MY01 is doing something very strange. First of all, I do have the de-accel noise which thanks to this site I am familar with, BUT i've got a new problem. When I'm slowing down to a stop, and have the clutch in, right as I put the car into first, the rear end makes a "cLunK" sound and the car feels like it jumps. It doesn't do this all the time, but it has happened more frequently over the past two months. Also something else strange, that may or may not be related. On an incline, with the car in first gear, it does not hold without the e-brake on. It rolls slowly backwards. I'm not talking about a huge incline either. All this aside, the car runs and drives fine and I have no other problems. Any ideas??

 

The clunk may be excessive play in the diff or a sign of bearings on the way out. Have you ever changed the diff fluid? Might be time. Also, have you ever done a tranny fluid change? New fluid might help your situation although a clunk can be encountered even on a brand new car. It all depends on just the right set of circumstances at the time you hear it - road speed, shifter movement, tranny gear position just prior to the clunk, engine speed at the time, etc.

As for the car not holding itself on a hill in gear with the engine off, clutch out, this might be an indication that your clutch is slipping. This may be from it being worn or from it not being fully clamped. If it were the latter, you should feel this slippage when you drive the car aggressively. (How about a clutch fluid change?)

 

Do you think all of the problems could be related to the clutch? The part that confuses me is that even under agressive driving, there is no clutch slip. And I've double checked to make sure the clutch pedal is to the floor. I also considered it being the differential, but if this was the case, wouldn't there be other symptoms? Such as, shaking or noises at alternate speeds? thanks!

 

isnt this just the infamous clunk you get of the mainshaft getting stopped by putting it into first gear? That is what you are doing correct, putting it into first gear while the car is still moving/slowing down?

 

You're getting paranoid prematurely. Like I said previously, this clunk can manifest itself even on a new car due to the circumstances that I outlined, including the reason that "HondaS2001" indicated. You didn't entertain my questions to you about the fluid changes. If you've never changed these fluids on an '01 car, we're just "spinning our wheels" here discussing something that might not be.

 

well said. While the tranny fluid may be "ok", it wont hurt to change it. However, I can almost GUARANTEE that the clutch fluid will be really black and nasty by now and require a changing. Do a search on how to do these changes if you are in fact doing them yourself, and start with that. These are the easiest things you can do to try and solve the problem so they should be done first. If they are normal things though, nothing is going to make them go away.

 

This is all interesting. How many fluids on the car should be changed? I have my oil changed every 3000-3500 miles and my Diff Fluid every 15,000-20,000. I did not know there was clutch fluid or tranny fluid. Wait is there trans fluid also.????

I'm lost. I want my car to last forever.

 

lol... is there tranny fluid he says...

Good advise from viper, change your fluids... Not only will it help solve the problem (or eliminate and cause), it will help to insure things dont get worse!

Question, if the clutch isnt slipping, IS IT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE THAT HES ROLLS ON AN INCLINE WITH 1ST GEAR PROPERLY ENGAGED?!?!?!?

 

Yes, very possible. In fact, this is more likely the reason. The incline causes the transmission to attempt to rotate the engine. The only thing stopping the engine from rotating (when stationary) is friction (bearings, rings, etc). If the force caused by the car trying to roll down hill is greater than this friction, the engine will indeed turn.

Now, once this happens the second factor comes into play. Compression. Any piston that is in its compression stroke will begin to compress or decompress, depending on which direction it is travelling, the air in that cylinder. This will begin adding resistance to the turning of the crank shaft. The rings have gaps in them and a tiny bit of air will leak past them equalizing the pressure inside that cylinder. Once the resistance is reduced, the down hill push will turn the engine a little more. It's a cycle. As the air leaks past the rings the engine turns. The steeper the incline the faster it moves. Air can sometimes leak past valves as well, but the rings are usually the big culprit.

 

"How many fluids on the car should be changed?"
-crankcase (engine)
-engine coolant (check owner's manual to see when this is necessary)
-brake fluid
-clutch fluid
-tranny fluid (tranny = trans = transmission = gear box) (I hope you were joking.)
-rear differential fluid
-intercooler fluid (if you have a supercharger)

Oh, and no car will last "FOREVER".
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Rolling on an incline when the car is left in gear, engine off, no brakes applied can occure due to two main things:
1. The clutch is not holding the weight of the car.
2. The cylinder that is in the compression stroke is leaking (bad rings or busted valve or loose spark plug or hole in the top of the piston or a hole in the cylinder wall).
[Other reasons would be broken crankshaft, broken tranny, broken prop shaft, broken rear diff. However, with any of these broken, you'd know it right away since the car won't drive either.)

The friction will do little to hold a car. At any given time, 2 cylinders will have both intake and exhaust valves closed (1 on a power stroke, another on a compression stroke - the 3rd will be on the intake stroke and the 4th will be on the exhaust stroke). It will be the compression of these 2 cylinders that hold a car's weight on a hill. For example, if you took out all your spark plugs, the engine will NOT hold the car since there is a big leak in the cylinders. We know that 2 cylinders will hold the weight of the car but would one if the other was bad?