hey everyone. i have a 2001 prelude base with 78k on it. i still have the original clutch on there. i have recently been having some major problems with the clutch.

For the past month or so, the clutch has gotten extremely soft and fifth gear has been grinding everytime i switch in. i was driving it home the other night and noticed that it was even softer than normal. the clutch was sticking and by the time i finally made it home it pretty much gave out. i havent driven it for 4 days and just now tried to take it out around the block to see wtf is wrong with it and could not even get it out of my garage. i am not able to put it into gear...i literally had to force the gear in...as soon as i release the clutch it catches real quick and pretty much stalls.

now i am not the most car saavy guy which is why i am here to ask you guys. i am assuming my clutch is completely out of life and needs replacing? flywheel?

how much does this usually cost? i was planning on calling honda tomorrow to see if i can buy a oem clutch kit from them and then take it elsewhere to get swapped in because i am sure the dealer will rape me for all the money i have in labor costs. where else can i buy a a decent clutch kit? i am looking to spend as little as possible as I am planning on getting rid of this car asap. it has given me nothing but problems lately, albeit being a decent car the past 7 years.

for what its worth, i live in riverside ca...so if any of you guys in the local area here have some suggestions, let me know

thanks for your help!

 

check your master cylinder.
(in front of your car facing the motor) it will be on the top right corner of the engine bay, the smallest little resorvoir there is. uncap it counter clockwise and see if there's still brake fluid in there. if the tiny resorvoir is still full, then odds are your pressure plate blew up. however if the resorvoir is empty, you're in need of new master/slave cylinders. (120$ or so from online parts)

 

I just took a peek inside of the reservoir as suggested and it is completely empty...not a drip of anything in there. I performed a search online for prelude master slave cylinders and got a bunch of results around $80-100.

Stupid question, but where do I go from here? Is this something that I can fix myself? Also, can I pick something like this up from kragen/autozone? Is my problem not as major as I originally thought, as in needing to replace my entire clutch? One thing I forgot to mention was that there was also a constant metal on metal grinding noise everytime I was coming out of first gear during the month prior to this happening.
I was just playing around with the car just now and the clutch is still soft and sticks, but there is still pressure to where it still comes back toward me after depressing it.

Thank you for your help, it's very much appreciated

 

you need to stop driving your car, but chances are after you replace the master/slave cylinders you'll still be able to drive your car. in essence you are shifting without fully engaging the clutch, which is terrible for your tranny.

you need a new master cylinder and a new slave cylinder. Replacing one and not the other is asking for trouble really. a shop will probably charge you 2-3hours of shoprate labor, but it CAN be done in about an hour. (i know i can) you could probably tackle physically changing out the cylinders, it's the bleeding process that's a difficult concept to understand.

so to sum it all up, your problem is not as severe as you though, however i would not suggest you doing it yourself without any experience at all. order a master/slave from a parts honda site like http://www.majestichonda.com or http://www.slhonda.com and see if any mechanics in your area are willing to do sidejobs. you can also log onto http://www.socalprelude.com and see if anyone is willing to help you. Good luck