Clutch Issues - Sticking to Floor, Soft, etc.

[CowPimp]

My car and mods are listed in my profile.

Well, randomly my clutch decided to be a bi***. It does a combination of the following:

-Sticks to the floor. I have to get my foot under it and pull to get it up.
-Drops to the floor. I touch the pedal very lightly and it just shoots down to the floor before I even push it all the way.
-Doesn't fully disengage. When I push the pedal down, it doesn't fully disengage. I can tell because if I push the clutch pedal down while leaving the shifter in gear, it doesn't rev freely when hitting the accelerator.
-Comes up slowly. The pedal doesn't come right up when I let off. It moves slowly for about the first half of it's journey, and then comes up as normal the last few inches.


After doing some searching on these forums, it seems as though the following are likely possibilities:

-Clutch fluid somehow was drained a la a leak in the hydraulic system.
-Master and/or slave cylinders are about dead.


Additional notes:

-This seemed to occur right as the weather became very cold.
-Feverishly pumping the clutch pedal seems to help. Once I do that, it is good for a little while. However, after driving on the highway for a little while, hence not using the clutch pedal, it returns to it's previous state of sporadic functionality.
-This clutch has been installed for almost 20K miles.


There you have it. Any suggestions, comments, guesses, etc. are all appreciated.

 

[ludevtec93]

sounds like you need to bleeed the clutch.. that should do the trick

 

[CowPimp]

sounds like you need to bleeed the clutch.. that should do the trick

Thanks for the quick response! I hope you're right.

Keep the guesses coming. The more who believe this may be the issue, the better.

 

[2nd gen gst]

Check your clutch hard lines also, might be leaking allowing air to get in.

 

[BigBADGSX]

check your lines...and i would replace the slave and the master then you should be ready to go. also how old is your clutch? is it stock? might be time for a new one also.

 

[CowPimp]

I'll check the lines too.

My clutch isn't old, like 18K or so. It's an ACT2100. I didn't do it myself, and I'm pretty sure they didn't use brake fluid for the clutch fluid, so that may very well be the problem. I had no idea that was the fluid to be used until I did research on the topic tonight. I seem to recall some 75W-90 fluid going in there...

 

[Jehu]

Might also be a good idea to check for play in the crank...

 

[Nerfherder]

If you're using gear oil, instead of hydraulic brake fluid, that is your issue. Drain the gear oil and put DOT approved brake fluid in there.

 

[Peatry85]

Have the exact same problem, had to jam in the gears all the way home for 15 miles, i push the clutch in, have pressure on the pedal, yet still cant shift. I do have a leak in the clutch hose which i am replacing, i think i might as well change the master while im at it.

 

[CowPimp]

Well, it turns out my master cylinder was leaking; it was bone dry. I had that replace and refilled the fluid with DOT3 brake fluid, and all is well.

 

[me612]

You know this happened to me twice in my 2g. First time was the master cylinder like you said you're problem was. Second time was my hard clutch line sprung a leak right in the middle of my 200 mile journey. While you're workin in there, you should consider spending the money on a replacement SS Braided line from RRE. Not to much, and definately will prevent what happened to me from happening to you in the future. Because I'm sure you've learned, it's annoying as hell. And if you're line breaks, you can't deal with it and lift the pedal with your foot. You are SOL because you will be unable to disengage your clutch with that line leaking. I had to finish my trip not using a clutch. Had to start the car in 1st gear, so when it started i would just be moving. Then had to gently shift from gear to gear without using the clutch for the rest of my trip. PITA!