I'll appologize up front for the lengthy detail.

I have a CCI Stage 2 with 7K on the clutch (24K on the car)

Recently I have been experiencing some issues with shifting, clutch pedal and an odd noise. The problem went away last night but I think it's because the car was still warm when I left again. But it was back this morning.

Shifting - When I drive to work, my shifting is a little notchy and it's difficult at times to get it into the gears. It's fairly inconsistent, sometimes 1-2 other times 3-4 or 4-5. It happens on each gear and sometimes all six gears are hard to get into.

Clutch/odd noise - When I get to work (30min commute), I turn into the parking lot. With the clutch in and turning sharp to the left or right, I hear a rotating assymetrical clacking sound. (KaClack,Clack...Click-click, Clack, etc.) At first I thought it was the CV joints but then remembered that my S is RWD. Civics have CV joints but not RWD S2Ks. (I have to laugh at my ignorance)

One day, when I drove for about three hours on the interstate I went to down shift and the clutch pedal went soft and did not disengage until about 2" off the floor. I drove it to the local Honda dealer but shifting was a PITA because I had to keep the pedal really close to the floor. (The pedal would come back up all the way but the clutch would only disengage when the pedal was on the floor and re-engage at about 2" off the floor.) When I got to the shop, they started the car and of course the pedal worked fine.

Here's what I have done so far:
-Changed the transmission fluid (Honda MTF), the shifting felt "slicker" but still notchie and difficult to get into gear.
-Bled the clutch. Jacked up the driver's side and had my father-in-law press and lift the pedal while I worked the valve. During the clutch bleed a lot of air came out at first but then it was fluid followed by only tiny bubbles when he had it at the floor. We used a fair amount of brake fluid, so I assumed that the tiny bubbles were just the tube not fitting tight on the bleed valve. (Did air stay in BC the car was not level?) The clutch bleed improved shifting slightly but still not as smooth as it was ten months ago. (Until last night and miraculously the gears were just I remembered them being - but that didn't last.)

I am thinking that the reason it's hard to get into gear is that the clutch is not fully releasing. This may also explain the odd noise when I am turning with the clutch in.

Will a gravity bleed help this? Any other thoughts? TIA!

 

To ensure that the entire system is bleed, bleed with ATE super blue to ensure the entire system is bleed. I used the gravity bleed method until blue fluid appeared, topped off the reservoir, and gave the system a pump. Tighten the bleed screw, lift up the clutch pedal. Quickly pump the pedal in the first 2 to 3 inches of travel; not all the way to the floor; just half way. Not sure why this part is necessary, but it worked for me; and it is in the instructions when replacing the slave cylinder.

Here is another idea, could be air trapped in the slave cylinder. Take the slave cylinder out, tilt it up until the bleed valve is pointing up or at least at a 45 degree angle, and open up the bleed screw to allow and trapped air to escape; might be easier to loosen the bleed screw before removing the slave cylinder.

DO NOT PUMP THE CLUTCH WITH THE SLAVE CYLINDER OUT; it will fall apart and you'll have re-bleed the entire system.

Good luck!

 

I actually tried gravity bleeding the clutch fluid. It did not work well for me. I may have done it wrong, but gravity bleeding worked for my brake pedals.

 

Thanks. I'll try the Blue so I can visually verify. Probably won't get to it until after the FL supermeet. But doesn't sound too difficult. Trying to do the simple stuff firt before taking it in to have the throw out valve replaced.