I have 98 hatch i got it with b16 just swapped my gsr in it last night. today i tried taking it for a test drive and my clutch pedal was soft.has a no name 4 puck in it about half ways good, so i left it in. the car takes off if i leave it in first gear as i start it.at first i thought maybe just needs to be bled. bled it and nothing still the same. only difference is that pedal got stiffer only prior to starting. i can go in gear after i start it, then i put in neutral then press the clutch again and its soft and wont let me go in any gear. if i turn it off the pedal is stiff again until i start it then it becomes soft again. kinda feels lke the breaks you pumpm it and its stiff once the car is on the pedal is soft im stuck so im here asking the great minds of honda tech to advise me. thanks for all the help in advance.

 

Obviously the clutch is not disengaging, [when peddle is" soft"] Not sure when engine running why it has an effect on it.

Check the slave cylinder push rod for movement both when pedal is stiff and clutch seems to work and when soft ands clutch not working.

When it is soft, [and clutch not working] can you "pump it up" so it will work, [without turning engine off]? 94

 

the rod is extending the same length soft or hard. i can pump it while its on and it still soft

 

maybe a leak somewhere allowing air in. fluid level was good? check the firewall, cabin side. see if there's any fluid around there.

 

fluid is good. no air bubbles when i bled it. i even had my buddy pump it while i sprayed soapy water along the line

 

check the firewall. cabin side. just to cancel it out

 

already what gets me is that while its off its like normal once it turns on it goes limp lol

 

checked* i have clutch set up im looking at right now i dont know if i want to spend 300 bucks and that not be my issue but im tight on time

 

Any other ideas

 

I'm lost, it must be in the clutch/pressure plate if slave cylinder push rod is moving the same either way, your going to have to pull the transmission.
Again I am not sure why the engine running has an effect, but again the only thing effected by the engine running would be the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate. 94

 

This morning before I left I tried it again after pumping it 4-6 times I was able to get in 3rd. Then pumping 4-6 times quickly I was able to get in gear I checked the mc and it was dripping. I don't know if it was caused from all the pumping. Imma replace that an see what happens

 

Your getting "blowby" fluid is going past the cylinder piston seal, replacing or rebuilding the MC should fix your problem. 94

 

New mc and the same thing. Still gets me how it acts up once you start the car

 

Time to drop the tranny.

 

After dropping the tranny I saw the pressure plate hadnt sat right. It was against the nipples. Fixed it now putting the tranny back on hopefully that was it

 

Well the good thing is you have a new MC, if it was leaking it would not have been long before it went out, better it was fixed now then have it fail at some inopportune time. 94

 

Put everything together and problem is still there. This **** is really driving me nuts.

 

hmmm. so the problem is exactly the same? engine running, pedal goes soft? what exactly did you find when you dropped the tranny? when you say nipples, do you mean the pp wasn't lined up with the dowel pins? how did the fingers look on the plate?
where are you bleeding from?

 

sorry bro to tell u this but i am sure its the throwout bearing samething happen to my buddies civic after a swap . one of the legs on the throw out bearing was broken and cause him to not to move or sometimes it wouldnt let him put in first gear .

unless..... you checked tht bearing and then i am wrong but we had same issue and we replaced slave and MC and nothing so we dropped tranny and sure enough broken throwout lol good luck

 

also dont worry about the pedal once tht bearing is fixed tht pedal will shoot up no problems... just bleed it after a couple times and your golden .

 

i benched bled it and the bled it from the slave cyl. the onlly way i got it to work was if the pedal wouldnt come all the way out it would still hold pressure. i just adjusted the bolt on the clutch pedal to hold the pedal. it does put any pressure on the pp so il not rididnt the clutch. imma run it like this for the next week or two motor should be broken in by then then ill swap out the clutch setup.

 

is there any way to bleed it at the mc? even though you bench bled and bled at the slave, there could be air trapped up top at the mc. the slave sits lower than the mc so you may not be able to get it out. can you bleed off the line that connects to the mc? because that would be the highest point in the system where air would likely be trapped.

i dunno though. that wouldn't explain why you can build pressure with engine off though.
as mentioned, how did the throw out bearing look? can't think of much else that could cause a loss of pressure once the engine is running