Good afternoon everyone!!

Tuesday night I was driving home from work and I put my car into 1st gear to drive off, I noticed the car didn't move, or stall once the clutch was released. And I was just curious as to what other possibilities may cause such an issue?

My thoughts is that the clutch went bad. (Though, it had no signs previously of it failing--such as slipping) I checked the linkage to the transmission, and everything still goes into gear just fine (you can even hear it) and the car doesnt stall, or move from any gear.

Could it possibly be a bad slave/master cylinder? Or do you guys believe its purely the clutch? Just thought i'd ask before I tore it down.

Thanks in advance!

 

Bad clutch is my guess.

Bad cylinders would cause the clutch to not disengage fully and grind into gear.

 

It's more likely an axle issue (broken axle or one them isn't seated in the diff) or a transmission issue (blown diff) than it is a clutch issue. Clutches don't normally fail that way.

 

I would go with what he says^^ I am semi knlowledgable when it come to this stuff. Definitely check if the axles are still seated correctly first.

 

I see how that could be a definite possibility. Wouldn't an unseated axel, or blown diff. make a chatter, or noise while the car is on though? Or noise while being pushed, or rolled?

And shouldn't the car still stall while in gear?

Not to bombard everyone with questions, just curious.

 

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Usually you wont hear anything if an axle pops out.

No.

I would get under the car and start looking closely at the axles honestly.

 

Just checked, everything is seated nice and tight in there. Also, there is no play when I tug on it either. No cracks, no leaks.

I don't think a bad differential, or axel would stop the car from stalling in gear, though. I also checked the bell housing while I was under there and nothing was cracked from the outside, and no leaks as well.

 

When you press the gas pedal with the transmission in gear and the car does not move, does the speedo register speed like the car is moving?

 

It sure does!

Most notible in higher gears.

 

It will.

For a clutch to fail and give you those kinds of symptoms it would have to be catastropic failure. Either the center hub torn out of the disc or the friction material broke away from the disc. Both as a general rule tend to require some pretty extreme abuse. There's some chance the pressure plate failed, but honestly I've never seen it happen. I have seen tons of broken axles, axles that popped out of the diff (they only need to come out about 1/4" or so) and blown differentials.

 

Your engine is turning the clutch, which is turning the transmission. This points to a differential or axle problem.

What gap is there between the differential and inner CV axle joint. There should be only about 1/8".

If that looks fine, it's time for you to remove the axles and inspect them and the differential.

 

That would almost definitely make it an axle issue. There's some small chance the diff pin broke, but it would have to happen in such a way that the differential carrier was still able to turn and drive the VSS. It's definitely not a clutch issue though.

 

I see, that makes perfect since! What i'll do tomorrow is pull out the axel, and inspect it, and work my way in until I find the answer. But from what you're explaining to me then, that sounds to be the most likely answer.

 

Okay here is the picture. The gap seems to be between 1/8 - 1/4... and I also noticed when I started the car its making a knocking noise from the passenger side near the axel.... Only when the clutch is NOT engaged, and more so when it's in a higher gear, with the clutch let out.

 

I'm thinking that the differential is toast.

 

That axle is seated. What does the other side look like?

Clutch engaged = clutch pedal out.

That does sound like a blown diff. Pull the axles and see if you can see anything broken in the diff.

 

Okay, checked the other axel and its seated. I propped up the car pulled out the passenger side axel, and its definitely the diff. I can tell theres damage on the inside of it.

So i'll be pulling it off, and hauling it to a transmission shop to replace the diff. I already purchased a new flywheel, and clutch/pressure plate just for giggles along with all the seals and gaskets. That way I know everything is good.

Thanks again 94EG8, and RonJ for all your help in pointing me in the right direction. Wouldn't have figured it out as fast as I would have with out you guys.

 

If it's just the differential itself that's bad you can use one from an LS integra and just swap the ring gear over from the original diff. They're a lot easier to find and usually cheaper. If the ring gear is bad, that sucks. You'll need both the ring gear and countershaft from another B16 tranny.

 

While the transmission is apart, get a full bearing and seal rebuild kit and have those all replaced as well. Might as well do it all while you're doing it, as preventative maintenance.

 

Generally not worth doing. Those bearings aren't cheap when you replace all of them. I would replace the input shaft bearing good or not though, and the seal that goes under it. But beyond that I'd only replace what's actually bad. The rest of the bearings really don't go bad very often. That said I would inspect everything closely.

Other than input shaft bearing failures I see more bad 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th sleeves than anything else. I really don't see that many worn out synchros. I see a fair amount of 2nd and 3rd gears with worn engagement teeth as well.

 

Haven't had the chance to pull it apart like I thought I could today. I'm afraid that theres metal shavings in there as well, since im healing a rattle noise when the clutch is engaged. But I have ordered the input shaft bearings, and all the seals, along with a new clutch/fly wheel.

 

Everything should be completely taken apart when you're replacing anything in a transmission. The input and countershafts are hollow and have a bunch of oiling passages in them that get clogged with dirt and debris, which in will starve bearings for oil.