Ack! Stinking dead clutches :(

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Well I can't complain one bit.... I knew it would go out one of these days. Tonight, after exactly 321,342.6 miles my original factory clutch has failed to function for the very first time. It's actually not the clutch disc or pressure plate itself, but the throwout bearing rather. Still grips fine, just won't release (disengauge) and I can't shift gears. She still didn't leave me stranded though! So this is the very first time my car has ever been towed anywhere due to a mechanical failure.

Ahh well, hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow or friday. I hate being without my car :crying: I just hope they use a good clutch and throwout bearing, and not that cheap autozone crap.

Ok I'm done ranting now :)

[MrBen]

Wow man! I was wondering when it was going to die on you! Its amazing it made it that long, but now you get to get another OEM clutch and drive another 300,000 miles :)

[adams86lxi]

man your first and only clutch! thats awesome! My accord is on its 3rd clutch! the clutch in it was just replaced before they gave it to me:D man that thng was hard to drive the old clutch was so worn down! The other clutches were worn down by my mom who drove it before me!

[MrBen]

This is my second... and I'm at 250,000 right now. :)

[jigga225]

Mine bent out at 185,000 mi

[SiR]

Thats sucks, and the weird thing about it, that me and my friend were talking about clutches and I was talking about your original 321k clutch! My bad!!!

Look at it this way, here is your opportunity to swap to automatic!

[88' Accord Ltd]

The clutch in mine was replaced when I bought my 3g at 260,xxx kms. It had a fully rebuilt tranny.

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by SiR
Thats sucks, and the weird thing about it, that me and my friend were talking about clutches and I was talking about your original 321k clutch! My bad!!!

Look at it this way, here is your opportunity to swap to automatic!
Yea, you jinx'd me the other night when you were telling Mr. Anti-Honda about my clutch, you bastard! :rant: ......... :D J/K!!

Well it's still not done. I went over and looked at it today, and it was still up in the air, with the tranny on the floor along with the clutch components. Turns out the release bearing wasn't at fault after all, but the clutch disc. One of the little damper springs on the disc just broke and fell out, and that was what was rattling around in the bellhousing probably causing something to jam. The friction material on the disc was almost completely gone too, which makes it more suprising that the clutch didn't slip one bit, even when pushed hard. So a new clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and rear crank seal are all going in. Thought I might need a new flywheel too, but that was actually in really good shape. So hopefully tomorrow it will be done. I'll get a few pics tomorrow. And no, I'm not switching to automagic!!

On a side note, on the way home from school today I got to watch the rental Mazda 626 turn 40,000 miles, hahaha :lol

:)

[88LXi68]

are you upgrading clutches or are you juts putting in an OEM?

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by 88LXi68
are you upgrading clutches or are you juts putting in an OEM?
Just OEM for now. If I had more time to do it or had a little more warning before it went out, I would have probably upgraded. But for now I need my car back ASAP, so I just took it in for a stock replacement.

[bobafett]

+ the cheap upgrades are shitty from what i have heard, and OEM honda clutches are better unless you are buying a NIIIICE one.. :)

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

W00t!! Well it's all done.... went and picked it up earlier today to the nice tune of $535...OUCH! :( I guess that's not all to bad though, considering. They put the new clutch and rear crank seal in, and everything is working just fine. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a genuine Honda clutch like I wanted, so aftermarket it is (not performance, just stock replacement). This one feels alot different than the old one did. Before the clutch pedal was nice and stiff, just how I liked it. This new one you barely even have to touch the pedal to push it down...I keep jamming it against the floor, LOL. It doesn't grab as quick either like the old one did. I guess I should wait until it's broken in though.

