Sticking Clutch Question
 

Ok, chuck said I should post this here for you guys to
help since you all know helluva a lot more about this stuff than me.

91 Accord, 135K, original clutch...
So I get up this morning, I start the accord. I push the clutch
down, put it in neutral, start the car. I let go of
the clutch pedal except it doesn't spring back.
Instead it sorta goes up a bit, then shoots up. Or I
have to nudge it a bit.

Anyway, so it won't go into first or reverse or any gear w/ clutch
completely down.
I didn't try the, give it a bit of gas and pop it in gear thing.
So, I turn the car off. W/ the car off I was able to put it in 1st, start it,
and then was able to move it. So I just left it in front of my house.

What do you guys think? Clutch gone? Needs fluid? I was
gonna check the fluid thing tonight since that is easiest.
Thanks.

Chino, AKA Pat, is a long time friend of mine. I directed here for some expert advice. Don't know if German and Japanese engineering is interchangeable though :wink:

My initial thoughts were:

1) Clutch fluid is toast or air in the lines. Have you ever flushed it? If not, we can give that a try tonight.

2) If you can get it gear, does the clutch slip? If so, probably worn clutch disk.

3) Pressure plate, throw out bearing, etc. worn to the point where they wont disengage the tranny/engine.

My bet is air in the line. Flushing your clutch slave cylinder costs next to nothing and will probably solve the problem. If it gets bad again a few days or weeks later, then you know you're getting air in the line somewhere and may need to replace slave and/or master.

My guess is the clutch master seal is going or gone bad. The seal looks like the seal in a bike pump, a cup. When the master fails it will let the fluid past the piston and the pedal will go the the floor but not move the slave piston. (The master cyl is conected to the fluid tank on that side so you will not see a leak) Now the spring power of the slave/clutch can't push the pedal back up. Sometimes you can pull the pedal up with your foot and using a sharp stabbing motion get the master seal to flare and work. Some clutch pedals have a spring of their own and it will pop the pedal back up masking the symptoms somewhat. You can get rebuild kits for master and slave cyls. They are in the $20.00 range and the work is easy and about as messy as a caliper rebuild.

Air would make the pedal soft and spongy feeling and the clutch would not release but the pedal would pop back up. This is still one to check. A blead will catch this one. If you have a reasonable amount fluid in the clutch tank then it is not high on my list.

A rusted up and stuck throwout fork and slave cyl will go in and stay all or partialy in. Thus the car will act like the clutch is in.

The symtoms presented sound as if the clutch disk is not being released.

Bleed the system. What the heck it's free and it might get the problem. After you bleed and if it is still not working post back with the details and we can go from there.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I actually tried something my buddy suggested as a temporary fix. He said to pump the s*it outta the thing. So I did, pumped it like 100 times and now I have pressure from the clutch pedal, it doesn't stick, and it goes in and out of gear no problem. Granted I will need to check the fluid again later, b/c I am sure the bigger problem is there is a leak some where, but for now....I'll leave it as is and keep throwing fluid in it. Thanks everyone. keep y'all posted.

But where did the all the fluid go within the last 6 months....see any puddles under the car after the fill and pump session last night? Air was probably introduced into the system from low fluid levels and a flush is probably still in order. The fluid is 12 years old. Who knows how much H2O its absorbed.......H2O bad for internals. If you still need help with the flush, let me know.