New clutch slips?
White&Nerdy
Senior Wagonist
OK, since I can't do a search on honda-tech I'll just ask the really smart people over here. 
This is also for my gf's 88 CRX Si, but the question could apply to a manual wagon, too.
During the engine swap, it got a new clutch, and the flywheel was resurfaced. Reassembled, drove home, yay, no slippage. Then it didn't run for 3 months (bad connection in dizzy). Fixed that, started driving it regularly. Then the NEW clutch started slipping! It has maybe 500 miles on it, tops. Started pretty mild, as in I had to be pretty hamfisted with it to make it slip. But now even an abrupt burst of throttle even at low revs in a high gear can make it slip. The car can still be driven, but we aren't, just so we don't make things even worse. Other than the slipping, the clutch seems perfect - no binding, no noise, engagement is perfectly smooth like it should be.
Before you suggest it, I adjusted the clutch cable to make it as tight as possible. There's gobs of free play, and the clutch is engaging as soon as the pedal comes off the floor. It helped a little, but didn't stop it from slipping.
Any suggestions, short of dropping the tranny and pulling the clutch? :evil:
This is also for my gf's 88 CRX Si, but the question could apply to a manual wagon, too.During the engine swap, it got a new clutch, and the flywheel was resurfaced. Reassembled, drove home, yay, no slippage. Then it didn't run for 3 months (bad connection in dizzy). Fixed that, started driving it regularly. Then the NEW clutch started slipping! It has maybe 500 miles on it, tops. Started pretty mild, as in I had to be pretty hamfisted with it to make it slip. But now even an abrupt burst of throttle even at low revs in a high gear can make it slip. The car can still be driven, but we aren't, just so we don't make things even worse. Other than the slipping, the clutch seems perfect - no binding, no noise, engagement is perfectly smooth like it should be.
Before you suggest it, I adjusted the clutch cable to make it as tight as possible. There's gobs of free play, and the clutch is engaging as soon as the pedal comes off the floor. It helped a little, but didn't stop it from slipping.
Any suggestions, short of dropping the tranny and pulling the clutch? :evil:
Comments
Anyway to check for such things without pulling the tranny?
broken release bearing ear or spring?
failed pressure plate? (not likely)
lining worn(no way, right?)
All associated hardware was replaced at the same time as the clutch, except the flywheel which was resurfaced.
Need to check the brand of the clutch. Our friend who installed it (he has a shop) recommended it highly for a Civic, so we took his advice. The whole rest of the job has been excellent. Just... meh.
I would make sure that your clutch cable is 1) working correctly (very simple to do) and 2) is adjusted to spec (or close to it) and not all the way "tightened" or "loosened". So long as the componentry is correct and the clutch cable is fine then there is little to do but pull it again (the beauty of a non hydraulic system is its fairly black and white).
IIRC there shouldn't be any more than 1-1.5" of freeplay before the clutch cable/pedal starts to feel resistance. It shouldn't be all the way down to engage on the floor (making it hard to shift gears without grinding as the clutch isn't fully DISengaging) OR all the way up top with a lot of dead space beneath the engagement point (causing the cable to stretch, and the clutch slips like a mofo because it is not ENgaging all the way).
Assuming that the clutch operation is functioning as it should (you can shift fine) and it is just slipping really badly I would only guess that something is up with the lining/friction surfaces of either the disc or flywheel. Perhaps there was some glaze over and it is now quite hard to stay engaged without slipping. Yank it out and let us know!.