Clutch Doesn’t Seem to Engage

[lipperrandy]

I’m puzzled with the clutch on my sons 2002 Civic. When he was exiting a highway he lost drive to his wheels. He can shift into gear with the car running, and the clutch pedal feels normal (it doesn’t stay on the floor when pushed in) but when he lets the clutch out nothing happens. There is an unusual noise when the car is running but it isn’t very loud. The clutch hasn’t been replaced recently or any work on the transmission. As I said at the beginning I’m puzzled??

Topic

[college man]

sounds like the clutch is gone. check the clutch master
for fluid.

[Roy French]

One way the clutch can fail is disk rupture. When this happens the splined hub in the center of the disk becomes detached,making power transfer impossible. Not very common, but it does happen.

[lipperrandy]

I’ve checked the master cylinder fluid level and it is ok. I’ve checked the drive shafts and they also seem to be ok. One more thing I tried was to put the car into gear with the engine running. With the clutch pedal pushed in I could select any gear. With the pedal out I could occasionally select 2nd and reverse I would get the gear grinding sound. Is the only way to check the clutch by removing the transmission?

[Roy French]

Yes, looks like your going to have to pull the tranny out.

[lipperrandy]

I haven’t had to do that before so it’ll be a new learning experience. Thanks for the help it’s greatly appreciated.

[Author]

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