Car Advice

[AirWalke]

I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what's wrong, but I was hoping to get a bit more insight from the wonderful minds at CycloneFanatic.

I drive a car with a manual transmission. A couple years back, I had my car parked on campus over the weekend, except when I came back to it, the clutch pedal had zero resistance to it. The car would start, but I would not be able to shift out of a neutral position. The clutch had felt fine just a day before when I moved my car to a parking spot closer towards the dorms. Took it to get it repaired, and learned that the clutch fluid in either the main or slave chamber (can't remember which) had completely drained out, and spent a good chunk of change (for a college student) to get the chamber replaced.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, when I notice the clutch pedal has the same lack of resistance. I'm a little worried, although it's odd that I actually have some sense of forewarning this time around. When I first get into the car after it'd been sitting for awhile, the clutch pedal can feel like it has no resistance until the very end, allowing me to change gears.

For instance, when I set out to drive today, pushing in the clutch pedal did not allow me to change gears out of neutral until I had let the car idle with the engine on for a short while. I took off when I was finally able to change gears, and the clutch pedal's resistance once again returned to the same state I described earlier in this paragraph.

It seems like the symptoms are getting worse every few days, and I'd like to have an idea of what's happening before I take it into the mechanic.

 

[jamestaylor]

Id check the front differential fluid. If it not that, its all ball bearings nowadays.

 

[tman24]

did the first instance happend during the winter as well?

 

[AirWalke]

did the first instance happend during the winter as well?

I don't remember the exact date. I don't remember any snow being on the ground, but I know for sure it was during the 2005-06 academic year.

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

From the event you talked about before, I can tell you have a hydraulic clutch. It engages by hydraulic pressure when you push on the clutch. One thing that can't be in the oil lines is air. It sounds to me like you have some bad seals in the clutch slave cylinder. One thing you can try is to pump the clutch back and forth and see if you can build up some resistance in the clutch. Either you have something going on that is letting air in that doesn't allow you to move oil when you push in the clutch or your leak is lower in the line so you are losing the oil in the lines. It isn't that big of a job on a motorcycle but I don't know how hard it is to get on your car.

 

[AirWalke]

From the event you talked about before, I can tell you have a hydraulic clutch. It engages by hydraulic pressure when you push on the clutch. One thing that can't be in the oil lines is air. It sounds to me like you have some bad seals in the clutch slave cylinder. One thing you can try is to pump the clutch back and forth and see if you can build up some resistance in the clutch. Either you have something going on that is letting air in that doesn't allow you to move oil when you push in the clutch or your leak is lower in the line so you are losing the oil in the lines. It isn't that big of a job on a motorcycle but I don't know how hard it is to get on your car.

This makes sense, as I do have some oil leaking underneath the car near the front. I was already taking in my car soon to have a few other things taken care of, but hopefully this could be two birds taken out with one stone. That, or the original bird is much bigger than I thought it'd be.

Any other thoughts and/or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[iowaboy]

You failed to mention what kind of car this is. Check to make sure you have fluid in the main clutch cylinder. There is also a slave cylinder that is attached to the main clutch that may have a area to add fluid. Look for a bleeder valve on wither the main cylinder and or the slave cylinder. Pump the hell out of the cylinder and open the bleeder valve while having the clutch completely pressed to the floor. Fluid should leak out WITHOUT spitting which is what you want. If there is air in the system it will continue to spit. Repeat process until fluid leaks out without spitting. Tighten valve and refill if necessary.

Another area is the actual clutch itself. Clutch adjustment "Free Travel" is located under the dash by the steering column. Look for the working parts for the clutch and you will notice adjustments along the clutch rod. Its a matter of adjusting the clutch "Free Travel" which means the area that the clutch does not engage. You should have about a inch of "PLAY" when you depress the clutch pedal before you feel any resistance. Another words, When you are driving at a stop and you place it in gear when you let the clutch out to engage it should start to engage about 2 inches off the floor.

My guess however is that you are having a "FLUID" issue. They may have replaces the slave cylinder and the main cylinder may be the problem. If thats the case because they worked on your car and mis-diagnosed the problem they should make a cost adjustment for you.

Ano

 

[AirWalke]

You failed to mention what kind of car this is. Check to make sure you have fluid in the main clutch cylinder. There is also a slave cylinder that is attached to the main clutch that may have a area to add fluid. Look for a bleeder valve on wither the main cylinder and or the slave cylinder. Pump the hell out of the cylinder and open the bleeder valve while having the clutch completely pressed to the floor. Fluid should leak out WITHOUT spitting which is what you want. If there is air in the system it will continue to spit. Repeat process until fluid leaks out without spitting. Tighten valve and refill if necessary.

Another area is the actual clutch itself. Clutch adjustment "Free Travel" is located under the dash by the steering column. Look for the working parts for the clutch and you will notice adjustments along the clutch rod. Its a matter of adjusting the clutch "Free Travel" which means the area that the clutch does not engage. You should have about a inch of "PLAY" when you depress the clutch pedal before you feel any resistance. Another words, When you are driving at a stop and you place it in gear when you let the clutch out to engage it should start to engage about 2 inches off the floor.

My guess however is that you are having a "FLUID" issue. They may have replaces the slave cylinder and the main cylinder may be the problem. If thats the case because they worked on your car and mis-diagnosed the problem they should make a cost adjustment for you.

Ano

It's a Honda Accord from the early 90s. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to give that a look too. :smile:

 

[ISUAlum2002]

I'll reiterate some of what these guys have said. It is definitely something involving the clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder, or the hose assembly that connects them.

Those setups are usually pretty cheap overall, and not too tough to install if you're mechanically inclined at all. It sounds like they just replaced the slave cylinder the first time around. This time, I would request that the entire assembly be replaced.

 

[majorcyfan]

This makes sense, as I do have some oil leaking underneath the car near the front. I was already taking in my car soon to have a few other things taken care of, but hopefully this could be two birds taken out with one stone. That, or the original bird is much bigger than I thought it'd be.

Any other thoughts and/or suggestions are appreciated.

If you didn't have both the master cylinder and the clutch slave cylinder rebuit at the same time , you should have. when only one is rebuilt, the remaining one is just as old and worn out and the new increased pressure from the new or rebuilt cyclinder will push the remaining cylinder over the edge and it too, fails. I know this from yrs ago , with British sports car. You save a little labor of two jobs versus one job.

 

[ISUCyclones]

We need universal car repair.