Clutch fail... well sorta.

[postal21]

Okay, its time to play the game:

Diagnose what part of my clutch is failing or has failed!

Basically here's how it goes:

- Clutch pedal is much looser than it should be, pressing down there is not much pressure anymore.
- When I start my car, the pedal tends to almost stay pressed in, and doesnt completely "spring" back to its upwards engaged position very well.
- After started I tend to have to push in on the clutch multiple times before I can get it to let me into gear. Otherwise it "grinds" as if its not really disengaging properly.
- Once driving it seems to work "okay"... it doesnt seem to have as long of a "bite" as it should, but it doesnt seem to slip out of gears or do anything really wonky. Shifting is somewhat more difficult, but the pedal doesnt give me as much of a problem.

Im basically half-retarded when it comes to diagnosing mechanical failures on my vehicle... but I did notice all the grease coming out of the cylinder(?) that runs into the firewall. I dont know whether that is indicative of the master/slave cylinder leaking or what the hell that is. So I took a pick of its sexy gooeyness.. o_O

 

[postal21]

haha woah... holy gigantic photo. lemme fix that.

 

[AliasNeo]

bleed the clutch fluid. thats what it sounds like to me. because from the pic it looks like fluid is leaking. but that gray stuff is also grease so dont worry bout that part first worry bout the leak.

bleed the system first see if clutch engages and springs back then drive for a couple days and watch the fluid if it continues to happen. look at that master cylinder.

try clean up the shaft there and see if fluid comes out after depressing the clutch pedal

 

[postal21]

Where do you "bleed" the clutch fluid? I hear people talk about this all the time.

Ill try searching for a how-to, if not when I go to work tomarrow Ill just see if one of the guys I work with can show me... they tend to know cars. lol.

 

[31dev31]

There is a bleeder screw on the slave cylinder which is the "Clutch cylinder", and it shares the same fluid as the master cylinder...brake fluid.

 

[AliasNeo]

get a buddy to help you. heres what you do to prep.

have dot3 brake fluid, an 8mm wrench(the typical size) a friend, a long tube and a bottle.
fill the bottle enough so that when the tube from the slave cylinder is in the bottle it is submerged. theres a reason for this. it kind of acts like a valve. i will explain later

open the clutch reservoir, hav ur friend set up the bleeder part.

fill the fluid up, and you go to the pedal. tell him ur about to press the clutch to the floor. just as u press the clutch he opens the valve. then just before you hit the floor with the clutch tell him to close it. this prevents air from backtracking. this is also why you have that tube in the bottle. another reason is you will be able to see the bubbles. when there are no more bubbles, the bleeding is complete..

make sure you look at the fluid constantly though you may be able to get 3-5 clutch presses in before you have to fill it up again.

when you are done make sure fluid is full, the bleeder screw is tighten and clean up and mess..

 

[postal21]

Going to try this soon, cuz I have to pump the s**t out of my clutch after I start my car to get it into gear... ugh.

 

[AliasNeo]

yeah common sign of low fuild/air in the line

 

[o3civic_si]

you could have a leaking master cylinder. Is that picture from inside of the car?

 

[postal21]

yes, from at the pedal. ive just been working 10 hour days i havent had time to mess with it...

I have thursday off so ill see whats up then... but yeah im pretty sure one of my cylinders is definetly f**ked.

I have to pump my clutch at lights now, to keep my s**t shifting. =/

 

[o3civic_si]

Yeah if you replace the master its a good idea to go ahead and replace the slave cylinder too.

 

[postal21]

Cool, thanks for the advice boys and girls.

 

[postal21]

Yeah it finally died today... for good, luckily a cop was right behind me at the light when it happened.

He pushed me up into the gas station lol. Im getting both cylinders replaced right now. They said it was the master, but I might as well get the slave changed too while they are at it. I concured.