GentleBen

Yep, the clutch pedal went all the way to the floor and did not return, not even a little.
Having no experience at all with clutches, I had to check this forum and youtube for even a clue.
Sure enough the clutch master cylinder was leaking inside of the car. Ordered new master and slave cylinders and installed them.

On the 2001 Civic (and I suspect thru 2005) the master cylinder is very difficult to get to. It is tucked back in a far cave-like recess behind the front strut tower. It reminds me of a moray eel's lair that dares you to stick your hand in and see if you get something or just pull back a nub of a hand.
I had to remove some brackets for AC hoses, hydraulic lines and the brake master to even get in there. Using a 12 mm flare wrench (line wrench) I tried loosening the hydraulic line only to discover that the nut was not turning but was stripping! I found out that the "U" shaped pin could be removed which would release that fitting and the line nut together. Did I mention that there is very little room to work in there?

Well, the master and slave cylinders were removed and replaced with new ones. That "U" pin on the master was very difficult to install. No room for pressing it in with pliers and very little room for tapping it in with a hammer. I managed to tap it in to about 1/8"- 3/16" of being all the way in. That would be good enough for now unless there would be leaking from the pin holes later.

Now for the anticipated frustrating bleeding procedure.
The one person procedure where you open the slave bleeder valve, press the clutch pedal, close the bleeder, raise the pedal, ad nauseam- produced no results other than a lot of exercise and abundant frustration. The two person procedure produced the same. I purchased a Mityvac hand pump which also produced little results. The tubing did not form a good seal on the bleeder valve neither did the fittings that come with it. Also, while pumping the pin holding the pump handle fell out into the abyss of the engine compartment not to be seen again.

What did work was a compressor (6 gallon Porter Cable). I used aquarium tubing on the bleeder valve. It had to be flared out a bit by sticking a pair of needle nose pliers in the end. Then the aquarium tubing was inserted in the 1/4" tubing about four inches and cinched down with a zip tie. The 1/4" tubing was put on a siphoning air gun (Milton S-156 on Amazon) and that was attached to the compressor hose. Set the compressor line pressure on 100psi or a little more and began bleeding. The result? Success! After probably 3-4 days of frustration finally and mercifully got clutch pedal resistance.
Hope this helps someone avoid some frustration.
Anyone have input, tips, or tricks to share?

mac25

Two person bleed should take 5 minutes.

Step 1 (major air evacuation)
-make sure res is full at all times
-crack bleeder just to the point where the pedal can travel to the floor with a bit of resistance.
-pump until most of the air is out (make sure to use a clear hose on the end of the bleeder, as well as a box end wrench)

once most of the air is out

Step 2 (air bubble evacuation)
-close bleeder
-pump 20 times
-hold the pedal on the floor
-get your team mate to open the bleeder for half a second to purge the air bubbles
-repeat step 2 until line is clear of air.

GentleBen

Thanks mac25 for that clear explanation.
Does that procedure work for you every time? There are a lot of places for air to get trapped in the line.
I will have to try that on my other Civic (2001 LX coupe) when the time comes. It has almost 300k miles on it, mostly highway. The 2001 HX only has 167k miles but mostly city. Guess that is why it failed before the LX.

mac25

I've used that method without fail on
-My clutch twice (including a dry install when I swapped it from auto to manual)
-friends 04 civic coupe clutch

-my brakes multiple times
-moms 02 civic brakes
-friends dodge charger brakes
-friends Toyota Corolla brakes
-friends Ford probe brakes.

.......

but also shoot ezone a message, I think the official method is a bit different, he'll know what Honda recommends.