Hey all, I drive a manual 2001 Prelude SH. A couple of days ago I was at a stoplight and had it in 1st gear. Suddenly the car started rumbling as if it were going to cut off. I also had to start forcing the stick into the gears, all of them. I took it to the local Honda dealer and they told me the clutch needed to be replaced, along with the master cylinder, bushings and resurface the flywheel. They quoted me a price of $2200! Though I would have piece of mind servicing it at a dealer with Honda parts, there is no way I can afford to pay $2200. I took it to another shop that is not a dealer and they said they would do it for $1250. They said they have never worked on an SH before which has me worried but I really have no other option. Now my dilemma is whether or not I should keep the car or sell it after the work is done. I love the car and feel it probably wont drive the same after the work is completed. Should I cut my losses and sell the car or have faith in the shop that has never worked on an SH and hope the car will still last me a while. I was planning on keeping for at least 6 more years. Please Help!

 

why would it not run the same?

if it dont, take the ****** back and have them fix it, til it does..

get the car back, drive it for 6 years..and quit being a biatch cause ur scared a shop wont do a good job...like i said, if they dont, take it back til its right..

Mark

 

I liked that response Mark, made me feel a little better about the situation. But, would you trust a non-dealer shop to work on your car, and does $1250 sound right for the job. The transmission is shifting rough, yet repairs are only being made to the clutch and flywheel. Does that seem right?

 

I helped a buddy of mine who is a mechanic at my work replace my tranny. He had worked on Hondas before, but never an SH. The install was difficult, but nothing he could not handle. The only thing he had no experience w/ was the ATTS, but it didn't serve much of a problem. Eveything ended up running smoothly and my tranny works fine. I did not resurface the flywheel or replace the master cylinder. Straight up tranny replacement. I wouldn't feel to comfortable taking my lude to a shop who had no experience w/ an SH, but you have to do what you got to do. Fortuanetely, I knew the person doing my install, so I was able to help out and watch all the work get done. If the shop is experienced w/ FWD cars, they should be able to do it. I would get the work done and keep your lude .

 

I would feel more comfortable having my car worked on at an independent garage than at a Honda dealership. I've never taken it to a dealership, even when I could have saved money. They SELL cars, and IMO that's their main goal. There must be a mechanic in your area who has experience with Hondas or specializes in them.

Dan

 

Hey Dan, the shop i took it to is called japanese automasters so they specialize in Japanese vehicles. I am just paranoid cuz I always wanted a Prelude growing up and this seems like a major repair that could alter the character of the car.

 

dude dont be soo paranoid replaceing a clutch on a manual car is fine there is nothing wrong with that it shouldnt alter anything after the job it will either drive the same or better, you already satated your problem your just PARANOID so stop and you will be fine!!

 

My question is though, why is the clutch affecting the actual gears. I had an integra and the clutch started to slip but it didnt affect my shifting. The clutch on the prelude isnt slipping and feels fine. Im worried its a transmission problem, but the honda dealer said the clutch was badly damaged.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rvasquez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My question is though, why is the clutch affecting the actual gears. I had an integra and the clutch started to slip but it didnt affect my shifting. The clutch on the prelude isnt slipping and feels fine. Im worried its a transmission problem, but the honda dealer said the clutch was badly damaged.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It'll be fine, get it fixed at a shop. I'd actually rather fix it myself, as the job wouldn't be that hard, but i understand wanting to take it to a shop.

The clutch will affect the gears because if the clutch isn't fully disengaging, the gears and shafts in the transmission will be moving with the flywheel (since the clutch is still touching it) thereby making it very difficult to get the car into gear.

Your problem stems from either a faulty throw out bearing, a faulty clutch disk, or a faulty hydraulic system. both are fixed if you replace the master or slave cylinders and are assured there's no leak in the clutch line (for the hydraulic side) or if you replace the clutch which will come with a new throwout bearing and a new disk. Not necessarily sure why they'd need to replace the whole system though.

I would go to a shop and ask them to figure out whether it's the MC or the clutch before they replace everything. i'm not sure why both the MC and the clutch assembly would fail at the same time and i think it's a little fishy.

