......After almost a month to troubleshoot it in my garage, I am finally gaving up and seeking other people's advices or suggestions. It started after a normal drive home from work. Without warning, it became very difficult to shift into gears, and some vibrations were coming from the clutch pedal when depressed. Not hearing any unusual noise/smell at that point. I shut down the engine, shifting gear became normal again, but the clutch pedal felt funny and soft. I opened up the service window underneath the transmission and discovered that the pressure plate wouldnt release the disk when the clutch pedal was depressed. To make the story short, I started adjusting and replacing part: first adusting the push rod at the clutch pedal, followed by replacing the slave cylinder, then the master cylinder, the clutch hose, bleeded the system many times...same result. So I decided to go ahead and put in a brand new ACT clutch kit, and the result is......still the same: little vibration from the pedal when engine is running, soft pedal, and the clutch still wont disengage. If anyone have any insight or actually know what's going on, please do speak up and bring me out of this hell hole, and I will be very appreciated .

 

OK this might sound insulting, but I'm trying to help.. is the clutch disk installed the right way? One side has a more flat center part and the other side sticks up a little more. It IS possible to put it in backwards and then you can't get it in gear.

Another possibility is air in the line.. did you bleed it really well? Did you keep the master cylinder topped up so you didn't suck in air?

Is it possible for you to crawl under the car and look in through the inspection hole while someone presses the clutch? It should move maybe... oh I don't know 5-7 mm or so? Maybe you can carefully rotate the driveshaft by hand while your friend pushes it in and see what's up?

How did the pilot bearing look? Maybe it's dragging on that and not releasing right?

This is probably all stuff you've done already... just thinking out loud here. I know when I put my ACT in my [3] I had to get the pedal adjusted just right under the dash for it to release properly.

Brian

 

^

 

Could it be a bent clutch fork?

 

I second the pilot bearing. I had the exact same problem a few weeks ago, and I could not find a problem, but when I took my tranny off, my pilot bearing was shattered. Now seeing as you replaced the clutch, I am assuming you did the pilot bearing as well. But if not, that is definitely something to look into. Especially if you have already put in new cylinders and such.

 

A bent clutch fork is what I was thinking about since none of those adjustments or replacements was working. As a matter of fact, the clutch fork is the only thing that I didnt replace. But is it possible that the fork can actually bent, because the material made up the fork is very brittle and rigid. It will break right away before it actually bent, right? Anyway, that's one of the possibilities which can be taken into consideration before I tow my car to the shop. And I want to say thank you for your responses guys.

 

Hydralic systems (master cylinder push rod)are adjusted at the factory. Most people think that making it shorter or longer may improve certain symptoms; when instead they just overlook the real problem and misadjust the correct push rod travel. I hope that wasnt your case!
Also like someone else said, after rebuilding the system make sure its air free. Hope that helps.

 

You are in the exact same position that I am in! I could not put it in gear so I put a act s/s clutch and RB flywheel in. I just finished putting everything back together Saturday night and got the car to start. I still can not get the car in gear. The pedel feels soft like you said and I feel the slight vibration in it also.

When I took everything out the pilot bearing was shattered. I replaced it and the seal. When I put the tranny back on it was an extreamly tight fit. (is that normal???) When under the car I can see the fork moving the pressure plate splines back but I don't know enough to know if it's moving them enough. I'm at the point that I was going to try a new clutch master or slave cylinder.

I have not done ANY adjustments under the dash.... what can I adjust there?

 

Well,

That makes three of us. I purchased a new clutch fork but now I'm not sure it's the problem. Mine will move the clutch some but it appears not enough. I was hoping one of you had made some progress and could steer me in the right direction.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

So what all have you done w/ your problem? You also install a new clutch? Somthing I asked Ryan007 in a PM... did you have any probs w/ your pilot bearing? Mine was destroyed and when I installed the new one and put it back together it was an EXTREAMLY tight fit... it didn't just slide in like I thought it would. I'm wondering if I destroyed the new bearing reinstalling everything.

I'm going to jack up a friends FD and take off the service plate to see if his travels further than mine.

Please let me know if either of you guys figure anything out.

 

i just had the same problems with mine. replaced the slave cylinder and master cylinder and still the same problem. it turned out to be a crack in the hose from the master to slave cylinder. re-bled and all is fine.

good luck

 

In the flex hose correct? I'm just assuming that when you said hose you didn't mean the bent pipe.

Did you notice any leaks? or did it appear to be fine?

I actually have a SS clutch line sitting on the bench... maybe I'll replace that tonight and see if that fixes my problem.

Thanks!

 

Im pretty sure its a shattered/damaged pilot bearing leading to clutch misalignment. Since you were driving it fine b4 I dont think the misalignment was due to a improper install. Did you replace the pilot bearing as recomended or even lubricate it when you replaced the clutch? When you replaced the ACT Clutch did you make sure to install using the clutch alignment tool (very important)?

 

Ok... I have a quick question for you.... I "did" use the clutch alignment tool and I also greesed up the bearing and the tranny input shaft. Yet when I went to install the tranny to the motor (out of the engine bay) it didn't just slide together like I though it would.

How easy should the tranny slide into the engine? I'm going to try my clutch line and then after that I guess I start to tear everything apart again to see if the pilot bearing is shot (again)

 

It can be a very big pain in the *** to get it to slide in because you have to line it up just right. I did mine with my car on jack stands and it took me days. With your engine out im not sure what the difficulty level would be. If you had truble doing so and loosend up the clutch cover, your clutch IS misaligned. Also you are not supposed to just lube the pilot bearing your supposed to put the NEW one you get with the clutch kit in and lube it up. Clutch job is always a pain in the *** the first time.

 

Sorry for not stating.... I did use a new bearing and seal. My old one was destroyed (and it seemed like it was next to impossible to get the tranny off the first time) The shaft on the tranny seems to be fine tho.

I did not loosen up the clutch cover while trying to attach the tranny. I lined it up with the tool (which seems like you can still be off by quite a bit... the tool is not a "perfect" fit) and then tryed to attach the tranny and it would not "slide" in... I basicly had to force it. I have a feeling now that I probally ruined the pilot bearing doing this.

If it is "just right" will the tranny basicly slide in without much/any force?
If so... then what your saying is if it doesn't go in easy I should take it off and loosen the pressure plate and realign the clutch itself?

I don't really want to take the tranny back off but I'm not aginst it. I happen to have another pilot bearing sitting on the bench anyways.

 

Do not loosen up the clutch cover and alingn clutch with the input shaft, if you could do this you woud not need an alignment tool just think about it. It is a tight fit but you should not need excessive force to get it in as its not a press fit. Its just that while you are sliding the imput shaft in you are not perfectly lined up whith the clutch disk hole so it make id a bit of a pain to line it up and get it in. Sounds to me like you have to remove the tranny again though. Maybe when you force it in you introduced some misalignment. Also make sure clutch disk isnt backwards. Good luck.

 

I understand not loosening the clutch cover w/ the tranny on. That why I stated "take it off"... sorry... I should have said "take the tranny off".

I know the disk isn't backwords... but I guess there could be some misalignment.

This may be a stupid question but.... If it was off a tiny bit but it fit together. When you pressed in the clutch pedal and the splines moved back wouldn't it shift into place? Perhapes I still don't understand how it all works

 

check the clutch fork.....