1993 Honda Civic clutch foot pedal has little pressor

Hey everyone,

I had some problems in the past with my car, and all of you great
people on the board were able to help me. Unfortunately, today when I
tried to drive my car (its been sitting in the parking lot for 3 days)
when I started the car I noticed that the foot clutch had absolutely no
pressor. I tried to put the car into first gear, and because of the
lack of pressor it wouldn't let me.

I heard of a clutch going bad, or scraping when changing gears, but I
never seen or heard of this happening. I pumped on the clutch pedal
like 20 times and managed to get some pressor in it so I could go to
work today. As I was driving back home I had problems changing gears
again and pumped on the clutch pedal a bunch of times, and it seemed to
work. Does anyone know what maybe causing this problem?

I just started a new job being fulltime, and now started college also
being full time. I don't have any money to get a new car, otherwise I
would. I cannot afford to take off work or miss any school. Please help
me. :O)

Thanks so much for your time, and help.

Johnny

 

Clutch master cylinder seals are bad.

Rebuild/replace. Easy job.

 

is this something I could do? I'm pretty good at doing just about
everything. I just need to know what I need, and where the master
cylinder seals are located.

Thank you Tegger!

 

I haven't got a clutch MC replacement page, but the brake MC is pretty
close to that.

The differences are that the clutch MC has only a single circuit, has no
booster, and the line to the slave is short. Bleeding is a LOT easier.

The seals are very, very similar to the brake MC seals (but only one
circuit).

Hope it helps.

 

Thanks tegger.

I'm going to have this guy at the shop replace the clutch master
cylinder, and the clutch slave cylinder. This should do the job right?

I just gotta get thing fixed. I am driving back and forth at work, and
then school, and cannot lose any days off at work or school. I'm a
freshman, so I don't want to miss anyways.

Today while I was driving on the expressway here in Atlanta during rush
hour. I got scared because I'm driving 80mph, and then have to jump
down to 30 and throw myself into 3rd shift. I had a hard time changing
gears as the pedal didn't want to allow me to shift into 3rd gear. I
had to put my foot under the pedal, and raise it up, and then slowly
pump on it, and then it managed to get enough pressor to get me back to
2, 3, and later 4th. This is a serious pain in the ass way to drive,
and I must say very dangerous too.

How long before I will not be able to pump the clutch pedal, and when
will I lose complete pressor? Sadly. I have to wait 2/3 days before I
can get this fixed.

Thanks again.
John

 

That'll do it. If the MC is worn, the slave is likely not far behind, so
you're killing two birds with one stone, a good idea.

Maintenance is always an excellent idea. And sometimes skimping on repairs
can be false economy.

It'll take a few days or weeks, depending.

You're welcome.

 

first thing to do is check the fluid level. it's common for these
things to leak, and once the line is airlocked, you get the symptoms you
describe.

suggest that while you're waiting for parts, you refill the reservoir,
bleed the slave and make sure you keep it topped up. you can drive a
car like this for some time before the leak gets so bad it won't work at
all.

and in emergency, you can get away wihout the clutch for all gear shifts
except pulling away from standstill. just get the revs right and hold
the stick against the gear slot you want. it'll drop in as soon as it
meshes. do /not/ make a habit of this or force it - for hopefully
obvious reasons.

 

Hello Jim,

Thank you so very much for your help. I was wondering though where is
this reservoir located on the car so I can make sure it is filled up.
But, what do I fill it up with? dot4?

Basically its like this. When I walk into my car the clutch pedal is on
the floor. I then start up the car, and slowly pump on the clutch pedal
about 10 times, and then there is enough pressor for the clutch padal
to allow me to engage in changing gears. The wierd thing is that the
car was working perferly fine. No problems with the clutch or the
pedal. I parked the car for 3 days, and came back and seen the clutch
had no pressor. Something just seems weird.

Thank you.

 

Does the Master Cylinder level ever drop over time? This is a *critical*
question! It makes ALL the difference! I've asked it before and received no
answer.

By the way, it's spelled "pressure", not "pressor".

 

It's on the driver's side of the engine compartment, close to the firewall.
It has a short rubber hose leading to the cylinder itself.

Do not confuse it with the BRAKE Master Cylinder reservoir , which is
mounted directly on its Master Cylinder body, and has a great big black
cake-pan sort of thing behind it.

Ordinary DOT3/4 brake fluid is fine.

 

Thanks Tegger

I got confused with pressure, and pressor. as with "Master Cylinder
level ever drop over time?"I am not quite sure what you mean by does
the level ever drop over time.

