Clutch acted up all of a sudden... now fine. WTH

[Hawaiian5.0]

Newbie to Hondas, just picked up a 2K Coupe, 116K miles with I'm guessing aftermarket clutch (figured since it's pretty damn stiff, bites good and low)

Here's a prob I ran into...
pulled into a parking lot and shut off the engine, heard a loud clunk like something fell off of my car, sounded like under driver floorboard, opened the door and looked, nothing. Did my business, started my car up, all of a sudden clutch pedal had about 3-4" of play at the top of the pedal and wouldn't go into gear without a little force. Drove down the road, same play in pedal and difficult going into all gears. Pulled over and tried to back into a parking spot and all I got was grinding trying to go into reverse. Forced it in and backed into a spot and shut off the engine. 10 mins later, figure I limp her back home, no signs of the clutch problem. This was 2 days ago and still going with no signs of the problem.

Any ideas WTH it was???

 

[mc360]

Have you checked the fluid in your clutch master cylinder? Check under your dash for brake fluid seeping past the seals on the clutch master cylinder and also check the slave cylinder.

 

[XpL0d3r]

Yup, and check your clutch line for leaks as well.

 

[Hawaiian5.0]

fluid was a little low nothing crazy, no visible leaks

 

[xxBLOOD88SHOTxx]

Can the clutch cable on civics swell? I've seen it happen on a few SRTs

 

[lethal6]

Can the clutch cable on civics swell? I've seen it happen on a few SRTs

It's all fluid. No cable...unless you mean the shifter cable.

 

[xxBLOOD88SHOTxx]

The line I mean, I've never messed with a hydro trans. on a civic. Sometimes they are made of hard plastic and if they get hot for some reason or even just old when you push the pedal it can swell up like a balloon and not disengage the clutch completely.

But I don't think that is the case, nor does it seem to be an issue with civics.

 

[lethal6]

The line I mean, I've never messed with a hydro trans. on a civic. Sometimes they are made of hard plastic and if they get hot for some reason or even just old when you push the pedal it can swell up like a balloon and not disengage the clutch completely.

But I don't think that is the case, nor does it seem to be an issue with civics.

I was thinking that right after I hit reply. I would have to look but I think all the lines are hard aluminum lines on these as far as the clutch system is concerned.

I do see what you are saying. What you are describing is (as I am sure you know and have possibly experienced) the main reason people switch to braided brake lines due to swelling and fatigue in the braking system while constant hard braking.

 

[XpL0d3r]

The master cylinder is responsible for holding pressure within the system. As a test, unhitch the clutch line from the slave and cap it off. Then LIGHTLY press the clutch pedal. If there's pressure, the master cylinder is good. If it seems to press easy, your master cylinder is going. Don't press too hard or else you'll destroy the master cylinder. I'm wondering if the clunk you heard was the master cylinder losing pressure. It's strange that it went back to normal though...

 

[TokyoSkies]

The first thought I had with the "clunk" noise was the throwout bearing, especially if it was slipping/doing weird stuff. I wonder if the throwout bearing slipped out of place or something, and then somehow got rammed back in? Either way, it's not a good sign. If you're mechanically inclined, this would be a good time to investigate by dropping the trans (a LOT of work, I know). If not, be prepared: either the clutch, or the master cylinder is on it's way out (in my opinion).