I could be wrong though.

Also--a clutch job w/ parts should cost 600 bucks. MC job w/ parts should be around 400 or so, imo.

 

If its going to be fixed and you like the car then why would you sell it as soon as you got it back?

 

did you do any weird hard *** driving/shifting? i don't see how a clutch or TO bearing or MC should be going bad on a 4year old honda unless it went through some weird abuse.

 

Hey AzCivic, I agree. The car is way too young to have clutch or transmission problems. Thats why I am skeptical of the work that has to be done to it.

 

The first thing I would do is bleed the clutch hydraulic system, and i mean completely. See if that fixes the problem.

Your car is too new for it to need a new clutch, unless it was beat on.It is possible that it is the clutch, but the chances are pretty low. I would first check the hydraulic system.

Did you check the clutch fluid level?

Also, sitting at the light with the car in gear with the clutch pushed in does wear out the TO bearing. I usually leave it in netral, wait until the light turns green, then I put it in gear. I pay closer attention to when the light will change green than most people though. I prefer not to wear out my clutch parts.

How many miles are on your car?

 

Just hit 60,000

 

Fact 1 Hahaha, dealers are out to make money on u not fix your problem they find the problem then they have a mandatory proticol to offer u this and this to be fixed also. its a fact seriously, GM does it with there dealerships, you go in for ur oil change at 30,000 miles they gonna tell u you need your system flushed and all this other BS you dont need.
Fact 2 even if a local shop has never done a certain job, there are plenty of manuals and references to help them dont worry about a bad job there a small shop they cant really afford to screw up unless there not small
Fact 3 automotive technology isn't that complicated and is much the same regardless of weather you think so or not or the name implys differently ATTS is no more than a LSD controlled by a computer

 

AndyD brings up a good point, do you sit a stop lights with your foot on the clutch the whole time? although a failing TO bearing is usually accompanied with a weird whining noise when you press on the clutch pedal.

when you took it to the other shop did they do their own diagnosis or did you just ask them how much it'd be to do what Honda said?

 

I asked them to do what Honda told me needed to be done. Was that a mistake?

 

i'd just take it some place that specializes in Honda's only and tell them the weird things its doing and ask them what they think, if they come up with the same thing than at least you got a second opinion and they'll be cheaper than the dealership when they do the work.

 

sounds to me like the slave cylinder is leaking. The master cylinder is possible, but it sounds like the slave cylinder. Although most of the replies have stemmed off telling you it will be fine, and I 100% agree with them. You didnt wreck it, no suspension damage or body damage. Thats when your in trouble. Anyways, your having trouble shifting gears, you grind when you do and the clutch doesnt slip. If its your clutch, you will experience slippage upon throttle. So, 95% chance its not that. Throwout bearing has a whine associated with it often. Thats not present so I assume as you failed to mention anything along those lines. 95% chance thats not it. But, you mentioned failing to disengage in your own words. Thats a hydrolic line problem 95% chance. That means the likelyhood of it being a clutch line, master cylinder or slave cylinder is pretty good. Lets put it at 95% as I am using %'s to rate my confidence in diagnosis. But, its also hard to diagnose something you cant experience yourself and not knowing the owner/diagnosers capabilities it is limited. So, everyone will agree with me. Take it to a shop such as you suggested and avoid Honda after your warranty is up. Have them actually diagnose the problem. I have a feeling you very well could come out cheaper and happier knowing its just one of those common wear items and you will wind up keeping the car. Everyone has to do matienence at one time or another. You may just need to replace a clutch related item before the first clutch replacement.


OH... VERY IMPORTANT... DO NOT DRIVE the car under any circumstances until you are dropping it off somewhere to be worked on. This is actually like signing a death warrant, or ensuring more damage to your car and higher repair costs which could include a new tranny. So, overall consensus is have a shop look at it, ignore HONDA's diagnosis and see where you end up.

 

Just got done looking at the fluid levels of the clutch and brakes and their didn't appear to be any leaks. I don't want to plunk down $1250 for a new clutch, flywheel, and master cylinder if its just one piece thats broke. The earliest the shop I am considering can look at the car is Aug 2nd.