Hey guys I'm just getting into the deeper mechanics of cars so excuse the noobish talk. I have a beloved 89 Accord LX 5 speed. This is the first stick car i've owned and my first car period. So the clutch went out today..so I think. Please listen if you can give me any feedback So today I was driving like normal, pulled out of a parking lot. clutch, gears, engine everything fine. I'm slowing down so I put the car in neutral and have the clutch in all the way. When I try to put it back in first, I couldnt. I let off the clutch in neutral and the clutch pedal feels like nothing is happening. No force behind the clutch just floppy. I pull over, shut the car off, start it again. Try to put it in first, no give. Shut it off, START it in first gear..and the car would start and then move, Almost as if the clutch was stuck to the flywheel and I had no control over it (clutch pedal still floppy). So I continue to have it in first and drive it down to a service station a few blocks away. I told him what happened, and he wanted to drive the car. When he got in it, he said he would try to shift without the clutch. So he did around the parking lot. Somehow he got the feel back in the clutch, but then it wasn't gripping well/burnt out. So he determined my clutch was toast, which is what he feels like now. So I limped it home..or tried until the clutch would grab anymore uphill and so i could go. Had to get it towed home. My question is what you guy think exactly happened...I know my clutch is toast now because I have normal clutch feel, and it engages but doesnt grab of course. But I thought clutches burn out overtime...Why did i just all of a sudden lose all clutch feel with the clutch disengaged in neutral. All the gears still work and it shifts fine. I'm just a bit confused. I'm thinking maybe the pressure plate broke, or a cable snapped(which im not sure because it looks fine) ..if thats possible. Do clutches really just "Boom", go out? I Dont know..
Your clutch may have been dying and it was just difficult to notice. It could be the slave cylinder, but it sounds like your clutch is blown. I had a 91 accord exr, and I remember the front brakes were a pain with the ridiculous sized socket and the unfair torque numbers.
Check you clutch slave cylinder first before worrying about the clutch it's self Make sure the pin is on the shift fork correctly and the the shift fork does not move around. If slave is not leaking and appears fine a the clutch pedal is back to feeling fine then worry about the clutch it's self.. Try a test if you can get it in gear put it in a high gear like 4th or 5th with the ebrake all the way up and just dump the clutch. The car should stall if it does not or slips before it stalls it's toast.. You can also do another test while driving in a high gear and just going WOT and watch the Rpms if they shoot up with out your actually speed changing the clutch is slipping. Sent from my iPhone 5s using Grasscity Forum..grabba dabba goo
It is toast, it wont stall. I thought cable/mechanical clutches dont have master cylinder? or is that wrong?
@[member="xHighImStoned"] Master cylinder is on the firewall for your brakes, SLAVE cylinder is the hydraulic piece the clutch actuates against
Sorry did not know they had cable clutch in that case just check the cable and linkage to clutch fork. But if it's not stalling it's toast and no sense in further diagnosing just but a clutch kit and get to work or pay some one too. Sent from my iPhone 5s using Grasscity Forum..grabba dabba goo
This happened to me once. Like others have mentioned, check the cable/linkage. Does your transmission have inspection plates/holes? If they do, pop them off and take a look at the face of your disk.
Besides what's mentioned, here is more.When you press down on the clutch do you hear any kind of abnormal noise? If you do it's the throw out bearing.
If it was floppy, then not floppy, worked then didn't, yet it still spun out, something ain't right and your mech is a ripoff.. A burnt clutch don't do burnouts, even slam shifting. Did he get under the hood at all, or straight in the car. I'd say he slipped the pin back in the arm off the tranny, filled the reservoir, whatever and then blew out your clutch doing burnouts. Burning clutches stink... You would have noticed it.. Sent from my XT1030 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I didn't bring it to any mechanic, and I watched him drive it. He also didnt do anything service wise to the car, I just wanted to know what happened. I have pulled the transmission and I'm gonna take a look at what happened. I know something failed causing the clutch to fry itself.
Well, regardless all that, burnt clutches don't do burnouts, and YOU WOULD HAVE SMELLED IT... Unless your of course one of those dudes that doeant find the rather odd, often times eye watering smell of burnt clutch odd.. Telling ya, something's not cool.. Sent from my XT1030 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
begin at sentence #11 of the obnoxiously long second paragraph.. Who didn't you take it to? Sent from my XT1030 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
A slipping ton the point of burning clutch will either smoke and smell bad enough for you to notice, or straight up explode in the bell housing.
I get what you're trying to say now...again maybe the clutch disc itself isn't the source, but a bearing or the pressure plate. I'll update ton more afternoon when i take a look
I took it to a guy at a ford dealership just so he could tell me what was up because I didn't know what happened. Just a mechanic at the front desk that took a look for free. He just gave me a run of what he believed happened and drove it around the parking lot to test feel how it was. That's all.
Roger that.. Well, any good mech would open the hood and check either the slave cyl level and rod, or the cable going into the trans.. Agreed a throwout could be bad but that usually has signs waaayyyy before it goes out . there's a fork but that has early symptoms as well.. There is a such thing as spontaneous failure, but with those parts major rare.. I know I'm anxious to see what you have going. Maybe a main seal bad, or valve cover on some older models, leaking oil onto the clutch plate?? Sent from my XT1030 using Grasscity Forum mobile app