Clutch suddenly won’t disengage

[LilRedSpyder]

Ever since I replaced my manual trans in my 2g it’s been working beautifully. Zero issues. For whatever reason last night as I was heading to a friends house and getting off the interstate my clutch suddenly won’t disengage when I push the pedal down. Pedal feels good and the slave is working properly. Master and slave are new and has no leaks but now it won’t disengage when the car is running. I’ve bled the system multiple times just to be sure and still won’t disengage.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Disengage or engage?

When you push the pedal in you are engaging it, and when you release the pedal you are disengaging it.

 

[motomattx]

One of the fingers could have broken off of the clutch fork.

 

[LilRedSpyder]

Disengage or engage?

When you push the pedal in you are engaging it, and when you release the pedal you are disengaging it.

Sorry about the confusion there. When I press the clutch it isn’t engaging. It won’t go into gear when the car is running.

 

[LilRedSpyder]

One of the fingers could have broken off of the clutch fork.

Thought about that also. My pops says it could possibly be broken pressure plate allowing the throw out bearing to not catch properly. Getting an act 2600 clutch kit in the next few days so I’ll swap the fork and throw out while it’s down. Looks like the only way I’ll know for sure what’s going on is tear it down again... I’m getting pretty good with this seeing as it’s my first dsm.

 

[Kryndon]

I'd bet on a broken pressure plate finger. If the fluid looks okay and pedal feels fine, yet the clutch cannot be disengaged, then it would mean a fault with the clutch kit itself.

I once had a pressure plate finger break on me. I was sitting in the car, about to start it, I press in the clutch pedal all the way and I heard a loud pop sound. I tried getting it into gear and vice versa but it was extremely hard. I still managed to drive it around the block ( I was unaware of what was happening at the time) and the car felt twice as slow, because it was slipping. It also smelled real bad too. Then when we took it off a whole pressure plate finger was missing because the plate was so old and rusty it just snapped off.

If you want to double check and make sure it's a broken finger, you can take one of the breather plugs off the top of the trans and shine a light or use a endoscope camera in there. Rotate the wheels while the car is in the air slowly and notice if any fingers are bent, missing or whatever. It's a simple check.

 

[rabenne]

You could also try looking thru the fork boot to see if there are loose parts in the bottom...

 

[motomattx]

He could, but whats the point if he's going to pull it apart to make repairs/install a new clutch kit anyway?

 

[rabenne]

Good point. What's the point in posting at all if you are planning to put new parts on anyway...

OP probably just wants to know what happened and why.

 

[LilRedSpyder]

I originally wasn’t going to tear it all down again but it’s obvious at this point that is the only way it’s going to get fixed. Even if it is just broken pressure plate it doesn’t change the fact that the trans has to come out in order to be repaired. And since I’m pulling it out again I may as well just replace all the clutch components to prevent having to do so at a later date.