1998 Honda Civic 195k miles, original clutch.

Original issue was that once the car was warmed up I couldn’t get it into 1st gear at all.

Replaced:
– Master/slave cylinders
– Transmission fluid

After replacing those shifting was much better/smoother.

But again once the car is warmed up/driven longer than 20 minutes there’s still “some” resistance going into gear as compared to when it’s cold. When cold it shifts perfectly.

Things I’ve noticed:

– If clutch pedal free play is adjusted to factory specs then it’s extremely hard getting into gear once warmed up. I have to decrease the freeplay a bit to get it to engage better, but leaves very little free play once warmed up (free play seems to decrease once car warms up. Normal?)

– Sometimes it sounds like the transmission isn’t fully releasing when the clutch is pressed for a lingering second or two.

Is this a clutch issue being it’s original with 195k miles or something else? Shift linkage bushings?

 

worn clutch/flywheel

 

Thanks. Seen this issue before? Curious why when cold it works perfectly?

 

It could be a few things, but either way the best solution will be to pull the transmission to inspect/replace the clutch, throw out bearing, and pilot bearing. While apart, I would also inspect your crankshaft thrust play. If you replace the clutch, you need to have your flywheel resurfaced. If the clutch disc splines do not move freely on the transmission mainshaft splines, the clutch disc can bind up and still drag against the flywheel or pressure plate when the clutch pedal is depressed, and this will make it difficult to shift. The clutch made it almost 200K...it did well for you. Now it's time to retire it and put a new one in.

 

So I haven’t driven the car for a few days and the symptoms seem to have changed.

Now when it’s cold the pedal feels really soft for half it’s travel. Once warm the pedal gets really firm and shifts really well.

Bad master cylinder? I replaced both with Exedy brand. Not sure if they’re any good but I already had to return the slave for a leaking bleeder valve.

Might throw in another set from Advanced Auto. They carry CARQUEST I believe.