Finally get the car on the road again after two years and now this happens. On the way to work today the car suddenly became EXTREMELY hard to get into first gear while sitting at a red light and every gear after that just started to feel really forced. Fast forward to the trip home and first gear became nearly impossible.

When trying to force it into gear at a stop you can feel the car try to move forward a bit which tells me the clutch isn't releasing properly. Now keep in mind this is a brand new transmission but the clutch/release bearing had been sitting for all that time and the bearing has been making a racket. I knew I would need to change it but I'm not sure if it's the entire problem. Yes the clutch not releasing properly would cause it to be a PITA will stopped but I attempted to shift clutch less while moving, a task I can do with absolutely zero difficulty and the transmission was still being very stiff and notchy on gear changes.

Could the bad released bearing wearing down the diaphragm fingers and causing it not to release properly be the cause of ALL of these symptoms?

 

I would say from the symptoms that either it was assembled incorrectly, or something is wrong with the clutch/ clutch assembly/ throwout bearing, fork, or even slave cylinder.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would say from the symptoms that either it was assembled incorrectly, or something is wrong with the clutch/ clutch assembly/ throwout bearing, fork, or even slave cylinder..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

The tranny was bought brand new from Honda so that probably rules out assembly and it's been shifting fine for the past few weeks it's been running.

I'm gonna try bleeding the slave cylinder and see what that does. If not that then I guess it's time to drop the transmission. I know one things for sure I'm not doing it this time. I'm done crawling under that thing for a while lol.

 

Your problem describes a problem that I exactly had. It was my Clutch Master Cylinder.

 

Yeah, common problem for clutch masters to leak. look underneith and see if fluid is leaking down the firewall at the clutch pedal. If not then try bleeding. If problem still persists then most likely clutch disk or fingers on the pressure plate warped.

 

I'll check it in the morning. Man oh man would it be nice if it's just the master cylinder. That sure as heck would seem to fit the bill being as how it became progressively worse in a short period of time (ie something leaking).

Thanks for the suggestions.


Edit: Ran outside with the flash light to check the master cylinder fluid level. It's filled to the brim.

I'm guessing for either the slave or master to be bad it's pretty much guaranteed to be leaking correct?

 

The EXACT same thing happened to me a few months ago... Clutch took a dump on me. It was near impossible to get into gear, and once it did, the car would start creeping forward.

Replaced the clutch (Thanks again RTW DC2R), and it was great after that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GO-FIGHT-KILL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The EXACT same thing happened to me a few months ago... Clutch took a dump on me. It was near impossible to get into gear, and once it did, the car would start creeping forward.

Replaced the clutch (Thanks again RTW DC2R), and it was great after that. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm thinking the same thing. Hard to say for sure without seeing it in person, but it sounds like a clutch disc problem. The springs in the clutch hub begin to break loose from the disc assembly and create drag, so that even with the pedal depressed you don't achieve full disengagement. Also creates a lot of noise. How old is the clutch and what type? The stock one is definitely prone to this type of failure.

 

^ Thanks for reminding me, I forgot to mention that when the car was running, it was AWFULLY loud. It sounded like particles chattering around in the bell housing. It was just the springs walking around in the disc.

I think it's just the clutch ActiveAero. You'll be alright.

 

the same thing is happening to me right now. i replaced both cylinders and its still impossible to get into gear so my next step is the clutch. the noise that it makes is nasty is sounds like a squealing grinding noise

 

Anyone ever had the slave cylinder go bad without it leaking? A friend said the same thing happened to him (bad but wasn't leaking) but I just find that weird. Can't hurt to replace it first I guess.

 

It would be leaking if it were malfunctioning... I've never heard of one going bad without it leaking.

I really think it's just your clutch.

 

Yeah I'm thinking the boot was probably covering it and it was leaking into the transmission case hence the reason he never saw it. I'm gonna pry the boot back tonight and take a peak though I'm pretty doubtful of that being it due to the full fluid reservoir.

 

Its the clutch. Same thing happened to me, I had to drive from NY to VA without the clutch I'm sure one (or all) of the springs have failed.

 

I've had to adjust the clutch pedal to get the clutch to disengage before after installing a new clutch.

1.) Friend fries his clutch.
2.) I replace clutch.
3.) Car creeps forward when clutch pedal is all the way down and you try to put it into first gear.
4.) Bled the hydraulic system multiple times.
5.) Adjusted the clutch pedal and it has full travel again.

The only exception to this being a solution is that he had converted the car from AT to MT, so the clutch pedal height and play had never been set properly. However, the previous clutch disengage flawlessly.