flywheel and bearing just check the distance from the engine side of the flywheel (where it sits on the end of the crankshaft) to the bearing. This should be overall the same on the new one.

Also when installing a new clutch it is good practice to trial fit the disk and bearing on the transmission shaft before putting the clutch onto the flywheel. If you have the wrong parts there will otherwise be a lot of frustration when you try to mate the transmission back onto the engine..