tiger1964

Well, my wife didn't make it to the office Friday - got a few blocks from home and clutch hydraulics were failing. I was able to walk up there and engage gears in her S2000 and drive it to a local shop a few blocks away. Hoping it was an air bubble in the line. Nope: diagnosis "master cylinder not holding pressure" and recommended replacing both cylinders. Just picked up the car a couple of hours ago and drove it home. It shifts fine now, but...

Wow, the clutch pedal resides about 2 inches lower than the brake pedal, and depressing the pedal means going all the way to the floor. As I really don't drive her car often these days -- normal?

By the way, the car is at 68K but I had the clutch replaced at about 30K (not due to failure but a futile attempt to eliminate a vibration). Anyway, is pedal height determined by the hydraulics or by the wear to the clutch material thickness? Is there an adjustment -- to either? Before I take the car back, any insight on which controls pedal height? I was hoping for a firm pedal and engagement closer to the top pedal travel, but if all I'm going to hear is "$2K for a clutch replacement"...

Otherwise the car drive fine. I seem to recall the clutch was always very light.

Billman250

Air in the system, guaranteed. Not bled properly.

tiger1964

Thanks; good feedback. Going to have an interesting discussion with the shop.

windhund116

Isn't nice to have a competent source to ask?

tiger1964

Absolutely. I almost declined to take the car home, but wanted to ask here first. Almost 45 years of driving manual-trans cars, never had one with a clutch pedal on a different plane than the brake pedal.

Car Analogy

Ironically, air in the lines was probably the original isssue. Its extremely doubtful that either cylinder went bad at 68k miles, even given the age.

Opening the lines to replace parts that weren't faulty only exacerbated the original issue.

tiger1964

Thanks, and I just walked back from the repair shop. I have an appointment to take it back 1st thing Monday morning. The woman behind the counter went and spoke to the technician and they say they did bleed the system, and that it’s probably “the pressure plate on its way out”. Uh, (A) they didn’t say that when they did the diagnostic and when they said we needed $1000 in hydraulics repairs, (B) they didn’t say that when I picked up the car, and (C) I got out the old invoice and the clutch and pressure plate only have 32K miles on them (from an independent Honda technician that I should have gone to in the first place, but 30 miles away).

Do I smell something very wrong here? Could both hydraulic cylinder AND the pressure plate go bad all at once (on a very gently driven car)? What are the symptoms of a bad pressure plate? I'd think that, at the least, with all new hydraulics, the pedal would "come firmly to the top" regardless of what's going on in the clutch housing.

Car Analogy

They charged you $1k for new mc and slave??!!!??

O.M.G.

Speechless...

Yes, something is very fishy. Was the previous clutch install done with aftermarket parts, or Honda parts? You said Honda tech, so assuming Honda parts.

If that is the case, the Honda pp can't possibly be bad. They are virtually indestructible on this car. It would easily last 10 times the 30k something miles you have on it.

windhund116

Tiger, I would not trust my car to these folks. How does a worn pressure plate cause your clutch pedal to sit lower than usual? Almost sounds like someone is blowing exhaust smoke up your backside.

tiger1964

Well, my wife called and could not get the car into reverse to back out of her space at the office. I went over, I got it to work but you literally have to mash the pedal into the carpet. I got it home safe (again,2.5 miles), even tried something I have not done in decades, a few shifts without touching the clutch pedal.

Found the invoice for the clutch replacement, only 32K miles ago and it really didn't need it then. The invoice (again, an independent shop but the guy is an ex-Honda tech) sadly does not list part #'s but I'll guess it's highly likely the clutch parts are OEM. And I was gentle on the car for the years I drove it, and my wife even more so ("Vtec? What's that?")

I've been wracking my brain trying tp decode what's going on inside the car, specifically could it be the pressure plate? Mechanically, I don't see how it matches with the symptoms. And on Monday AM at this most recent shop, i'm thinking they want to do a tear-down to diagnose, no way do I want that - if it needs a clutch I want the Honda tech to handle it.

Not going back to this local shop again for sure, I don't care how famous the owner is on television.