I have a 1998 accord ex with a 5 speed manual trans. In the past month and a half, I have noticed that sometimes (mostly when warm) when I hold the clutch pedel in at a light for a short period of time (or while I put in reverse) it tends to catch as soon as I start to take pressure off, and I notice when I am holding in the pedel I cant take it out of gear I have to jam it out so not to stall. Could this be a throw out bearing going bad before the clutch? The clutch does not slip at all and feels fine otherwise? Anyone ever have this problem before?

 

A throwout bearing going bad is usually accompanied by a noise when the clutch is in.

It sounds more to me like you have a small leak in the clutch hydraulics, so when you hold the pedal in, some fluids leak past a piston and the pressure decreases. When the pressure decreases and fluid leaks out, the piston/rod that gets pushed out of the clutch slave cylinder while slowly go back in and the clutch with slowly get engaged without you wanting it to. I'm betting that this is wearing the clutch out in the process. You should find the clutch slave cylinder on the front of the transmission housing and follow the hydraulic line to the clutch fluid reservoir, looking for leaks. Also check the interior where the pedal and master cylinder are for leaks as well.



The Clutch salve cylinder is the thing held onto the transmission housing with two bolts and a metal hydraulic line going to it. It's right "above" the radiator cap in the picture.

 

The clutch master cylinder can leak back into the reservoir, so even if you find no leaks OUT, it still sounds like a bad MC.

Find the clutch slave cylinder, which pushes against the clutch throw-out lever. Have someone pump the clutch pedal & hold it down. With the clutch pedal held down at the floor, watch the lever. That throw-out lever should NOT creep back towards the slave.