s2kfanatic15647

yea - I'm going to pull the clutch slave cylinder and grease/sand the ball. Then I'm going to change the fluid again and bleed out any bubbles. I'll report back - I just didn't get to it this weekend.

As far as I know its an OEM clutch, and was replaced at 40k miles. I'm the second owner and it came with the second clutch. I am keeping this car 100% OEM even if superior products exist

B serious

Well, hopefully the person used an actual Honda genuine clutch, as the "OEM replacement" ones don't work.

If they did use a genuine Honda clutch set...and you do need to remove the trans to get the guide sleeve taken care of....at least you can keep the clutch that's in there.

s2kfanatic15647

I have no experience actually opening up transmissions so I’ll either need to bring it to Honda or find someone that wants free pizza in San Diego. That’s assuming me greasing up the slave cylinder doesn’t solve it

stock06

Hey, what year and how many miles? Have you checked the master cylinder closely?


Best to you.

rpg51

I recommend that you put a small dab of honda grease on the tips of the clutch release fork while you are in there. In my case this was the thing that made the difference. But, I do agree with BSerious. That guide is probably the main cause.

s2kfanatic15647

Okay here's an update. I put my car on jack stands, and opened up the clutch fluid reservoir and the fluid was cloudy on top, and black on the bottom. Not good. turkey basted that out.

Removed slave cylinder from transmission and pulled off rubber boot. Applied liberal amounts of high-temp lithium grease on the ball end, and ball pocket, and the shaft end (I have no idea what the actual terms are). The ball had a black dry-ish greasy build-up. Definitely not lubricating. Before putting grease on the ball, I thoroughly cleaned it with WD40, dried it with a clean towel, then scored it with sand paper.

Went to put everything back together and the clutch had extended out of the cylinder and all the fluid drained. Re-filled the reservoir, opened the nipple, pumped the clutch a few times, then bleed the system, closed off the nipple. Now fluid in reservoir is yellowish and clear.

Went for a test drive and clutch feels noticeably different. Seems to grab lower and more consistently in the same place. Did not feel the "sticky" or "soft" issues that started this post. I will need to go on an extended hot drive this weekend to confirm. Thank you everyone!!

starrap2

Glad it seems fixed. Definitely let us know what happens!

s2kfanatic15647

Went for long drive to make sure it was hot. The issue with the soft clutch did not reappear. The issue with the clutch getting “stuck” for 1/2inch when fully pressed to floor also appears to have disappeared. Great!

however! Now there is a new problem. Clutch has a squeak when I press the petal, which it didn’t have before. According to the internet, greasing what I greased should have solved this. And I really greased her good. I’m going to drive it for another weekend hot and see if it goes away.

rpg51

See the videos. The ball end often develops a little "nib" right in the middle of the ball area. My understanding is that the nib should be removed maybe with sand paper or a dremel, and then the entire ball end should be polished, not scored, and lubricated. That is what I did to the ball end.

Also, from your description I don't think you lubricated the ends of the release fork. If you get into that area again, I would do that. Just a very tiny dab on each tip of the fork where it contacts the release bearing. There is a video above (the last one) that shows how to pull that release fork out a bit to improve access so you can take a long, small diameter, applicator of some kind (I used a skewer from the kitchen) with a very small pea sized dab of grease, and apply it to the two fork ends where they contact the release bearing by reaching in. I did this on jack stands and it was not easy, but possible. It would be a lot easier if you could get it up on a lift.

Also, while you are futzing around with the clutch, do the clutch freeplay adjustment. There is a good video on this also. All this stuff combined will likely give you a very nice clutch. But, I predict someday in the future you will end up needing a new release guide, and when that day comes you might as well take the opportunity with the transmission pulled to put new OEM clutch parts in there.

Good luck!

P.S. Sad day today. My S goes into hibernation tomorrow for about 5 months. Ugh.

climhazzard

Although you might be OK - I’d suggest using Honda Urea grease on the slave cylinder rod end. I also used a lithium grease when I started hearing the squeak and it solved it...but not for long. Can’t go wrong with what Honda recommends, and surprisingly it does seem to be better than the standard bucket of grease you can get at the auto parts store, at least for this application.