Hi guys, just like the title says the clutch pedal on my 92 prelude si is abnormally hard to press down. I have an act xtss clutch and it's been installed for around 1 and a half years. Yesterday i was driving normally and i went to shift into second and it wouldn't go (the clutch pedal was abnormally light). Then the pedal stuck to the ground but had enough travel so that i pushed it in and made the shift into second. i pulled the clutch pedal out with the topside of my foot and that's when it was hard to press down. The rest of the way back home (a few blocks) the pedal was hard to push down and now it still is. The clutch engages but shifting is a bit harder.

What's the problem here. I sure hope it's just my slave cylinder, but usually when a slave cyl goes bad, the pedal is loose. have any of you experienced this same thing? I'm going out now to pull and inspect the slave cyl, hopefully it's just that.

-Michael

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the clutch went out completely after i started it up again, wouldn't go into gear and it was near impossible to push down.

Edit: pics up... sorry for the bad quality but can anybody tell me anything based on these pics? I sent them to ACTMAN too.

The first 2 are the flywheel, those scorch marks are NOT raised scorch marks But that's the best pic i could get of them. That same crap is on my pressure place contact surface. The last one of the disc, i tried to get a decent reflection off the surface to demonstrate the amount it's glazed or not glazed.






Modified by PreIudeSI at 5:46 AM 8/12/2003


Modified by PreIudeSI at 5:47 AM 8/12/2003


Modified by PreIudeSI at 7:18 AM 8/12/2003

 

you could possibly have some debris in your clutch or someting to that effect

 

yeah i thought of that and pretty much ruled it out because the flywheel dustshield is in place; how else would debris get in there? any other suggestions?

 

throwout bearing? Clutch Pressure plate f'ed up?? does it go into gear with clutch in idleing? Does the car want to lurch forward when you put it in 1st from a stop? If so then the Pressure plate is broke.

 

Have you lost any clutch fluid?

 

I would check out the master and slave cylinder, the fact that the engagement point and pedal itself moved its a good indicator.

 

it looked like i had lost a bit or clutch fluid (about 10 mL) but then again i haven't checked that in a few months. I think it may be either the master or slave cylinder but haven't ruled out the fact that it's the pressure plate. Thanks. Any more ideas?

 

alright i bought a brand new slave cylinder and installed that. It feels better but i have the following problems that i think may be attributed to the master cylinder:

I'm not sure if the slave cylinder is pushing far enough on the clutch

When i started the car and tried it out, it felt like i wasn't pushing in the clutch all the way, i managed to get it into reverse and it promptly starting moving backward.

I couldn't get it into first but if i pushed hard enough, the gear must have begun to engauge because the car would move slightly forward.

My theory is that the mastercylinder is shot and does not have enough force to press in the slave cylinder. The other nagging thing i've been thinking about it clutch pressure plate or throw out bearing failure. It's an ACT clutch and it was installed by a reputable garage so i don't know why that would be a problem, but i can't rule it out. Any ideas with this new knowledge?

EDIT: i forgot to mention that the clutch (brake) fluid was dirty.


Modified by PreIudeSI at 7:36 AM 7/31/2003

 

just replace the master cyl., if that dont work then go from there

 

i replaced the **** out of the master cylinder and bled it for a while. When i started the car up, it went into gear just fine (pedal pressure was still near impossible to push down) as i sat there idling, running through the gears with the clutch in. I put it into reverse to back out of my garage and it went fine. When i was done reversing, i went to put it into first but the som bitch wouldn't go. Then it felt like there were bubbles in the master cylinder still (I could feel it through the pedal). So i bled it again but no bubbles came out. I got back in pushed in the clutch and it felt like it did before: hard to push in. what's going on here. Is there another place to bleed it? I was using the slave cylinder bleeder valve.

When i was removing the old master cylinder, it seemed to be leaking from the base of the shaft that the clutch pedal pushes against. I was sure it was a problem with the master cylinder then.

I don't know what the hell's wrong here but it doesn't really seem like a problem with the clutch itself. is there any way the pressure plate could have broken and somehow caused the pedal to be harder? I'm thinking that if the pressure plate broke, one or more of the prongs broke off of it but that would make it easier to push in.

help?


Modified by PreIudeSI at 7:19 AM 8/12/2003

 

From what you describe, it sounds as if the clutch pressure plate has a broken band. If so, you need to replace the clutch assembly.

 

yeah probably so. godammit, i hate doing clutches. I'm pulling the motor and tranny because it's a bitch to get the tranny in place attached to a motor that's hanging on by a motor mount inside the engine bay. Might be a good time to do the head gasket, timing belt and a valve adjustment though.

On another note, does anybody know if ACT will compensate me for anything dealing with this clutch? It has no more than 10k miles on it.


Modified by PreIudeSI at 7:20 AM 8/12/2003

 

Would any of this stuff reagarding the master cylinder and slave cylinder affect shifting, getting into gears. My clutch is prolly shot, seeing that it can't chirp anymore and I geta wrotten egg smell depending on how I adjust the clutch cable. I keep hearinga squeeking from my tranny when under load and starting off. I have an ACt HDPP and 6 puck. Sometimes my gears grind now too... WTF

 

Yeah if your going to pull the motor, definetely do the timing belt, water pump and all that other stuff. It saves headaches in the future.

I am pretty sure that ACT isn't going to give any compensation, but give it a try and let us know.

good luck

 

bump, pics up, can somebody tell me wtf is happening?

 

nobody has any advice for me?

 

A car my brother had, had one of the springs in the clutch disc center break and fall into the pressure plate. That locked it up solid. The pedal would push really hard but not go down all the way and did not release the clutch at all. Then it happened a year later, to the day! Each clutch was not factory, each was a replacement from the auto parts store and each had heavier springs than the one it replaced. They must have had others break too.

It takes only a small thing, like a small stone or "other stuff" in the diaphragm spring on the pressure plate to lock it up really well.

 

My springs were alright. I just went and bought another ACT, an HDSS this time. I've heard nothing but good stuff about ACT. I also had my flywheel resurfaced and those scorch marks came right off. Hopefully the new clutch solves my problem, if it doesn't, my car sleeps with the fishes!

 

I got the new clutch in and it seems strong. The only thing to do now is to bleed the air out of the clutch lines and it should be great. As of now, the pedal feels weak unless you pump it then it gets stronger then the clutch owns.