92 Accord Clutch Problems

[phatso2e]

I changed out the clutch on a 92 Accord EX about 2 weeks ago.

 

The repair went fine. It was the first time I did a clutch. We put the transmission back together, bled the clutch line, took it for a test drive and all was good. The car then sat for about 10 days as I went on vacation.

 

When I got back, I took it to emission testing where they ran it on the dyno to simulate an uphill acceleration, putting a lot of stress on the car. All was well, I passed with flying colors.

 

Immediately after that, I drove it home and was going down a hill, took the engine up to 4,000 rpm to shift from 2nd into 3rd and I hear this clunking, rattling sound. At first, I though I may have blown the engine, as if a piston had broken. I blew the engine on a Isuzu Rodeo before, so this was a familiar sound. The clanking sound got louder. I was still able to shift gears, and at certain instances, the noise went away, and then would come back.

 

I managed to make it home (only a few miles drive). As I was coming to a stop, I put the car in neutral and the car was fighting to say alive. I came to a complete stop and shut the engine off. Then I restarted the car, the clunking sound immediately started again. I tried to shift gears while the car was still parked, and was unable to, even with the clutch pushed all the way down.

 

The following morning, I got in the car (engine off) and was able to shift gears again. But as soon as I turned the engine back on, I was NOT able to shift gears. Next, I restarted the car while already in 1st gear and drove it down the block. I seems that the clutch is engaging, but did not disengage when I pushed the clutch pedal down.

 

My only thought is that the throw-out bearing may have gotten out of position (I don't know how). We had to continually reposition the throw-out bearing while attempting to mount the transmission back onto the engine, so I was concerned that it may come loose. Is this even possible?

 

My other thought is that the installation of the clutch was done wrong, but I followed all instructions to the "T", straight from the Honda service manual.

 

I looks like I am going to have to take another weekend and tear this thing apart to find the source of the problem...something I am not looking forward to.

 

Have anyone experienced something like this after doing a clutch replacement? Any insight would be helpful.

[xxhrdcr4lifexx]

wow dude thats a long as life story you have there but good detail though. i my self had some what the same prob with mine... sept when i would hit 40+ mine would start clanking around likes your did, but i could shift just fine no fighting or anything, then one fine day i raced this 1 fat kid in his half ass cop car thing, when i dropped into 2nd my clanking and rattling is no longer an issue anymore.

 

so w/e to a make a long story short my throw-bearing was rattling around then it some how resat its self when i dropped gears idk how but ya its all gravy now.

 

so take your trans back out and redo what you did and youd be surprised at what you forgot to do the 1st time.

 

this is y you double and sometimes triple check your if your not 110% sure is correct... or you have a mechanic do it for you

[Turtlehead]

Someone might be smoking crack... Other then that there is a couple potnetial causes: 1. you flipped the clutch plate before installing (as it can be installed both ways), 2. the (a) clutch pressure plate bolt is loose (should be torqued to around 19 ft. lbs). Other then that recheck all your bolts on the transmission and clutch job. My guess is my comments above, but obviously without looking at it and knowing what you did it is hard to tell.

 

Post back with your findings and whether you need additional help.

[xxhrdcr4lifexx]

Someone might be smoking crack...

 

its vry possible when i post on some of these im just getting off work but ya no joke ive had 5 ppl tell me that was my prob and now idk wtf its just gone idk how but hell if no how it happened. was just a thought as to what his might have been, but im not rly a tranny guy i have knowledge of em but not a whole lot.

[cranny]

either the pressure plate or the flywheel bolts are loose. thats what im guessing. and DO NOT start the car again till you take it aart and see.

[phatso2e]

I had a friend drop by who is a Honda mechanic to help me diagnose this problem. He's thinking either I installed the clutch plate incorrectly or I have a defective clutch.

 

I bought the clutch replacement package from Checker's for about $110. The same Honda parts go for about $450, so there is a good chance my clutch may have already failed or is defective. He told me even Honda parts sometimes have defects and they have to redo the work at the dealership.

 

The clunking sound I hear is either caused by the flywheel (which appears to not be spinning straight) banging against the engine or not making the proper contact with the clutch plate.

 

Or possibly the throw out bearing came loose and is clanging around the transmission housing.

 

But that was my greatest fear since this was my first clutch I've done that something like this would go wrong. You live and you learn. Well...I won't know for sure unless I take this thing apart (AGAIN), hopefully the 2nd time will be the charm.

[phatso2e]

I cracked the car open again this weekend and discovered that I did not tighten the flywheel "tight enough"! The flywheel was was ready to come off. When I installed it the first time, I used a torque wrench, but must have not set it properly. I even used tock-tite.

 

To top it off, 2 out of the 8 bolt are stripped at the very beginning of the thread as well as the bolt-holes that they go into. So it will require some new taps to get the bolt to screw back in.

 

All of the bolts on the flywheel were loose. The 2 bolts at the very bottom had worked their way out and was making contact with the clutch friction plate, that is how the clanging noise was produced. This constant contact with the friction plate caused the these two bolts to strip the first few threads.

 

Now comes the real problem...the tap is very rare. The thread is super-fine on the bolt, so it would require a 12x1.0 tap, which nobody seems to have. One friend gave me a suggestion: cut 4 lines down the length of a "good" bolt, hastily making a tap out of this existing bolt.

 

I'm going to give it a shot and see how it goes.

[mpearce1974]

I cracked the car open again this weekend and discovered that I did not tighten the flywheel "tight enough"! The flywheel was was ready to come off. When I installed it the first time, I used a torque wrench, but must have not set it properly. I even used tock-tite.

 

To top it off, 2 out of the 8 bolt are stripped at the very beginning of the thread as well as the bolt-holes that they go into. So it will require some new taps to get the bolt to screw back in.

 

All of the bolts on the flywheel were loose. The 2 bolts at the very bottom had worked their way out and was making contact with the clutch friction plate, that is how the clanging noise was produced. This constant contact with the friction plate caused the these two bolts to strip the first few threads.

 

Now comes the real problem...the tap is very rare. The thread is super-fine on the bolt, so it would require a 12x1.0 tap, which nobody seems to have. One friend gave me a suggestion: cut 4 lines down the length of a "good" bolt, hastily making a tap out of this existing bolt.

 

I'm going to give it a shot and see how it goes.

Did you only torque them one time? As a rule I tighten them up snug set torque wrench 10lbs lower than recommended, tighten them all down, then adjust wrench to factory spec. and go through them and tighten, then just to be sure go through one more time just to verify they are all tight. Was this a stock flyweel??