Here's a few pics of the old one before I cleaned it. This is exactly how it came out of the car....

clutch disc
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=447f7f1e-23b1-59bd-40de-488c2dfbd399&size=

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=18a5e779-4826-7121-3bdb-194a2da27a5d&size=

kinda thin! heh
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=3f906924-b16b-6086-6e50-258b751c676e&size=

pressure plate. This is actually still in really good condition! Could probably be reused if necessary
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=5cde5408-33ca-7d59-5d96-60116340643a&size=

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=85966dc3-3700-4368-561a-403b416f3a8b&size=

this is the piece that broke out and was rattling around in there. It's part of that damper spring that came out from the clutch disc. Most likely this got caught in something and is what made it not work
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=73712109-e832-353d-55ce-39f2144f2668&size=

And here's a few after I cleaned it up....
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=508d5a67-e637-4edb-4d9d-6944b78e4ffb&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=25b215c4-63cd-5a10-6e2d-6192273c16d2&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=734452e8-6386-63c3-5f83-1581e8de186d&size=
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=1427b6e9-d08b-787d-3429-18224238628f&size=

Well I'm just glad to have my car back. Now hopefully I won't have to worry about a clutch for another 300k miles! haha

:)

[MrBen]

Ouch! I dunno about aftermarket lasting 300k miles but I guess it's worth a shot :)

[mindlos]

I bet this is my problem too. The night before my distant vacation the car refused to shift while running and the clutch pedal was feather light. When I started it in gear with the clutch pedal depressed the car rolled along like it was released. In a bid to get home I wound the nut till the clutch would disengage when the pedal is depressed. That turned out to be only good for 2 miles and then the clutch stayed disengaged with the pedal released even in gear. I unwound the nut to get some freplay again and still wont engage when the pedal is released.

I going with an exedy replacement on this one and I dont feel up to doing the labor so I think I will give it to a shop to install. Sucks to get back to a grounded car!!!:(

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Well just a little update.... it's been less than a month and only 900 miles, and this clutch is already giving me problems :mad:

I'm having nearly identical problems to mindlos's post above. Everything has been perfectly fine so far, then today I went to the junkyard, and coming out sitting at the stoplight, the light turns green so I push the clutch in and put it in gear, then all of a sudden the tires chirp and engine stalls just as if I popped the clutch, yet the pedal was still to the floor, and when I took my foot up, the pedal stayed down. At first I thought the clutch cable broke, but I checked that and it's just fine. Took the cable off the release arm (on the tranny), and noticed the release arm would move up and down freely for several inches. Put the cable back on and tightened the adjustment nut until I got the proper pedal freeplay, and that meant adjusting it all the way as tight as it would go. It worked after that and I was able to drive the 20 or so miles home, and I drove it around here a little and it's still working, but doesn't feel right at all. Shifts are smooth, but the clutch doesn't grab down low like it used to, it now grabs an inch or two (guessing) before the pedal is all the way up, definitely not where it's supposed to. Also seems to be a vibration in the clutch pedal that wasn't there before.

So I'll be taking it back to the place that did it. Good thing it's got a lifetime warranty! LOL Still frusterating though. If they do replace the whole clutch (or even parts of it), I'm gonna ask that they use genuine Honda parts. My factory clutch lasted 321k miles and I never had a single problem with it...ever! This one lasts 900 miles before it breaks....slight difference.

Ahhh....I hate aftermarket parts!!! :burn: :mad:

[Morpheus]

300k!
I thought clutches usually only lasted an average of 100k?

[MrBen]

Jared isn't average :)

Edited because I'm stupid.

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by GhettoAccord
Jim isn't average :)
:huh: :confused:

[MrBen]

Originally posted by Morpheus
300k!
I thought clutches usually only lasted an average of 100k?

I was referring to that...

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by GhettoAccord
I was referring to that...
I know, I was just wondering who Jim was, LOL

[MrBen]

Yeah I thought of that after I had posted. I was reading a post by Jim and then subconsciously put your name there. Me and my multitasking skills... :rolleyes:

[mindlos]

Sucks man. At least you got the warranty. I dropped the transmission today and it turns out the clutch disk was mighty thin and the side that contacts the pressure plate was rivets only. Small fragments of lining were all over the place in the housing. The thing just disintegrated. No wonder it refused to grab afterwards. I got other problems now and I'll post a new thread just not to hijack this one.