I was driving home from work yesterday when I started having problems with my clutch. I was about a mile away from home stopped at a red light. When the signal became green I switched to first gear and started accelrating. I noticed that my clutch which normally had 1/4" to 1/2" of free play all of a sudden had 3 to 4 inches of free play. After that 3 to 4 inch of free play, I felt slightly more resistance that I normally use to feel compared to when I use to normally pressing the clutch (I can't be sure about the resistance part since it was weird to have that extra free play. I was able to dry home ok. That evening I checked the drive side floor mat, carpet and around the clutch pedal, I didn't see any leaks or anything broken. I checked the master clinder fluid and it was between max and min range. I started the car to check the clutch again. The free play was still there and the car was still able to shift through all the gears.

This morning I warmed up the car and I tried to shift gears I wasn't able to shift at all. The clutch still had that 3 to 4 inches of free play.

Please help me figure out what I can do to fix this. I am a DIY type but I have never replaced a clutch before. I know I would need to by a 2 ton engine lift from pepboys for around $130 after rebate.
The car only has 132,000 miles on it. I am not sure why the clutch went bad on it. I previously had a mazda mx 6 5 speed which went 239,000 without any maintenace on the clutch.
If someone provide me with a cost estimate or any tips I would really appreciate it. I live in Somerset, NJ.

Thanks a lot.

 

Your descriptionsorta fits with air in the clutch hydraulic system. Try bleeding it.

Normally a worn-out clutch will begin with less & less free play at the top of the pedal travel. Then it'll start slipping.

You say this morning it won't shift at all. Describe...
When the engine is not running, can you shift in all gears?

Put in 1st, keep theclutch pedal depressed, THEN start the engine. Does the car try to move forward? Have some room in front & be prepared to stomp on the brakes.

 

I guess I was able to shift in all gears with the engine off. I had the engine on this morning and I couldn't shift it to any gear.

Thanks

 

Possibilities are like this...

First... check under the dash for the pushrod going from the pedal thru the firewall. Is it loose? Pivot bushings coming apart? Other mechanical problems down there? Another silly thing might be themaster cylinder mounting bolts coming loose. I consider these not very likely, but easy for you to check & rule it out.

It sounds to me like air in the clutch line. The extra free play at the top of the pedal stroke works to compress the air before you actually move anything. Not enough remaining travel to fully disengage the clutch, so it drags. That's why you can't shift.

If bleeding doesn't help then I'd think about something coming apart mechanically. Part of the clutch disk coming apart? But I don't see how that would result in all the extra free play in the clutch pedal. Maybe something screwed up with the throw-out lever (pivots on aball/socket). Find the slave cylinder between the tranny & the radiator & watch it's motion as someone works the clutch pedal.

 

Thanks a lot for your guidance. I will check the stuff you mentioned when I get home. But your plan makes a lot of sense. I never had any kind of problems with the clutch before this point. No grinding or anything. Even when the clutch got that free play the car was still shifting fine.

Only thing weird is that how could have air gotten into the clutch system? And how come all of a sudden at a red light. Would this indicate that the master or the slave clyinder have failed?

Thanks again.

 

I just thought of another thing to check...
Look at the rubber part of the clutch hydraulic line, maybe it's over near the tranny mount (not sure). Have someone work the clutch & you watch for the hose to balloon outunder the pressure. That might just explain your problem right there.

When you check that stuff, be sure to check for leaking inside the rubber boots of the slave cylinder. A bad slave cylinder has to leak out.

A bad master cylinder can leak back into the reservoir, so it doesn't leak OUT. But it behaves differently. Clutch will work OK but if you hold the pedal down it will slowly leak back as if you were lifting your foot. So if you idle in gear at a really longredlight it eventually drags the engine to stall. It's very much like a bad brake MC where the pedal slowly & smoothly sinks to the floor.

If you bleed your clutch fluid & the problem comes back, then go for a new MC. Lots of people say you should replace both master & slave together, butI'm not completely convinced of that.

It's 9 years old, right? Has the clutch & brake fluid been changed every 2 years? That stuff goes bad with time regardless of mileage.

 

I had the brake fluid change last year. I am not sure about the clutch fuild. I did change the manual transmission fuild though. The clutch fuild had a yellow color to it so, it should be good. But I will try tochange the fuild in the process of bleedingit.

Thanks,

 

Thanks a lot. I check the master cylinder under driver side dash and there was a slight leak. I had to use a high power light to see it even during the day time. I found out from a local dealer that there was a service bulletin regarding the clutch system and the whole hydraulics clutch system needs to be changed. They wanted $500 for the parts alone (master cylinder, slave cylinder, all hoes from the master to the slave and bolts.)
I went to hondaautomotiveparts.com and ordered the whole hydraulic system for $130 shipped to NJ.
You have to search by item No. to get that price. The technical bulletain required the following items:
Clutch hydraulic System
P/N 46940-S84-A06
Urea Grease
P/N 08798-9002