There’s a very annoying “pop” “click” sound coming from the clutch pedal about 1/2” before it reaches the floor when pressed.

It’s the pedal itself and nothing else major down the line.If I remove the pin that goes through the pedal and clutch MC and put it back the noise goes away but ALWAYS returns 2-3 days later. It’s the weirdest thing.

The master cylinder was replaced a year ago with an Exedy brand but the clicking did not start when it was replaced, developed maybe 3 months after. So maybe it could be that too? Just very strange I can get it to stop producing the sound if I fiddle with that pin. Also tried lubricating all springs, movable parts, and even where the rod goes into the MC.

Any ideas?

 

yup I have ideas of what it is.. It's not the master cylinder, went through this before.. It's the return/assist spring on the clutch pedal. The N-shaped part of the spring goes into a plastic u-shaped bushing. When the bushing gets dry or cracks under usage it allows the spring to shift and you hear that "click". That pin you're messing with only needs to be adjusted for distance, but take a look and see the return spring on the pedal is right next door!

Since Honda no longer has the u-shaped bushing available try and grease up that area (where the N-shape of the clutch return spring connects to the U-shape area on the clutch pedal) with some Urea grease, Lucas oil sells it under their "Green" grease heavy duty. Honda has a backorder situation with the Urea grease right now.

 

Thanks. Is it the bushing I’ve highlighted in red in the diagram? The pin I was referencing to in original post I’ve highlighted in yellow

 

yes it's the area you highlighted in red, exactly! See how close it is to the MC pin you highlighted in yellow?! Yup right next door, probably why you thought the noise was coming from the MC pin..

 

Nice I’ll take another look. I had originally lubricated that a while back when chasing the noise but used synthetic suspension grease that I had lying around at the time

 

hey no problem.. .Might not have been thick enough grease to put up with the constant back-n-forth motion of the clutch pedal, probably why it was quiet for awhile. That green Urea grease is very sticky and thick! Honda doesn't have any in stock that's why I mentioned the Lucas oil Heavy-Duty grease (green) it is also a Urea grease.

 

My 1995 civic VX is not starting due to no sparks and I missed father's day..

 

Unfortunately the clicking has returned as it always. Were you able to replace that plastic piece or did you just use urea grease?

Wondering if it could be something else causing it for me

 

both plastic pieces were replaced and used the urea grease to lube it up. no noises anymore.. did you grease it up and the noise still came back? Look up in there, I had used an inspection camera to get up there.. see if the plastic pieces are cracked in half.

 

Yeah I greased it up and no noise for a few days. Same as before when I didn’t know what to look for and would just wiggle things around.

I’ll double check to see if it’s cracked but it didn’t look to be. Where were you able to find a replacement? Does the entire pedal assembly need to come out to replace it?

 

Double checked and it’s not cracked. I reduced the clutch pedal free play a bit and the clicking noise seems to be gone now, but I’m wondering if there should be more free play?

I’ve included a video trying to measure, seems to be about 1/2” free play now before it was about 3/4 to an 1”. Clutch grabs with pedal higher than before adjustment.

Curious how much pedal free play does your car have?

 

Yup you nailed the adjustment! I have about 1/2 inch of free play on the clutch pedal too. Ya I checked the service manual and if you were at 0.75-1inch you were definitely outside the adjustment range. The spec is 0.47-0.83 of an inch.. 0.5 or 1/2 inch is perfect in my opinion! Glad to hear the plastic bushings are not cracked! The o-shaped bushings on either side of the spring are still available from Honda, so is the spring, but the u-shaped bushing on the pedal itself is discontinued now, but I had a new old stock one as a spare. And yeah mine was cracked so had to replace it. So happy to hear yours isn't! Replacing them is a bitch, you will need a V-shaped tip screw drivers to push the two sides of the spring, into the o-shaped side bushings. No the pedal doesn't have to come out to replace them, but like I mentioned, a long v-shaped tip screwdriver makes it SO much easier!

But the way it sounds you don't need to replace them at all.. I bet what was happening was the free play being out of spec/adjustment the angle was greater on the pedal causing the plastic bushings or the spring to shift and that would be the clicking you heard. Now that it's aligned/adjusted the spring is more angled straight on into the bushings and no noise! With my clutch and adjustment the clutch engages at the 1/2 way point of the pedal travel.. I bet that's about where yours is engaging instead of towards the floor.. For me, that's where I think it should be.

I'd say you fixed it! See how that goes for awhile, I bet it'll be just fine now! good news!

 

Wanted to wait enough time before posting to make sure, but glad to say the clicking seems gone for good. It was for sure the free play adjustment.

Hope this helps someone who may be experiencing same issue as something to check for, and @oneheadlight appreciate the help and info!

 

Hey you're most welcome! Smart approach to wait to make sure it was the free play, I thought it was based on how mine was clicking when the plastic bushings broke, changed the angle then the spring starts making noises. Happy that I could help ya fix that annoying issue! It's the small things that can really frustrate ya while driving! Awesome news it's all fixed now!

 

So guess I spoke too soon lol the damn clicking noise has once again returned. Albeit this has been the longest it’s been quiet. Really not sure why it keeps returning

 

sorry for the delay, wasn't online.. Ok then the only thing I can think of is to look again at the plastic bushings in the pedal (U-shaped) and O-shaped for the sides.. see if they're cracked.. That's what it was on mine.. but be prepared to do some searching for them, Honda discontinued some of them..

But you're right, why it went away for so long and came back.. mine wasn't like that, ok it would click every 2nd push of the clutch pedal, but it didn't disappear for weeks.