Gotpepsi

My clutch definitely disengages towards the middle/top of the pedal travel. I just double checked and I believe it's in spec.

B serious

I wouldn't blindly tighten it. You probably want around 1/4" or so.

There's a 12mm nut behind the pedal assembly. There's a rod that goes thru the firewall and attaches to the back of the pedal assembly.

If your vantage point is from the driver seat:
Loosen the nut by turning it clockwise. Turn the rod clockwise for less freeplay (tighter setting). Counter clockwise for more freeplay (looser setting). Once set...re-jam the nut against the pedal clevis. Check the play one more time after tightening.

Search for DIY's with pics. Its very easy to do.

But don't set it too tight or you'll chew up your clutch.

***never turn the rod with a tool. If you scratch it, you will chew up the rubber seal on the MC.

B serious

0 is measured when the rod you're adjusting touches the master cylinder piston.

Anything tighter than 0 is considered preload and will likely wear the clutch by always pushing on it.

Anything looser than 0 is considered freeplay. You want about 6mm (1/4")...but not much more, ideally. Some people like more freeplay in order to get the pedal to engage closer to the floor. Those people are weirdos.

Too much freeplay will cause the pedal to run out of stroke before the slave cylinder can fully disengage the clutch.

Gotpepsi

Okay, thanks for the information! I didn't know how to measure the free play, but the when I push in the pedal, this little rod pops out. When the rod pops out, there is no space in between it and the pedal.

I ordered parts for the shifter. Maybe that'll help. If not, at least I now have clean trans fluid, clutch fluid, and grease.

B serious

There's never space between the rod and pedal. Freeplay is measured as the space between the master cylinder piston and the pedal rod.

You measure it by feel.

honda606

Not true at all. The quality of today's conventional oils is so much higher compared to fifteen years ago in 2000 when the owner's manual and suggested specs were written up. Today I wouldn't consider changing a quality conventional oil out until at least the 5k mark. In a Civic, or any other non-performance based daily driver, I would easily run a conventional to 7500 even in an environment considered for "severe service". I wouldn't dump a synthetic for 8-10k miles. Also, those suggestions in the owner's manual were for both conventional or synthetic. Changing oil at 3k miles is an old wives tale from 40 years ago.


Are you hitting this wall while the car is still rolling/moving or only at a complete stop? If rolling it makes sense as you'll likely need to rev match in order to get it back in to first gear. If you're hitting it at a stop I would try a different tranny fluid out like the Redline MT90.

You don't need to but I certainly would. I'd run M1 0W40 year round in the southern part of the US and other warm climates where it never snows. Redline 0W30 year round everywhere else.

I would have recommended changing the oil as well, considering you're running a conventional, so good choice.

The notchy feeling you're getting is from the tranny. It has a reputation for being a bit notchy in 1st and 2nd gears. Changing the clutch fluid isn't going to help here.

Like I suggested above, I would try Redline MT90 next time around when you change the tranny fluid. As far as brake fluid is concerned you would be much better off running DOT 3. You can use DOT 4 all you want but you'll get no better performance out of it and you will need to change it far more often, compared to DOT 3, because of how much more moisture it absorbs.