Rep Power: 0

I'm having a problem with the clutch on my '89 Civic hatch that I can't seem to diagnose. My parents were driving this car to town the other day, when Dad put the clutch in and it made a loud bang. Mom claims there had been a strange rattling noise for the whole trip. After the failure, there was no resistance to the pedal anymore, and the clutch itself appeared to be stuck on, causing the car to stall once it was no longer moving. It was possible to shift into neutral with some effort though. After the car was towed back home, I started looking things over and found no problems with the clutch cable itself. Since it appeared to be an internal problem, and the only option was to repair it myself, I started the lengthy job of removing the transmission.
I should mention at this point that the clutch was newly replaced just a few years ago, and had less than 30,000 km wear on it.
The transmission is now off, but mysteriously there is no obvious sign of anything broken. No damage at all can be seen on the fork, throwout bearing, cover or pressure plate. The fork properly moves the bearing back and forth along its shaft. The only evidence of a problem is the clutch disc - it is covered with little gouges, on both sides, from where a piece of something appears to have been rolling around loose - probably the source of the noise that was heard before the failure. But there are no pieces of anything to be found inside, so whatever it was must have either fallen out or simply been ground to dust.
I really don't want to just put everything back together and hope it's OK, nor do I want to replace anything unnecessarily. Any ideas?

 
Rep Power: 518

Sounds like something came apart and got wedged between the disc and either the flywheel or the pressure plate.

Would the clutch DISengage when it got to you?


Look closely at all the springs in the center hub of the clutch disc
None broken?

Look at all the rivets everywhere.

Pressure plate: Fingers all at the same level? Friction plate level, not crooked?




I had an old Chevette one time, it liked to shear the heads off of the flywheel bolts. Good times.

 
Rep Power: 0

No, it appeared to be stuck, and as I said the pedal had almost no resistance to it at all. Strangely, the clutch fork seemed to be in an almost-fully disengaged position (as if the pedal were depressed) and could not be moved back to its default position. Once the tranny was off the car, the fork operated as it should.
As for the clutch disc, something else did catch my attention but it may just be the manufacturers design. The top and bottom springs have inner and outer springs (like you'd see on a valve stem), but the left and right only have outer springs.
I may post some pictures if I don't make any headway....

 
Rep Power: 367

^ yup, please

 
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Here are some pictures of the clutch disc and cover. Note how some of the gouges on the disc have bits of brass or copper etched in them - a clue perhaps?

Also, do you think the fingers should be worn that much for something with such little use?

 
Rep Power: 518

Metal in the disc, normal, woven fiber disc.

I don't see anything wrong yet.

Show the face of the pressure plate and the flywheel.

 
Rep Power: 0

Haven't had time to take more pics, but I can tell you the flywheel and pressure plate faces are smooth as a babys cheek.
I've checked and re-checked everything from the clutch pedal to the flywheel, and still no logical explanation for the sudden failure. I'm starting to wonder if I need a mechanic or an exorcist.....

 
Rep Power: 518

Friction plates are smooth, huh? Nothing solid got caught in it then....
You didn't find a linkage problem........
Maybe



Are all the "fingers" in the center level?

If the pressure plate and disc were bolted back on the flywheel, would the fingers still be level?
Maybe a pressure plate problem, like the diaphragm spring cracked and broke or the pivot broke, it could allow half of the ring to engage even though the pedal was down. You would still have some feel in the pedal too.

I'm SWAGing now. I got nuthin.

Edit: I wonder if you have a cable problem that isn't obvious from the outside.