As for brake fluid the only place I put some is as whats located in
this picture:

http://home.iae.nl/users/fhoutert/images/Underhood_1.6i.v-tec_1.JPG

If you look at the very top right corner (drivers side) there is the
white brake fluid holder with the grey cap. I would think this is the
BRAKE Master Cylinder reservoir, right?

The firewall is what faces againest the dash board correct? and where
does this cylinder sit with the rubber hose? is there a place I can
pour fluid into it?

Thanks for your help, and please excuse my ignorance for this matter.
I'm trying my very best to learn as much as possible, so I can help fix
my car, and help anyone else.

Thank you!
Johnny

 

"Does the amount of fluid in the reservoir go down as the days pass on the
calendar?" That's what I mean.

By "go down" I mean the sort of phenomenon experienced as you consume a
drink in a glass. Eventually the level goes down so that there is no more
drink in the glass and you need to go to the fridge and get more.

Bad pic. Great big strut bar impairs the view.

Also, judging by the riot of aftermarket gingerbread dressing up this
scene, I'd say there's a chance the clutch master cylinder has been
relocated out of view.

You have a '93, do you? Then you should see more like this:
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/Honda_Civic1992-1995_%20clutch_hyd.pdf

(all on one line)

Yes.

The "firewall" is the enormous steel sheet that sits between you and the
engine. Many cables and wires pass through this on their way from you to
the engine, and it's decorated with parts bolted to it (such as the big
black round cake-pan called the brake booster"). Some cultures refer to
this as the "bulkhead".

If you're unfamiliar with this term, you need to go to the library and get
some very basic books on cars.

Check out that PDF.

 

After palavering with this fellow some more, I'm starting to think your
hunch may be right on.

If he cannot find the clutch master cylinder at all, there's a good chance
it's completely empty, having probably been ignored for years.

 

Thank you for the Diagram Tegger. I just looked and it and now get the
whole picture. Without any visual graphics, then I can be completely
clueless.

I just checked the reservoir thats connected to the clutch master
cylinder and realized that it was barebone dryed. There wasn't a single
drop of any DOT4 in that thing. I just poured some into the reservoir,
and pumped on the pedal about 25 times to see if it would get some
"pressure" and it seems to be a little tighter.

I doubt the reservoir has been capped off anytime lately. This is only
my 2nd car I have been driving, and only have been driving for 4 years.
Any help is greatly apprecitated.

I don't really know what products on a car need to be replaced year
after year. The lady who I bought this car from in June 2004 probably
didn't change much. When I bought it was just sitting in her driveway,
because she didn't want to spend money on a new timing belt, because
her husband and her just bought a new dodge durango.

Thanks

 

I figured pictures were needed. Sometimes that's the best.

You need to bleed it. There is air in there that will prevent the pedal
from feeling proper.

Also, there is a good chance the master cylinder seals are bad and it won't
hold pressure anyway. Those seals are meant to be lubricated with fluid.
Runnng them dry will chew them up very quickly.

And you should study the slave cylinder (follow the steel line back from
the MC to find the slave). That missing fluid went somewhere. You may need
to replace that, too.

Check under the dash in front of the clutch pedal for wetness and fluid
staining to see if it's been escaping out the back of the MC.

You might as well consider this your "learning" vehicle. the one you'll
make all your mistakes on.

If you want tips on bleeding, post back here. Somebody will help.

Good luck.

 

Hi Tegger,

I just checked for leakage, and it doesn't seem there was any fluid
leaking out of the mc. There is enough grease on the end side of the mc
by the pedal, so it all seems to be fine. All I can think of is maybe
the fluid on the MC was never filled back up, and it damaged the seals
on the MC.

AutoZone just received my parts, so I'm going try and have this guy
install them tomorrow, but for the time being, I'll just keep pumping
on the clutch pedal.

I don't see anywhere that its possible to bleed the mc though.

Thanks again for your help. You've been so very helpful.
The labor will be about $80.00 the guy said, just for future reference
for others who may have to have someone else do it.

Respectfully,
Johnny

 

you don't bleed the master, you beed the slave - down at the gearbox
end. just open the bleed nipple & let the air come out. keep the fluid
reservoir topped up while you do this. wash any spillage with plenty of
water - never wipe.

btw, honda recommend dot3, not dot4. some dot4's have been problematic
with seals after they've been used with dot3, the factory fill.

 

Thanks Jim. Darn, and I had just bought the good synthetic dot4

 

Synthetic is DOT5.

 

silicone is dot5.

dot3 & dot4 are glycol-ethers.