okay, figured i might as well post all the questions i could think of, while i have the chance

the clutch in my prelude died about 6 months after i bought it, i mean completely, just .... died, horribly, lol ... i actually had my ex wife push my car the last 50 feet to the shop to get it swapped out, with out other car, because i literally could not go anywhere.

anyway ... clutch swapped out, brand new clutch, took it to a transmission shop, all is well and good, right ?

except ever since i've had it replaced, whenever i try and downshift at moderate rpms, i literally CAN NOT drop down a gear, if i try, theres the horrible grinding of teeth, sounding like i dont know how to drive a manual.

i have NO idea what is causing this, and it honestly worries me a bit, is this normal ? just a built in precaution to keep me from downshifting when the rpm's are running a bit too high ? it throws me off horribly, because the car NEVER did this before, although the clutch was obviously bad when i bought it, since it went from slipping, to completely out, in about 4-5 months.

summary, if rpms are higher than around ... 2.5 k i think, and i try to downshift = (GRIIIIIIINNNNNNNND) and pops the shifter back out. did the TRANSMISSION shop i took it to do something wrong ? is there some other problem ? do i need to learn how to shift ?

please help!!!

 

thats not normal if your clutch is fully engaged. did you check your pedals to make sure they're to spec? i'd check the master cylinder, thats def not normal. I can downshift without grind, it does lock me out as a precautionary measure but if i jam it it'll go in.

 

oh and see if doubleclutching will eliminate the problem

 

just wanted to add, its been over a year since i drove my car (currently in iraq) but feel free to ask questions to jog my memory ... all i know is that it doesnt FEEL right ... by all means, i should be able to downshift, but it wont "let" me .... just makes no sense. i even tried some wierd stuff, trying to figure out what the problem was, like shifting up a gear, engage the clutch, and then immediately dropping back down a gear, only to get ( GRIIIIIINDDDDD) ..... its a scary sound, and again, i'm clueless ... it sounds like the teeth are grinding or something, but they SHOULDNT be ..... *sigh* again, any help would be appreciated.

also, not sure if it would make some kind of difference, but the clutch is a "Stage III clutch" designed for more horsepower than i'm currently putting out .... could this be some kind of built in safety to keep you from blowing the engine if you accidentally downshift ? i could see if i was pushing 600 hp or something, and downshifting that it could potentially throw the rpms through the roof ... but i dont understand how some sort of "safety" like that could even be built into a clutch ?

anyway .... help! please!!!

 

you need to adjust the engagement point of the clutch. My guess is that the engagement point is near the floor and you are not meeting the threshold to disengage the clutch completely.

 

lol, if i were to say the words "i dont have a clue how to doubleclutch" would i be laughed out of the forums ?

 

98vtec,

i dont know if i was clear or if this makes a difference, but if i allow the rpms to drop much lower than i should have to, i can downshift no problem, with no grinding ... i'm next to clueless about clutches, as well as suspensions, lol .... although i think i understand the basic concept of how it works.

as far as adjusting the engagement point, i dont need to take the clutch apart to do so, right ? its a matter of adjusting the clutch pedal ?

 

double clutch is just letting off the clutch, and then putting it back in fully.. basically clutching 2 times, dunno if that's right but I have to do that to avoid grinds in 5th gear.

but since you mentioned stage 3 clutch, im almost positive it's your engagement point as 98vtec said

there's a diagram somewhere but im too lazy to pull it out... but no, nothing has to be removed to adjust it

 

could you elaborate a little bit on the engagement point ? as i said, i'm pretty much clueless as far as clutches go. is the stage 3 a bad idea ? i figured i'd buy it now, as i'm planning on eventually doing a lot of mods, and i might as well get a clutch that could handle the power now, since i needed to replace it anyway.

basically, to adjust the engagement point ... is it something as simple as adjusting the clutch pedal ? or will i need to remove the entire clutch again ?

 

u dont have to take out the clutch

it has to do with the master cylinder, which is behind you pedal's IN THE ENGINE BAY.

if you're facing your car, its the little resorvoir in the far right corner. (driverside)

 

oooh .... i'm liking this, if i remember correctly, i dont need to reach around anything, crush my fingers, or get underneath the car to reach that :D

so, is it as simple as adding more fluid, for more pressure ? or adjusting a couple nuts ? i know i'm dangerously close to asking for a walkthrough, lol, but basically, could a fairly mechanically savvy guy who loves working on his car do it himself ? and what is the risk of causing some kind of massive damage when i screw it up ?

 

You really can't screw it up man, no worries.
Changing your clutch master cylinder is a major PITA, it was all I could do to get a tool on "THE nut" much less remove/reinstall it.
I swear, if Honda would have made the bolt holes opposite from what they did... (those who have done it know what I mean)

 

ouch ... way to kill my rising excitement at an "easy fix" lol ....

sounds almost like the hell i faced trying to replace my fuel filter ... lol ... i think thats why my wife cheated on me, i spent almost an entire day smoking over, under, around, and everywhere else while i was home on leave, trying to get that fekking thing off, eventually gave up and just drove it to the shop, lol ...

so youre saying CHANGE the master cylinder, as in replace ? .... or is there a way to adjust it ? see if i can fix it that way ?

 

on a side note, i think i just figured out what the shiny steel cap with an engraved Katakana symbol on it, which was bumping around in my trunk when i bought it was, lol ... did a search for 98 prelude master cylinders, and saw a picture of a "master cylinder cap" although its for a CBR 1000 ... looks awfully similar ...

anyway, if i am going to have to replace it, is there any advantage to getting aftermarket, vs OEM ? if so, any suggestions ?

 

I've got just over 1,000 miles on my aftermarket (Advance Auto) Tru-Torque master cylinder, no problems yet. I did my slave cylinder right before it... Originally I was doing the slave, but if you don't go ahead and do the master it will start leaking about two weeks later... It's not THAT bad of a fix man. Take off the reservoir, then the two bolts off of the "outside" of the cylinder (in the engine bay) and then crawl up under the dash and get the two bolts out from there. Not too bad.
Bleeding the system is the WORST part.

 

lol, yea, bleeding any system seems to always be a PITA ...

thanks to everyone for all the quick resposes, hopefully this will fix my shifting problems ... nothing worse than putting in the work, starting the car up and ..... same problem, lol ....

one last question, if i'm going to replace the master, should i replace the slave as well, at the same time ? ie: with the master out of the way, might as well do the slave too ?

thanks again

 

Reading what you described, I would have to say that it sounds like they used the wrong tranny oil.

Do you know what they used?

Sounds like they used oil that is too think.

Hope that helps narrow down the problem. Good luck.

 

hmm ... i wonder if it could be that simple lol ... i'll have to look into that ... everyone votes for OEM tranny oil, right ?