I have a 99 base model, in which I completed a 5-speed swap. When I first start the car the clutch pedal is very spongy and there is a loud sound coming from the transmission, but once it warms up the pedal returns to normal and the sound stops. However it still will not shift into gear. The master cylinder is brand new and there is no clutch fluid leaking anywhere. I checked the transmission fluid and the level was good. I'm going to drop the transmission this weekend, but I was hoping someone had an idea to what the problem may be.
Do you know if the throw out bearing was already lubricated or did you lubricate it yourself? ive had a couple i had to pack the grease myself and i have heard they dont work to well not being lubricated.
if you say your loud whining sound occurs when youre NOT holding the clutch pedal down then its probably not your throwout bearing making the noise. when your clutch pedal is in the rest position your throwout bearing is not spinning and is under no stress at all. the throwout bearing could only make a noise when you press the clutch pedal and its pushed into the pressure plate springs. this is the only time your throwout bearing spins. with all that ive said so far im assuming everything was reinstalled properly because im not accounting for mistakes you may have made like forgetting to reinstall that spring to hold the throwout fork back when the clutch pedal is rested. that could allow the throwout bearing to make unwanted contact with the pressure plate springs
now assuming everything was reinstalled correctly, keep in mind that if your sound occurs when your clutch is engaged (clutch pedal in rest position) there are a lot of spinning components inside your clutch housing and transmission and the sound could be caused by any bearings for the gears and things like that. you should post a youtube video if possible as its kinda hard to be much help from a forum post alone.
about the tranny not shifting: are you sure the clutch is actually disengaging when you push the pedal down? the reason i ask is your tranny dont like to shift in and out of gears when the car is on and the clutch wont disengage. turn the car off and see if you can shift in and out of all the gears. if it will shift with the car off then the problem is likely in one or more of your clutch system components, if it still wont shift that sounds like it could be a problem with your linkage or shift forks.
The trans shifts fine with the motor off, so as you said it is in the clutch system. This weekend I'm going to lower the transmission and see what is wrong. Hopefully it is just the bearing and nothing else.
it seems as if your problem is your clutch isnt disengaging when you push the pedal. before you actually go that far, get a friend to push the clutch pedal while you watch the clutch fork and slave cylinder to see if theyre moving as they should. you may not need to go so far as to remove the tranny from the car. i dont need to tell you thats a lot of work.
if the slave cylinder is pushing into the clutch fork and the clutch fork is pivoting like its supposed to then the problem is within the clutch housing and you have to open it up. if the slave cylinder or clutch fork doesnt seem to be moving as they should when the clutch pedal is pressed then your problem isnt within the clutch housing which would be good news. whatever the problem is it wont require removing the tranny from the car. its somewhere between the clutch pedal and the slave cylinder. im just trying to help you save trouble if possible. keep this thread updated with what you find out and maybe we can figure this out.
I just started my car cold and it wasn't making any strange sounds now (though it may make it tomorrow when I start it). The clutch pedal was still very spongy as if there was air in the clutch line. However I recently had it bled by Honda techs so I don't think there is any air. I will start it again tonight once the temperature drops and see if the sound begins. I'm also going to reinforce the firewall between the master cylinder and pedal tomorrow, that may cause a change in the pedal travel distance and will solve the problem. I will post my results of what happens.
^^The distance the pedal travels could be the problem. My buddy had an H-swap in his accord and the same thing happened. Messed with the pedal for a lil bit and got it to travel correctly and pressure built in the line and everything worked just fine after that.
Here is the sound that comes from the transmission when it is completely cold. This does eventually go away once it is warm. Also I just pulled my clutch pedal assemble out to reinforce the firewall and I noticed some fluid around the rubber boot that is on the clutch master cylinder. I know this push rod needs to have some lubrication to stay smooth, so I don't know if the amount was excessive or not.
Here is the sound that comes from the transmission when it is completely cold. This does eventually go away once it is warm. Also I just pulled my clutch pedal assemble out to reinforce the firewall and I noticed some fluid around the rubber boot that is on the clutch master cylinder. I know this push rod needs to have some lubrication to stay smooth, so I don't know if the amount was excessive or not.
There shouldn't be any fluid coming out of it, if there is it's leaking and therefore bad? I did read that it was new, but you never know right? That's besides the point with that sound being involved though. First off congrats on almost completing your swap. Did you do anything else to the engine while you had it pulled apart? It's always possible the sound and clutch not engaging are two separate problems entirely. Good luck
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