She has a 92 Accord 4dr EX? LX? (relatively sure it's an F22a1 [DX/LX], but it has a sunroof?![EX] wtf) with a manual transmission, 200K-ish on the car. I don't know what has been replaced and what hasn't, but I do know that it was running fine before this problem. She knows that there is a leak somewhere on the clutch hydraulic system because she has to add fluid to the clutch reservoir every other day. She was running late and didn't get to add any today. On the way home from work, she was heading to autozone when she heard this awful high pitched grinding/whining noise coming from the engine bay. She parked it and called me because I'm awesome and love Hondas. (Go figure, she only calls me when she needs something.)

I got there and saw that the reservoir was pretty dry so we went and got some of that good ol' DOT3 and topped it off. There was air in the line but we got most of it out. (At the time, I didn't know how to bleed a clutch so I was just squeezing the line to the MC. Peachy. Now I know how to do it right because I read the manual and asked people.) Anywho, she drove it around the lot and it shifted fine so I decided to follow her back home (30+ miles away) to make sure she made it back safely. It drove fine in city, fine on the interstate, but as she turned onto her street from an intersection, right turn from a stop, shifting from 1-2, the high pitched grinding/whining noise came back and her car suddenly stopped cold, dying while screeching to a halt (she didn't hit the brakes). At that point, she couldn't move the shifter at all no matter how hard she pressed the clutch (but the fluid level in the clutch MC was still good). She got the shifter loosened enough to move it into 2nd gear. A cop was close by and helped us push it into a parking lot. As we pushed, there was this click-click, click-click noise. We left but came back later and the car started but would not shift at all.

I want to help her, not because she's decently good looking, but because I just care that much. (She's broke as hell and so is her fiance and they can't afford to take it to a shop, so she has to ride on the back of his motorcycle to work tomorrow, and it'll likely be raining.) Plus, I want to learn how to troubleshoot this stuff.






Questions:

• Where should I start looking for this leak? The clutch MC, line fittings, and slave cylinder?
• What do you think caused the awful grinding noise? (This wasn't a gear grind. That sounds more like death and you KNOW you fcuked up when you hear those.)
• Do you think the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel are all toasty now that all this has happened?

Plan of action thus far (do you approve?):

• My first instinct is that the slave cylinder is where the problem is because the boot on it is all kinds of ripped up and it had more of an oily mess on it than the rest of the area.) Thanks to TrustDestruction, I know that's easy-peasy to swap.
• Bleed the clutch PROPERLY. From what I gather, the cylinders are 1 way valves. So as long as I open the bleed bolt and keep pumping, making sure the reservoir is full, that should bleed the system... right? (I may attach a hose to the bolt and put the end of the hose in a bottle or something to be nice to the enviromnent.)
• ?????
• Profit

Those last two are optional. Anywho, thanks for actually reading all that. Hope I can figure this out.

 

Sounds like this latest problem has absolutely nothing to do with the clutch.

When pushing a car in neutral with the engine stopped, the clutch does not move at all. If it's making weird noises, they are coming from something other than the clutch.

Is there any fluid left in the transmission? Really sounds like the transmission could be shot. Also inspect the CV joints.

 

The car is still 30 miles away. I'll check the tranny fluid when I can next see it. And DANG, I didn't even think that the sudden stop could have snapped a CV axle. It took me 5 hours to swap the last one... ugh! But that sounds exactly like a bad CV axle click. Dang!

 

They say it's a 93, but I thought 93 was 5th gen for Accords, and it's a 4th gen. Meh, dunno. Anywho, the axles aren't broken. In fact, they look pretty new. I popped the hood and smelled a residual burning scent, which makes me think the lack of hydraulic pressure made the clutch burn out. But yeah, it was an EX so it did have the F22a6.

 

it sounds like the pressure plate or clutch broke.. take the dust cover off from underneath and take a look. might have to drop the trans.

 

You cannot move the shift lever with the engine off? (and the car on level ground so it is not putting stress on the gears by trying to roll forward or backward)

You cannot roll the car freely (and quietly) with the transmission in neutral?

No matter what shape the clutch is in, you should always able to do the two things above.

Another possibility I was thinking of is the motor mounts have failed and the engine is about to fall out, that might cause the pulleys to drag on the frame (loud screeching noise) and also stress the shift linkage (can't get out of second gear)

 

Sounds like they tranny is shot due to lack of oil.

 

^winner

The slave cylinder was toast so the clutch got a little toasty towards the end... but in the end it was actually the tranny that took a dump. From what the mechanic said, the tranny fluid had NEVER been changed and the engine had 236K on it. So, damn. Sucks for her.