so my clutch decided today that it would start to act up on me. and a time or two, when i pushed it down.....it would not come back up without me having to pull it up myself. for the rest of my drive, it would catch itself in different places. making it very difficult to drive around. The clutch was replaced maybe 6k miles ago with a 6 puck. where should i start to figure this out???

 

clutch line probably ruptured.

 

I almost guarantee it's the clutch line.

It happened to me about 3 weeks ago. I was driving home, pulled into the grocery store. When I came back out, I couldn't get it into gear. No warning at all.

I ordered a line (there's a thead) and was able to install it without a problem.

The installation was surprisingly easy, but I caution to not try and do it without a proper line wrench. A simple open end wrench will just ruin the nut.

With a proper size line wrench you can loosen the top in less than 2 minutes, jack the car get underneath and with some luck can get the bottom loose in 4-5 minutes. All in all, it's a rather easy job.

Use a Mighty-Vac and you can have the clutch bled in another 5 minutes.

 

Most likely a mechanical binding problem. If the line ruptured, the clutch would not release.

Dave

 

If the clutch line looks intact, it could be simple air in the lines. Either way I'd upgrade to a ss clutch line (your nice new clutch deserves it, although I look for any reason to buy nicer/newer parts) and bleed the system using a powerbleeder (my personal favorite) or a mityvac. If you are going to change it out, get a set of flare nut wrenches. They're well worth the money so you don't round out clutch or brake lines.

 

If you haven't lost any fluid, then it's not the clutch line. I would wager a hydraulic problem, most likely with the clutch master cylinder. The fact that you can pull it back out and it works sometimes IMO leans to something failing in the hydraulics.

BTW, if you are going to replace your master, you may as well replace the slave at the same time.

 

clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder

 

Excellent advice, they always fail about the same time. I replaced my slave and ignored the advice of my roommate to replace the master along with it. About 2 weeks later the master failed and I was replacing it any way.

 

same thing happened to me...there was a pin hole leak under the stock foam padding, and I could pump the clutch a couple times...just enough to get it in gear and limp home

 

This happened to me in the past. It ended up being the cylinder... and I went w/ the ss line @ the same time.

As mentioned, replace both master and slave.

Not too difficult to do.

 

well it does not appear to be leaking any fluid. so i dont think i blew the line. im going to try to bleed the brakes tonight. hopefully that will help. other wise i guess ill be replacing some things thank you everyone for you quick responses

 

bleed your your slave.

 

I'll put money on it being your slave. Same thing happened to me, easy fix.

 

+1 to clutch master or slave cylinder.

these cars are getting old. especially if they're never been replaced.

 

+1, mine did the same. ended up changing my master & slave

 

Is there pressure and it bleeds off when you push the pedal in? Or is there just no pressure at all? If the pressure bleeds off there is a hydraulic leak somewhere. And if there is no visible leaking anywhere its the master, as a leak there will leak past the piston and back into the reservoir. If the slave leaks it will leak into the bell housing.

 

there is pressure to push the pedal down, but sometimes it will not come back up....

 

well im having the same issue now ... have finally got my car running and did a couple runs and the clutch petal was acting up while doing the run .... and finally to do a last run! petal just had no pressure at all what so ever ....

i have been metioned the master and slave ... tried to get a rebuild kit to see if it works but it did come out negative .... i have might did it wrong but i will have to check .....

 

Agreement on clutch hydraulics (master and/or slave cylinders).

Let me get this right...you can press the pedal in and sometimes it will come back but with trouble but most of the time it sticks, then you have to dig your toes behind the pedal to lift it back? If you press the pedal in slightly or almost half way does it ever just suck itself to the floor?

If these are all the symptoms then it is surely the master and/or slave cylinders. I would just recommend replacing both even if you find it is only one of the two causing the problem.

BTW, not bein an *** or anything but you would have found an answer if you searched.

 

ok, so most think its either slave or master cyliner. took it to the shop today and they think it is the throw out bering......ive replaced 3 of these ******* things iin the past 7 months. they say it might be more then that but dont know untill they open it up. and just to r&r the tranny is like 350. i can do it myself, but my arm is currently injured and i dont have access to a lift at the moment.....thoughts?

 

I must have missed a previous thread, but what are your symptoms? Bad hydraulics (slave or MC) should cause different issues than a bad throwout bearing. Are you hearing some bearing noise? with the clutch in, or out? Generally a bad throwout bearing will only make some noise unless it is totally fubar'd.

$350 to R&R a transmission seems pretty expensive IMO. If the shop has a lift and they aren't idiots the R&R shouldn't take more than 2 hours MAX. I can do the job with the car on stands and no air-tools in no time. Either your shop has some slow techs or they are charging some serious $$/hour.

 

Ok, well just a few questions. But what is the cars symptoms. And what is it doing / not doing?

 

yeah i know, ive taken the tranny out myself before. but it was on a lift. i could do it on stands but would rather not. i do hear noise with the clutch not depresses.

my symptoms started a few days ago, i would push the clutch down and sometimes it would not come back up. also when i have the clutch pushed down, and the car is in gear, the car still tries to pull (like its not fully disengaged) ive had throw out bering issues before. ive replaced 3. but never had an issue with the actual pedal. everyone is saying it might be this, it might be that. i know its hard to diagnose with out seeing it. just trying to get an idea

 

it sounds like what happened to my car about 2 months ago. The mechanic on base told me it was probably the bearings and all the parts and labor was going to cost over $800 (most of it due to opening the tranny) their other option was to replace my slave and master cylinder (which was my initial thought) for about $100.

i told them that i wasnt going to pay 800 when they dont even know for sure what the problem is. so i said they can change my slave and MC first and if that didnt fix the problem then go ahead and open the tranny but they will have to include the cost of the first labor they did into the labor of opening the tranny and stuff. (that way i didnt pay 800 + 100)

turned out that it was the slave or mc(they didnt know which one but they replaced both and the car works fine) maybe you should try that first. it the cheapest and possibly the cause of your problems.

 

Yea same for me. I did it myself but that is what it was. It is a good idea to go ahead and do both of them at the same time because they are easy and also if one tends to go bad more then likley the other is on the way out too. But it should just be that. Replace both of them and let us know what is going on. I was not losing any fluid. Just the seals int he mc were bad and it was not making any pressure.