The car was fine when I drove home from work last night, and it was fine this morning when I ran the first leg of my errands to the gas station about 200 yards from my house. But when I got back in the car, and pulled away from the gas station, the clutch pedal felt way different.

It was engaging very high, almost near the top, and there was no free play what-so-ever. It felt like it was traveling the right distance, but it was like I needed 2 more inches of pedal than normal. There was also a little slippage if I made a quick shift and punched it.

I went back home and looked at the fluid in the reservoir and was horrified. It was full, but it was the dirtiest fluid I have ever seen. It was practically black with little sediments floating around. So, I bought a small bottle of DOT3 brake fluid and did a complete flush with the whole bottle... Problem solved. Clutch is back to normal.

I'm not sure if there was any damage to the master or slave cylinder, but it seems fine for now. I have no idea how all that gunk got in the fluid, but there is quite a bit of grime in the engine bay near that area. I guess I'll have to keep the engine a little cleaner. Or maybe it's time to get a couple Spoon socks.

 

good job....patting floyd on the back...

 

Don't forget that the clutch fluid, as well as the brake fluid, absorbs moisture with the time. That's why the change of color. About the sediments and particles, might be any other chemical reaction. You did good to flush and replace the fluid. although you should do it more frequent. Mostly if you race and drive your car frequently. The fluid should always look clear to ensure proper viscosity and effectiveness in hot conditions. Although, the problem you mentioned sounded a little more mechanicaly oriented than something to do with the fluid. Just watch out


[Modified by '01ITR#950, 3:59 PM 8/24/2002]

 

how do you flush the clutch fluid? where do you open it up to drain?

 

You have a small bleeder right at the clutch slave cylinder, just like the brake calipers.

 

dang, I've completely forgotten about clutch fluid flush... looks like it's time to go to Baranco to pick up some brake fluid.

 

The slave cylinder is attached to the side of the transmission. Pop the hood, and look down between the header and the radiator, a little to your left. You can't miss it. I found that I didn't really have to work the clutch pedal because the bleed screw is lower than the reservoir. Once it strats to flow gravity takes over. Just keep topping off the reservoir.

 

what if your pedal feel was to soft and it caught to high, and some slippage at higher rpms but you could dump the clutch and it would grab, car only has 12k miles on it and i got a weird feelin clutch ;/ i dunno anything about mechanical, i'm a 12v electrical guy

 

If you could edit that into sentences, we could help you better.

 

ok, on my 2000 si, i have 12k miles and the clutch pedal feel is soft and doesn't feel like any of my other friends (civics).

Sometimes when i'm racing it won't feel as if it's grabbing and going at higher rpm's, but if i dumped the clutch it would catch, i dunno i just feel as if something is wrong. It also catches quite high.

 

Try bleeding your fluid.

Sounds like your clutch is slipping.

Adjust your clutch pedal.

Good luck!

 

how do you adjust the pedal on a hydraulic clutch....?

 

There's an adjustment on the clutch pedal.

EDIT:

Let me save us all some time.

BrandonClaps - How do I adjust the pedal?

Reid - Do a search, this was just covered recently.

BrandonClaps - I did a search and I can't find it.

Reid - Searching for "clutch" in the ITR forum under recent topics yielded https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=254756.




[Modified by Reid, 5:49 PM 8/24/2002]

 

ty ;D