All right guys, I need a little advice... Ok, now keep in mind that I've only had this car for about 3 weeks. I bought it pre-owned with about 7k miles on it. Anyhow, I noticed this problem about a week or so ago when I was shifting fairly hard from 1st to 2nd gear. Once I pulled it out of 1st and into 2nd, it took almost a full second I would say for it to actually go into 2nd gear. I took it all the way up to about 8 grand in 2nd and shifted the same way into 3rd, with again the same result. Now, I didn't shift all that hard in either gear as I would if I was actually racing somebody for example. I thought initially that perhaps I had left the clutch in too long even though it didn't feel that way. Last night, on my way home from dinner, I had a good opportunity on a nice long straight away to give it another shot. So at about 5k rpm in 1st gear, I nailed it to the floor, took it up to 9 grand and this time shifted much harder and made sure to not roll the clutch at all. Unfortunatley, I got the same result. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to catch a little bit of rubber going from 1st to 2nd gear. So, I'm thinking about taking the car to a local Honda dealership to have them look at it. Since you all have quite a bit more experience in dealing with Honda on these kinds of issues, I'm wondering what the best course of action would be? Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

Brian

 

Your experience "could" merely mean that you are giving it too much gas just prior to clutch release when shifting. When you had it at 5K rpm and floored it, did it seem like it was slipping? Because if it wasn't, then my first statement may be true. Usually, flooring it from a low to moderate rpm is the test of whether or not your clutch is in need of changing.
What you do in your high rpm shifting may be an indication of the clutch "beginning" to go OR, it could only mean your clutch/throttle/ shifting syncronization is not quite right. Not being there, I can't say for sure which one it is.

 

Thanks for the input! I'm going to play around with it a little bit more tonight, or tomorrow. I really don't drive the car very hard at all to be honest. In the three weeks I've owned it, I've only really brought it all the way to redline a handful of times. I'm going to test it out a little more before concluding that the clutch is bad. In the event that the clutch is bad, is that something that Honda is likely to replace under warranty, or are they going to give me crap about it? The car is bone stock, and only has 8k miles on it, and hell, I've only owned it like I said, for about 3 weeks.

Thanks again for the input!

Brian

 

Each dealer will look at the situation differently. A clutch is normally not a warranty item unless it falls under one of the Technical Service Bulletins.

 

My original clutch has been doing what you describe for 30K miles, and I have NEVER been able to chirp the tires going into 2nd gear (even with shit tires). It is just a weak pressure plate. You need to give the clutch more time to fully engage before hitting the gas.

BTW, if you keep slipping the clutch like you have been, you will glaze the friction disk. A glazed disk will not grab well at all, and will take several hundred miles of normal driving to un-glaze it.

 

All right, so I was out most of the day yesterday and had a couple of opportunities to play around with it again. Much to my dissapointment, I got the same result. I can bring it up to about 5,500 rpm in 1st gear and nail it to the floor without the clutch slipping at all. In fact, it throws me right into the back of my seat just the way it should. But when I bring it up to 9 grand and rip it into 2nd, there is a pronounced pause before it will engage in 2nd gear. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to turn the tires going into 2nd gear. I took a MY00' out for a test drive a couple of weeks before buying my car, and the clutch on that car did not slip at all. If fact it grabbed so hard going into 2nd gear, it felt for a second like I was going to lose control of the rear end of the car. Now, that's not my goal here, but when I shift from 1st to 2nd gear, I don't want there to be a delayed reaction. And it does it when going from 2nd to 3rd gear as well. I'm not talking about anything small or insignifigant here, it's very noticable. That can't be normal, can it?

All comments and suggestion are welcome. Thanks again!

Brian

 

[QUOTE][size=1]Originally posted by gernby
BTW, if you keep slipping the clutch like you have been, you will glaze the friction disk.

 

The clutches and differentials on this car are



Get yourself an ACT heavy duty 2600 lbs pressure plate with the street / strip full face disc.



Chirp 6th then.

 

You forgot to mention adding the differential to the replacement list if you go that route.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Need4spd28