Honda Prelude Forum banner

New owner. Clutch issues already?

274 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  ttcheung97
Hey Everybody!

New 3rd Gen owner checking in. I’ve owned two 5th gens (both 97s), a 4th Gen (94) and two 3rd gens through the years. I always wanted to get back into a 3rd Gen after selling my 91 4ws in 2008 for financial reasons.

Anyway, I bought a ‘89 manual with 160,000 miles.

It drove fine home. I stored it (put it in reverse since it was on a slight decline). The next day the car started without me needing to push in the clutch, the clutch pedal went almost all the way to the floor, and the shifter won’t go into gear.

Anyone ever experience anything similar? Looking forward to learning from you all and contributing. Thank you.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Triage your clutch.
Thank you Sean. I’m sorry but I’m not sure what that means. I googled it and searched but didn’t find anything definitive. I appreciate your response.
First start with the easy stuff. Download the factory service manual. Resources

Second, does your clutch fluid reservoir have fluid? Try topping it off and pumping the clutch and maybe it's as simple as you didn't have fluid. You may need to bleed the line of air which is done at the slave cylinder. Also keep an eye out for leaks. Pay attention to where its leaking if it is.

Basically the clutch system is made up of just a couple things, the clutch master cylinder, clutch dampener and slave cylinder. From the clutch master cylinder to the dampener is a hard line and from the dampener to the slave cylinder is a rubber line.

If your clutch master cylinder is bad, most likely you'll be leaking fluid under the pedals.

If slave cylinder is bad, it'll be leaking towards the front of the engine slightly to the passenger side.

If it's leaking anywhere else, it's most likely a line that's bad. More than likely, the rubber line which is discontinued.

This should get you running in the right direction. Good luck

Font Auto part Rectangle Parallel Drawing
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Air in your clutch lines most likely, assuming fluid level is ok. Bleed/flush the system at the slave cylinder.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Thank you for this. Super helpful. I’m going to attack this this weekend and go from there.

I haven’t worked on a car since changing the brakes and alternator on my 1994 Toyota Tercel in high school. But I’ll be doing all the work on this car both for the sweat equity and because I don’t have the extra bread to have it worked on by anyone else.

Thank you again. I’ll report back on what the fix is.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Air in your clutch lines most likely, assuming fluid level is ok. Bleed/flush the system at the slave cylinder.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Thank you for this. Along with the previous poster’s recommendation I’ll attack the suggestions this weekend and circle back.
I'm going through the same exact problem right now. Waiting on all my new seals to show up :cautious:. But I plan to do at least one custom line going from the dampener to the slave cylinder. If it works out, I'll do a detailed post on everything required.

Removing the clutch master cylinder is the worst part. You need a a universal socket paired with a deep socket to get to the top nut and flexibility lol

The slave cylinder isn't too bad. Just remove the front two pieces of air duct and you'll have access to all the bolts.

Caution!! Don't get any fluid on your paint. If you do, immediately wipe it off or it'll eat your paint.
Thank you for this. Super helpful. I’m going to attack this this weekend and go from there.

I haven’t worked on a car since changing the brakes and alternator on my 1994 Toyota Tercel in high school. But I’ll be doing all the work on this car both for the sweat equity and because I don’t have the extra bread to have it worked on by anyone else.

Thank you again. I’ll report back on what the fix is.
Working on a prelude isn’t that bad. And plus you learn new stuff when working on it. And you save a ton of money.
First start with the easy stuff. Download the factory service manual. Resources

Second, does your clutch fluid reservoir have fluid? Try topping it off and pumping the clutch and maybe it's as simple as you didn't have fluid. You may need to bleed the line of air which is done at the slave cylinder. Also keep an eye out for leaks. Pay attention to where its leaking if it is.

Basically the clutch system is made up of just a couple things, the clutch master cylinder, clutch dampener and slave cylinder. From the clutch master cylinder to the dampener is a hard line and from the dampener to the slave cylinder is a rubber line.

If your clutch master cylinder is bad, most likely you'll be leaking fluid under the pedals.

If slave cylinder is bad, it'll be leaking towards the front of the engine slightly to the passenger side.

If it's leaking anywhere else, it's most likely a line that's bad. More than likely, the rubber line which is discontinued.

This should get you running in the right direction. Good luck

View attachment 33429

Troubleshoot your clutch system means exactly what Blakeo44 posted.
Its all on this site, just do some searches in our forums specifically.
Also take a look at the stickies at the top of our fourm to see where the information can be found.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
FWIW, if it ends up being air in the clutch hydraulic system, strongly consider doing a replacement braided line from the master to the slave. As mentioned, there's a number of connections in this system, and in my experience it has been a challenge getting pressure on Honda clutch hydraulics. People can bench bleed the master / slave, or use a suction pump to pull fluid into the lines, etc, but in the past I just did away with all that and replaced with a direct line.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Top