Clutch Problem 97 Civic LX

[rednobodyv]

hey you amazing people..
i need your help.

I have a
1997 Honda Civic LX
5spd manual
CAI

Before you read (its a long story) heres the short version:
Had problems witch clutch, changed it once had problems, and the 2nd clutch has the same problem. After the clutch warms up it slipps... when accelerated the car simply REVS (from 2rpm to 5rpm without gaining much speed and when throttle is let off it goes back where it belongs 2rpm)




Here's the story...

I bought the car about 3 years ago at 110,000 miles. I drove it for a year and started having some problems with the clutch. Sometimes when i accelerated it felt like the clutch was slipping, and the RPM's would go up but i wasnt going much faster, as soon as i let go the throttle it would go back where it belongs. (Ex. 5th speed at 45mph and 2000 RPM >> floor it >> 48 mph at 4-5000 RPM >> Let go of thottle >> 50 mph at 2200 RPM )
so yeah, i took it to my mechanic, he said i need a new clutch. Told him to buy one, and ill bring it in for a clutch change. After he changed the clutch, the same thing happened but within 4-5 days of clutch change... so i took it to him, he check it out and said its not the clutch but just for the sake of it, he went and bought another clutch (a higher perfomence one) and installed it. i drove the car for about 3 weeks with no problem... untill it started doing it again.

So we put in a new Presure Plate and flywheel, Master Cyl and Slave... he changed EVERYTHING. while he put in the new stuff.. he also took the clutch down to look at it.. and he said there wasnt any damage or anything.. and it should be working fine.

worked for about 4 weeks.. untill it started doing it again.. and this is where i am now.

The wierd thing is this...

In the mornings when its cold.. and the car is cold the clutch works perfect, nice and smooth. As soon as the car warms up and the clutch, the clutch stiffens from the half way down... and it only catches at the top. and when accelerated the clutch "slips" and it rev's up without going much faster

so i took it my mechanic.. he said that in 10 years that he's been a mechanic and changed clutches.. this is the 1st one he has problems with.
So he told me to go get some other opinions beacuse hes out of opinions and the next thing is to get a new clutch + pressure plate and install it.

So i went to Firestone and i gave the ppl the car and it took em 4 hours to look at it (3 mechanics looked at it) and said that the problem is the Master Cyl and Slave but i called my mechanic and i gave em the phone... (beacuse the master and slave were changed a long time ago beacuse of leakage.. so that leaking was old)...

they had no idea what else it can be either.

so im trying to see if anyone heres had any opinions.. i might it might be something really stupid and easy... but i dont know..
so please tell me if you have ANY idea.

[RBS]

maybe your flywheel or clutch disk or PP or maybe all of them are glazed up bad, did you resurface your flywheel when you installed the new clutch? did you try to bleed the clutch? is your slave cylinder installed correctly? go back and double check everything and im willing to bet its something youd never think of lol

[rednobodyv]

i dont do the labor.. my mechanic does it.. and hes a really good friend i know he wouldnt wanna screw me up for sure.

he checked it twice... the flywheel, master and slave, persure plate, clutch kit, basically the whole clutch is new.
he's changed clutches alot over the past 10 years.. and he said this hte 1st one he has problems with and cnat find a solution.

[ash7]

sounds to me like a flywheel issue.

i'd be willing to put money on it, as a matter of fact. :cheers:

You symptoms are synonymous with a worn out clutch that's just not grabbing well anymore. And you're right, it is slipping; but it has nothing to do with the clutch itself

The break in period gives it away... with a stock OEM replacement (probably an aftermarket piece from advance auto) it only took a few days to break in the friction disk surface. Whereas with the high performance clutch, it took a couple of weeks to wear down the surface to match the flywheel's. Performance friction disks are a lot harder than OEM....

Replace your flywheel with one that's been resurfaced by a reputable shop or prefferably a brand new one from Fidanza or Clutchmasters. I'll paypal you five bucks if that doesn't solve the problem.

-jonathan

[RBS]

^ lol, im tellin ya man, its something he wouldove never though ove :lmao: prolly something smaller than the flywheel, just duno what though :???:

[ash7]

^ lol, im tellin ya man, its something he wouldove never though ove :lmao: prolly something smaller than the flywheel, just duno what though :???:

Clutch systems are not intricate whatsoever, there are NO small parts to it. Unless his mechanic is reassembling things the wrong way (which is hard to do), it's something simple like a flywheel needing to be resurfaced.


...my best advice to him would actually be to take his car to a different mech. and let the new guy replace the clutch. JUST to see what happens.

Is this "mechanic" one of the backyard mech boys, or are you taking it to an actual shop? I'm not trying to insult your guy or anything... but seriously...

-jonathan

[rednobodyv]

well he would be considered like a "backyard" mech.. but he rents a place where he set up his "garage" so its not an official shot.. just as a part time. buys cars from auction and fixes em kind of a deal...

but yeah i took it to Firestone (actual certified shop.. u guys know it) and 3 mech looked at it and couldnt find the problem..

[ash7]

...your master cylinder may not be reseating itself properly, there are only so many things that can be bad... and not many parts to your clutch system...

is the clutch fork bent?
slave cylinder operating properly?
correct throwout bearing for your application?

what type of pressure plate are you using with your clutch? Same one?

-jonathan

[ranj]

i know this is a weird question, but does your coolant level lower at all?