I have recently acquired a 1989 Honda Civic. A lot of work had been put into it before I got it, but it is not complete. It is a 4 speed manual transmission. The previous owner installed a short shifer in it. The clutch pedal has absolutely no play in it. In fact, the pedal is very close to the floor, but tight. It took a little while getting used to driving it since you basically have to hit the gas and dump the clutch to keep it fromm stalling. But it is so much fun to drive once you are used to it. For someone that isn't used to it, it is difficult to drive.

Now for my problem. This has happened twice in the past couple of days. I shift into reverse and back up. I bring the car to a complete stop before I attempt to shift into 1st. You can hear the clutch engage and feel it go into gear, but when the clutch pedal is released the car won't move and I can hear a "whirring" sort of noise. I pressed the clitch pedal and shifted back to neutral and tried all the other gears, including reverse with the same result. Now when this occurs, I can easily move the shifter into any gear without having to press the clutch pedal. It almost seems like the clutch will engage, but not realease when the pedal is let up. I don't smell the clutch burning nor do I see anything leaking. Any ideas on where I start looking to diagnose this problem are greatly appreciated.

 

what kind of flywheel\clutch setup are you running? sounds like you need to A: adjust the clutch cable B:check and see if the cable is stretched C: stop driving it like that.

having to dump the clutch in everyday driving is not a good thing and can prematurly wear the clutch. not only that but you shouldnt have to dump the clutchm it should smoothly engauge.

also with the pedal being that low the clutch prolly isnt engauging and idsengauing too well as you wouldnt have much lift of the clutch lever being that low to the floor, that being one of your main problems.

since you have a cable clutch car, you have a few options to check befire taking off the transmission. check the pedal feel,check the clutch cable, adjust if needed and if all fails, its more than likly a clutch assembly problem

but definitly sounds like your clutch cable is adjusted toooooooo loose. and try and adjust it before you wear your clutch or cause another problem

 

Thank you for your input! I adjusted the pedal so now there is some play in it and I don't have to dump the clutch every time. Upon inspection, the cable seemed quite loose, so I tightened it up and it seems to be working fine now. Thanks again.

 

Alright, back to the drawing board. This morning my husband put the car into reverse and backed out. When he tried to shift into first he could feel it go into gear but the car wouldn't move when he let up on the clutch pedal. It had the exact same symptoms as it did in my first post on this. I have adjusted the pedal as well as tightened the clutch cable. This worked for a short while. *NOTE* This only has happened after the car has been put into reverse and backed up

I am completely new when it comes to working on a Honda. All of my repair experience has been on domestic cars with automatic transmissions. I'd like to be able to repair it myself, but since my experience with manual transmissions is next to none, I'll probably have to take it in to have it fixed.

We just got the car, so I don't know a lot of the specs on it. They guy we bought it from did a lot of work on it (including an awful paint job) so I don't really know if any of it is factory standard. I do know that the engine has been replaced, but I'm not sure about the tranny. I can't tell you what kind of tranny it has in it other than it is a 4 speed manual with a cable clutch. But if anyone can tell me what the cause of this might be, I'd appreciate it.

 

do you know if the clutch was replaced or anything. has it ever slipped or anything when driving it?

 

I do not know if it was replaced or not, but when I can get it to go forward, there is no slipping what so ever. Everything is smooth and tight. I've made an appt. with the local mechanic. Hopefully I can mess with it enough to drive it up there in the morning. I backed it in so I won't have to put it in reverse, if I can get it moving again.