Can't change gears!
 

So I've got this '89 Prelude 2.0Si 5 speed and I'm having a problem where often times after I've driven the car for a while I cannot change gears. To me it feels like the clutch is still touching the gears or whatever when I step on the clutch all the way. And no, its not 'me not knowing how to drive clutch' LOL it really is all the way down.

Some evidence would be.. leaving the car in 1st gear, stepping on the clutch all the way and letting go of the brakes will result in the car moving forward.. and jerking motions along with it. Had a mechanic check out the clutch itself and he said the clutch is still 70%.. what else could it be?

Right now the car is pretty much undriveable. This problem comes very randomly.. often I can start it up and drive it for maybe 20 mins. Then I stop somewhere for a while and start driving again and the problem comes up. Sometimes I'm forced to leave it in 1st gear and try and get somewhere safer so I don't block traffic. Then after I park the car for sometime the problem may go away.. yeah really random.

HELP! :(

oh yes and I've tried just 'forcing' it to 2nd gear with clutch all the way in.. bad bad bad idea. Pretty much the clutch is half engaged or something so MASSSSIIIVVEEE grinding occurred and I kind of cried a little on the inside.

is it a cable clutch or hydraulic clutch?

if it's hydraulic check the clutch master and slave for leaks
if it's cable check the linkage and readjust

After some quick google detective work I'm pretty sure its hydraulic.
How do I check for leaks? Is it something I can do myself or should I just haul it to a mechanic again? Thats what I'm thinking I should do..

you can check it yourself. check the fluid level in the reservoir.

look at the pedal and if you see any fluid coming from the rod through the firewall.
look at the transmission and find the slave cylinder and open the boot and see if theres any fluid there

these small leaks will cause the clutch to not fully disengage causing the grinding as well as only happening randomly

Sounds like a clutch master cylinder leak. It's common on these preludes. Would want to change slave at the same time too.
I was also wondering.....how did your mechanic come up with 70% clutch remaining? Did he actually remove the transmission and look at the clutch disc?

dont force your tranny into gear, it'll break the syncros and it'd become a nightmare.


top up resevoir, and go get it fixed.

clutch
 

sounds like leakage from CMC, slave or line. if it's leaking from somewhere you don't have brake fluid in the reservoir so time to check look around where it's leaking from. good luck.

it's should be your clutch master cylinder, right above your clutch padal, usually 2 bolts bolt it on the firewall, should not take your more than 30mins and about 60 bucks on parts to fix it.

very clear info,,, but how to bleed the hydraulic oil in the cyclinder? how to make sure there no air in the system ?