Honda Accord and Clutch Problems

IAmATeaf

IAmATeaf

IAmATeaf

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Noticed today that if I keep the clutch pedal depressed for say longer than 40 odd seconds the pedal goes all soft and I can't then engage any gears. Scared the crap out of me in traffic so pulled over to the side, reversed the car, the pedal went soft and I then couldn't pull the car out of reverse. Car is a 2003 Honda Accord 2.4 Type-S.

Switched the engine off and noticed the clutch pedal rise slowly to the top. I then pumped it a few times and it then seemed normal and I was able to then use the gears as normal. Checked under the bonnet but I had no idea what I was looking for so set off again and that's when I noticed that the pedal would go all soft if I kept it pressed down.

Any idea what may be wrong? I checked all the fluids that I could see and they are all fine, it's almost like the clutch pedal is being assisted by some sort of vacuum mechanism which can't keep pressure due to some sort of leak for any length of time. Luckily I don't tend to keep the pedal pressed for any length of time anyway and always put the car in neutral when coming to stop but today was grid locked stop-start traffic which makes doing the neutral thing a bit tiresome.
 
Remember a friend having this problem on his Accord. Something to do with the clutch pedal not disengaging properly. He needed a new clutch pedal. It's common on vw passats too, I can't remember what it's called.

Go far from home, call the AA. They'll diagnose, then go fix it. That's what my mate did.
 
I've done some reading and the master and slave clutch cylinders may seem like likely cuplrits, think I'm going to take it to my local garage and see what they say as it seems that it will most likely fail completely soon.
 
Holing the pedal down for extended periods of time is not a good thing to be doing.

Without looking, it could be anything. You don't sound like someone who would be able to have a go at this yourself so take it to a garage for fault diagnosis.
 
IAmATeaf said:
I've done some reading and the master and slave clutch cylinders may seem like likely cuplrits, think I'm going to take it to my local garage and see what they say as it seems that it will most likely fail completely soon.
Click to expand...

Yes that would be best too. Depends if they've seen the issue before too.
 
Just spoken to the garage and they've said that if there's an obvious leak that they can spot then they'd replace the master or slave but if there's nothing to go on then they'd replace the master, if this doesn't fix the issue then they'd replace the slave but he warned me that if after doing this the clutch pedal goes rock hard then I'd also have to get the clutch replaced. Cars done 78k miles, does what they are saying sound fine? It's an independent garage I've used for years and to date I've had no problems with them but I was hoping for a more specifics in diagnosing and fixing the problem rather then try this and see if it fixes the issue.
 
It will almost certainly be either a master or slave cylinder leak, have you checked the level of the hydraulic fluid?

If the slave is leaking it should be pretty obvious as there will be signs of the fluid around the slave cylinder. A leaking seal in the master cylinder may not cause any fluid loss at all, or it could cause fluid to be lost inside the car, usualy getting soaked up by the carpets.

As someone else mentioned, it's not a great idea to be keeping your foot on the clutch for that length of time anyway, put it into neutral if you are going to be stopped for that length of time.
 
I've just been out to the check the car, the fluid level hasn't dropped at all from what I can see and I couldn't spot any leaks that I could see inside or in the engine bay.

I tried reproducing the problem on my driveway but couldn't, held the pedal down for around a minute and all was still fine so did the same with the engine running and again all seemed fine.

People saying don't hold the pedal down, I am talking about 40 odd seconds, wouldn't people keep the pedal down for longer than that at the lights? On a flat road, with the brakes holding the car I certainly would sometimes keep the car in 1st and keep the clutch pedal held down. Not saying I do this all the time but certainly not something I would consider odd.
 
Why not use the handbrake and stick it in neutral? You won't do the clutch any favours. Wearing out the throw-out bearing etc.

Why hold the pedal down for 40 seconds when you can pull up the handbrake, knock it into neutral, and relax for a while? All you are doing is tiring your leg out and wearing out your car. :p

I tend to use the handbrake & stick it in neutral if I'm stopped for any longer than 6 or 7 seconds to be honest. Sometimes I do it for periods shorter than that simply because it is a habit.
 
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I have a habit of holding down clutch in gear whilst waiting in traffic, bad habit...

Anyway as said it will be either master/slave cylinder, pressure plate or the clutch pedal mechanism going into the master cylinder.
 
Cheers for the input guys, I took the car out in the afternoon as I had a Homer Simpson moment and couldn't get the wifes Yaris started. Completely forgot that you have to press the clutch pedal down before the car will start and had a single moment with the clutch pedal which resulted in a crunching of the gears. I've got the car booked in tomorrow for the garage to have a look at it.

Wish I had got rid of the car last year now as it's likely to be a hefty bill which will mean that I'll now have to keep it for another year to sort of get my monies worth out of the repair, if that makes sense?
 
Just been to the garage and they looked the car over and apart from the comment that the clutch pedal is quite hard didn't really say much, told me that they couldn't really look at it today so suggested that I can use it over the weekend and bring it in on Monday.

One thing that I sort of think I've noticed is that the problem seems to occur when I'm doing speeds of 35mph +, so idling around in traffic and although the clutch feels notchy it seems fine but increase the speed and the there seems to a definite negative effect on the clutch.

What could cause these type of symptoms at a higher speed, done some googling and the suggestion seems to be the pressure plate which would mean a new clutch? but the garage are talking about initially replacing the master and possibly slave clutch cylinders.
 
If the pressure plate is bad then you will find trouble going into gear and such when engine is running, you might also get similar symptoms to a bad or worn out clutch. If your pedal is spongy feeling as you described it could even be as simple as a bit of air in the hydraulic system.
 
The pedal looses pressure and is slow to rise when I'm giving the car some beans and then trying to change gears. Once I've slowed the car down and the pedal has risen then the clutch seems fine albeit a bit notchy. When this has occurred the car was either stuck in the gear that it was in and no matter how much force I used I couldn't get it out of that gear or if it was stuck in neutral then it just wouldn't go into any gear no matter how much force I used.
 
I wouldn't ever hold the clutch pedal for that long. I put it in neutral if I'm sitting for more than about 5 seconds.

Sounds like a slave cylinder or hydraulic issue.
 
Sorry to keep on about this but if either the master or slave cylinders are faulty and I appear to have no fluid leaking that I can find, I can't quite understand what is actually happening that is causing a loss of pressure.

The only place that could vent the pressure without fluid loss would be the filler cap, does that make sense?
 
There are seals inside so leaks won't be so obvious, also any seal wear can cause air to go in to system, which held long enough will make the pedal spongy.

if you do not want to repair it, the 2.4 TS are quite sought after, and yours is a low miler so you could always sell it.
 
Might be worth getting the fluid renewed, it will deteriorate as it's hygroscopic so with the warmth of the engine it could cause a problem.

But yeah you wouldn't notice a problem with the clutch if you used it properly ;)
 
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