Hey I have a 2001 prelude that just a month ago had a problem with the clutch pedal losing its pressure and getting 'stuck' before it releases all the way. Furthermore, it became hard to put into each gear, and nearly impossible in first gear. When I released the clutch from depression, it INSTANTLY grabs without given any travel. At first I noticed a leak from the clutch master cylinder as all the fluid nearly disappeared. After getting the clutch master cylinder replaced as well as the slave cylinder, everything was ok...

until... the problem came back just two weeks later. The problems gradually came back. It started to grab quicker when I released the clutch, harder to put in gear, and became stuck again...but all gradually. So I had it bleed and readjusted the clutch linkage hoping it would fix the problem. It did for a short while...

...and to **** me off more. The same thing came back, GRADUALLY. This time however, bleeding it 4-5 times didn't do anything. My mechanic had it checked out and he said it is possibly the pressure plate so I should replace the clutch. My clutch DOES have 90k miles of wear on them so I'm not worried. But will this fix the problem? Is there anything besides the clutch and hydraulic clutch system that could cause this problem??

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for attempting to help!

 

i had a problem much like that. i also thought it was the pressure plate. so i took the car apart and found out one of the tabs on the throwout bearing was snapped off.

i put in the new clutch and T.O. bearing and all was well.

 

First I'd rule out that it's not a problem with keeping pressure in your clutch line. Check to make sure your master cylinder isn't leaking. Then check where the clutch line threads into the master cylinder, and everywhere else to make sure it's not leaking out everytime u press the pedal. If not a drop of fluid is leaking out then start looking into the tranny itself.

 

Thanks for the replies. If it there is leak somewhere, I wouldn't have much fluid in the master cylinder. But it's still full, so most likely there's no leak. I also heard this could be just a retarded master cylinder. Are people having problems with cheap master cylinders and then changing to an OEM one and it worked fine??

yOnkiNaTor, did you have to replace the whole throwout bearing??

 

check the clutch fluid. not sure were the reserve is located tho

my 3rd gen did it and thats whay the problem was

 

phats, the throw out bearing is all one piece in which the little tabs are welded to the bearing itself. here is a picture of what i'm talking about:




#5 is the bearing and one of the tabs snapped. what happens is once one of those tabs snaps, it can't hold onto the shift fork (#6) and then the to bearing sticks out and isn't pulled back in by the fork. this prevents the clutch from engaging and doesn't allowi you to shift, or if it does let you shift, it's very close to the bottom of the travel.