s2kdriver80

This past Friday, I went to work and back, car seemed to drive fine. Sunday, two days later, I get in the car to start, I noticed that there is like no resistance during the first half of the clutch travel when I push down with my foot. I can feel normal resistance during the second half of the way down. How else to describe this... I guess it's kinda like losing braking pressure or something, your foot goes down with less force for the first half of the way. Pedal feel is like this whether or not the car is on or off. I'm going to venture a few guesses (I'm not that mechanically inclined)...

1) clutch plate is on its way out (have nearly 180k miles on the original but I felt it still had some life left) OR
2) clutch fluid hydraulics problem OR
3) the pedal itself got loose or something

Given my description of the problem, what do you think the culprit is?

Also, is this a telltale sign that the car will start losing more and more resistance in the pedal travel now? I get this paranoid feeling of what if I lose all resistance in the pedal and the gears can't catch leaving the car stranded somewhere lol.

Thanks.

AP1Theory

Try checking the clutch fluid and bleeding your clutch line.

AP1Theory

Or it could simply be a worn out clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder.

s2kdriver80

Yes, just checked the clutch fluid container (the one located at the driver rear corner under the hood), and it's low. So the symptom I described would manifest whether or not the car is on or off, right? So it looks like a hydraulics issue. So even though the clutch plate has 180k miles on it, it might not have anything to do with this specific problem I'm having, right? Thanks.

AP1Theory

I had the same issue with my old Civic, and fixed it by switching out the slave cylinder with a new one from kragen for $15. But with what you are describing, I am leaning towards your clutch master cylinder, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to start off with the slave cylinder first. The master cylinder is a little more expensive.

s2kdriver80

Is that container located at the driver back corner the clutch master cylinder? Since that is low on clutch fluid, would topping it off help any?

s2kdriver80

Pretty much the same deal this morning going to work, except now, it's a bit harder to put the shifter into gear, need to force it a little. Once I started driving, the roughness went away. Still have the pedal looseness issue though.

franky

the clutch cylinder shouldn't be low unless there's a slow leak somewhere. Check for leaks. If there are no leaks, then maybe the slave cylinder is going out. How long is it when you replace your clutch and what kind of clutch? oem? If it's been a while then my guess is that your pressure plate it weakening or loosing it's strength. It it your dd?

s2kdriver80

As per my original post, everything is original 180k miles. Weird, one day it's fine, two days later, I get in the car and notice the pedal feel difference right away as I went to start the car.