When I start out in 1st, the entire car vibrates while i'm easing the clutch out, but is fine once moving. The other gears seem fine. I now also feel vibration through my clutch pedal while driving.

I jacked up the car, looked in the tranny, and the fork doesn't appear to be broken. There are no rattling noises, and no leaky fluid at any of the cylinders.

Could it simply be air in the clutch line or is it most likely the fork, or pilot bearing, release bearing?

Would air in the clutch lines explain the above behavior?

Any feedback appreciated.

 

I would suspect the mounting points for the drivetrain before I would think the clutch is necessarily bad. This includes motor mounts in the front, power plant frame, and rear differential mounting bushings in the back. If any of these is separated or cracked, the springs that sit inside the clutch plate will "bounce" as load is applied, leading to the condition you describe. Also, cold motor mounts and rear diff mounts will exhibit this behaviour, yet be fine once things warm up.

 

hows ur car in 5th gear?

 

^^ yeah i would do that test too

and also, how is your acceleration? from a standstill i mean..

thats one way to give you a clear idea if your clutch is going bad...

 

its smooth all throughout 1-5th gear...especially in 5th. I notice that it's a bit harder to shift into 1st and 2nd, but once it's rolling it seems normal, power & all... other than the slight vibration I can feel through the clutch pedal.

From a stop, it's obvious something isn't right, as you can feel the whole car vibrating during clutch engagement, as if the clutch were struggling to grab and slipping or something.

Clutch pedal stiffness is also suddenly harder than it used to be. So highly unlikely that its air trapped in the lines? Ie/ bleeding the slave cylinder won't really help?

 

well, i finally found out the source of the problem; broken clutch fork. I didn't notice it at first because it was a hairline crack and barely visible. However, when I had someone depress the clutch while I was under the car looking at the fork, I could see the slight crack on the fork expanding.

Dang....

 

i have a similar feeling, i sure hope its not the fork.

how about this one. if i punch it in first from a rolling start i smell clutch dust. is this the clutch going bad or is there just too much power for the stock clutch to handle? its fine everywhere else. if i dump the clutch i get wheel hop.

 

Any time you can smell a burning clutch, it's not a good thing.