Mkalby

Hey guys,

I have spent the last week or so between manuals, forums, and my own handiwork/frustration in trying to fix an issue with my '97 civic's clutch. I recently had been noticing that the clutch wasn't engaging very well, and I attributed it to the wet/cold weather we have been experiencing lately because I noticed it would start to engage again once my engine had gotten a chance to heat up. In any case, about a week ago, I drove around 45 miles or so and after returning to my car, found my clutch pedal against the floor. Upon further inspection, I noticed the master cylinder had worn through the seal and was leaking. Knowing the marriage between master and slave cylinders, I replaced them both and bled the lines - 4 times, but my clutch still wont engage.

In fact, after bleeding the line and getting the hydraulic system to max pressure, my clutch pedal still only returns to the bottom of the stroke (maybe 1/3 of the way up from the floor). I can pull it up the rest of the way manually and it will "fall" into the out-locked position. It feels like there's a little bit of pressure on the line, but it will not let my shift gears unless the engine is off. I know that the line, linkage, and both cylinders are good. No leaks or air and no reason I can tell why it shouldn't work.

Anyone have any ideas? I don't think it's the pressure plate or TO lever (the slave seems to be aligned perfectly), although it could be. Of course, I would like to exhaust all my other options before dropping out the larger parts.

Thanks.

FrankHondatech

You have to bleed this the same way you bleed brake. 3 push hold the pedal while someone bleed it, Repeat until there is no more air bubble. Also if the clutch cylinder leaked you're clutch will probably be wet and will no longer grip. Try bleeding again make sure you fluid lvl isat the maximum while bleeding otherwise some air can get into the line.


If another bleeding doesn't help. Then I suggest you may have to replace the clutch wich would be dead because it absorbed oil.