WarTowels

Just before arriving to work at one of the last stop lights, I went to downshift and was met with resistance when trying to get into gear. It was second or third, I can't recall.

So instead of downshifting successfully, I just hit the brakes harder and came to a stop. When the light turned green, I couldn't get the car into gear. Not first, not second, not third. I felt a weird feeling when I hit the clutch. Then for whatever reason, it went back into gear and now I can sail through them as easily as ever.

But what has changed is the clutch pedal goes to the floor like normal and comes back half way like normal, but the top 50% of it's travel feels like it's bogged down / hit a reservoir of molasses.

First thought was to check the master cylinder reservoir and surrounding areas for leaks / dirty fluid and also fluid in the cabin. I didn't find any drips or sprays of fluid anywhere. The fluid is filled to the top and while isn't the cleanest is by no means super dirty.

Can anyone suggest some things to help me diagnose what may be wrong?

Thanks,

-Towels

speakeasy2009

Id suspect the clutch slave or the clutch master... unless its a bad TO bearing... clutch master and slave are pretty cheap replacements so its not a bad idea to start there IMO..

WarTowels

Well I missed a detail. There's a small drip area on my carpet above the dead pedal in the foot well.

Then I ran my finger around the seal on the clutch master and my finger got covered in grease.

I assume this is not normal... and probably part of if not my entire problem?

I saw a guide for replacement linked on here, but it was off site and requires a login I do not have.

Any advice?

-Towels

speakeasy2009

Well yeah if you have leakage in that area its safe to say you may have a bad clutch master. I replaced both my master and slave and im not even that mechanical, its pretty easy to do just have to bleed the system afterwards. I didn't go OEM, I used a cheaper aftermarket master and slave and ive had no problems.

http://autoplicity.com/products/3279...gn=GSNOFITMENT


http://www.stockwiseauto.com/product...ource/googleps



I bet its the clutch hydrolics that are the problem but you may wanna ask Billman as he is king of all things s2000. You might wanna just drain out the old fluid and put fresh fluid in to see if that helps..

WarTowels

I ended up ordering an OEM one, although I have no justification for that since it failed in just 68k.

I'm going to take out the slave as well and inspect it, maybe clean up the rod.

Hoping that replacement of the master will solve this though.


Also:

Just got back from limping the car home. 20 miles using one gear was really fun.

The 'unable to engage the gears' issue is back, I had to pull my car out of it's parking space because there was no hope of getting in reverse. I did about 18 of the 20 in second, and got it to fourth for a bit. The pedal felt like crap again, really weak and didn't spring back much.

Once it's in a gear though, it drives and feels like normal. No slipping of any kind.

Is this consistent with a busted master cylinder?

-Towels

speakeasy2009

In my opinion it sounds like the clutch master or slave. Install the new master and replace the fluid. Bleed the system out really good. Billman knows best on this send him a PM..

JoshVanatta

i just had a similar problem, i couldnt engage any gears at a stop but at speed it was ok, and there was fluid all over the back of the firewall in the footwell area. I found out that it was my master cylander. I replaced that and flushed/bled the system. Havent had any problem since. I bought an Omni power short throw clutch master cylander off some kid near me that had in on his car for two days before he flipped it, real winner. Anyway id suggest replacing the master cylander, worked for me, sounds like the same problem. Hope you get 'er fixed!

WarTowels

I love when simple jobs turn into massive pains in the ass. And as such, that's exactly what has happened.

The freaking nut on the clutch cylinder refused to budge (Yes, I was turning it the correct way) and now it's stripped.

The !*)#. I gave the brake master cylinder nut a turn and it moved like butter. Why couldn't this be the same =(

So now I can't get the old cylinder out and my line is now useless. I guess I need to detach the entire line now and replace that too?

-Towels

WarTowels

Hmmm OE or aftermarket stainless steel...

EDIT: Just pulled out the hardline which wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Most of my experience is with older rusty cars.

The bottom nut came off super easy, too. After I got everything out, I still can't get the nut off the clutch master! Oh well, I don't need to now.

Now to order a new line... which one...

-Towels

WarTowels

Bit of an ordeal at this point, time wise. I ordered a Chase Bay's clutch line kit as a replacement for the hardline and the soft line. Unfortunately, the provided bolt is just a hair too long and can't be tightened down safely. I've sent them an e-mail to see what they will do and I'll try and find a replacement bolt locally, maybe AutoZone has a brake bolt that may work.

-Towels