Did I blow my clutch?!

[the_red_pooch]

Ok I think I blew something in my clutch today, I didn't have a chance to really look at anything because I was on my way to work when it happened so I had to just get back home quick to take anther vehicle so I wouldn't be too late for work. As I was driving, not hardly even accelerating, more of a coasting and shifting into 5th gear. I was cruising already in gear and heard a pretty loud clunk and the car jolted a bit, I was changing CDs at the time so I was unaware as to what happened, I thought maybe I hit something but when I looked back I seen nothing in the road so I pulled over immediately for fear that I hit something and it broke my bumper. When I pushed in the clutch, thats where it sat. It didn't come back up, all pressure was gone. I looked under the car and there was black fluid pouring out in a solid stream, the fluid looked somewhat like oil(I'm assuming this was hydraulic fluid) and it smelt quite burnt. It was pouring from what appeared to be almost behind the whole motor closer to the passenger side of the firewall. I didn't have time to do anything besides push the car in a near driveway and go to work so I'll look at the car hopefully tomorrow before I work again but I'm curious as to what anyone thinks this could be? Just a broken clutch line maybe? Or did I blow my clutch out completely?
Thanks,
Dustin

 

[brodiedehass]

Sounds like you transmission went out, not just a hydraulic leak.

 

[robs90tsi]

Sounds like you transmission went out, not just a hydraulic leak.

Possibly, but it sounds exactly like he just blew out a clutch fluid line, passenger side firewall, where the clutch lines run, pedal went straight to floor, loss of pressure, you probably just blew a line out, when you get the chance, put your car up on some jackstands, and stick your head underneath, and follow the line up from the slave cylinder, and you should almost definately find the blowout.

 

[brodiedehass]

black fluid pouring out in a solid stream,

If this is fluid from the clutch lines, he really needs to change his fluid. It is not supposed to be black.

 

[avw0516]

My bet is with Rob. When my clutch blew out it just kind of popped and was able to free rev. I would tend to believe that it is just a clutch fluid line because transmissions are quite difficult to break and it doesn't sound like you were being rough on the gears. Usually clutch fluid is a bit lighter in color than oil, but it probably had tons of burnt clutch in it.

 

[WMD]

Well he said when he was driving it felt like he hit something. I experienced the same feeling when I was driving a car where the clutch exploded. If his clutch did explode then there should be fragments left in the bell housing since it is not vented. And like avw0516 said it would free rev in gear.
Maybe his main bearing seal is toast too.

 

[the_red_pooch]

Ok, thanks for the responses so far. I'm leaning more towards a clutch problem, mainly a line. The transmission and motor are new as of a few thousand miles ago so I'm hoping that isn't the problem, but I guess if it is then my tranny is supposed to be insured for awhile yet. I think it was just a clutch line because after the loud noise, I was still able to shift the car into neutral when I stopped. That just kinda dawned on me while I was reading this. I'm sure if it was the clutch I would have had to pull it out of gear rather than shift it so smoothly out. I hear no grinding afterwards and the tranny shifted ok when I was stopped and the car was turned off. Tomorrow I'll have to poke my head underneath to see where all the leaking was coming from, so I have a chance to see it in the daylight. The fluid was quite dark, almost with a metallic silver look to it(which worries me that I may have glazed the flywheel).
Thanks,
Dustin

 

[WMD]

The car will shift fine when the car is off because nothing is moving. Oh and when my clutch blew up it was easy to shift because there was no clutch.
Good luck and please try putting your finger in the bell housing to check for oil and clutch fragments. To do that you need to pull the rubber boot around the fork away from the housing. This will give you access to the inside.

 

[brodiedehass]

Usually clutch fluid is a bit lighter in color than oil, but it probably had tons of burnt clutch in it.

How could the fluid have gotten burnt clutch in it?

 

[avw0516]

How could the fluid have gotten burnt clutch in it?

Actually your right. I wasn't really thinking about how that would work. I just remembered that when I changed my clutch my bell housing was full of black crap. I'm not sure how it would mix together though. As you said before though it may just be very old and in dire need of being replaced.

I still don't see how you could blow your transmission if your not being excessivly rough on it. I'd suggest pulling the bell housing off and inspecting the clutch and flywheel and then just visually checking the clutch line.

Just one more question, you said that when you looked under the car you saw black fluid pouring out. Where exactly was it coming from?

 

[the_red_pooch]

I looked under the car and there was black fluid pouring out in a solid stream, the fluid looked somewhat like oil(I'm assuming this was hydraulic fluid) and it smelt quite burnt. It was pouring from what appeared to be almost behind the whole motor closer to the passenger side of the firewall.

That is from my original post...

 

[WMD]

Well did you take a look, since the sun is setting now.

 

[the_red_pooch]

I actually tried today earlier in the day but I was home alone. My car is too low to see anything underneath without gettin it up in the air and I can't get a damn jack under it , stupid lowered suspension. I don't work tomorrow and hopefully I can get my dad to help me after he gets off work at about 3:30 to get the car up in the air. I'll most likely end up trying to drive it up on some boards with a slight incline till I can get it a good foot or so further off of the ground to get my head underneath it. On the note of the car being lowered, how the hell do I get one of these things aligned? I have two eclipses that are lowered about 2" with body kits and I can't get them aligned anywhere around here. The two most common problems with it seem to be that either they can't get the car up on the aligning machine or the nose cone blocks the sensors that they use to align the wheels with one anther. Any suggestions as to what I can do to get these pigs aligned?
Thanks,
Dustin

 

[the_red_pooch]

Well after a grueling hour battle I got the car up in the air a bit, enough to get underneath anyways. I looked around underneath and I could see no sign of fluid coming from any lines or anything like that. Instead it looks to me like all the fluid was just pouring out of the bottom of the bellhousing by the flywheel. I started the car while it was up in the air to see if I could get any more fluid to come out to see where it was coming from exactly but there was no sign of anymore leaking, I'm assuming that it has all leaked out already. I also noticed that there is no cover on the absolute bottom of the bellhousing so you can see the flywheel quite easily, I wouldn't assume that this is supposed to be like this but I don't really know, I'm very new to the 4g63... I'm pretty lost as to what's wrong or how to fix it and I definately don't have the money to take it to a shop to be repaired... Any suggestions as to what I may have broken?
Thanks,
Dustin

 

[Dream On]

There should be an inspection cover over your flywheel. I would talk to whoever rebuilt or replaced your transmission about that, cause something most likely got up in there...This doesn't sound good.

 

[WMD]

http://www.wotevah.com/pics/eclipse/exhaust/undercar-combined-small.jpg
In the pic you can see that bottom of the trans is coverd.
Remember what i said about the main bearing seal in post #6? If i where you I would try to drain the oil and see if there is any left in the motor, and then the trans.
Good Luck
Edit: but from what it sounds like( felt like hitting something, exposed flywheel, stream of oil) your going to need to take out the motor and the trans. If its your main bearing seal, and you let the car run awhile with out sufficent oil, then you could, not nessarely, have caused more damage. If its your trans, you will want to take it out and drop it off at a shop and have them do a rebulid. It will be far cheaper then having a shop remove it, fix it, then put it back in. We had a rebuild job done on a ford trans for 500.
Nice looking car though.

 

[vintagemuscle]

Ok, thanks for the responses so far. I'm leaning more towards a clutch problem, mainly a line. The transmission and motor are new as of a few thousand miles ago so I'm hoping that isn't the problem, but I guess if it is then my tranny is supposed to be insured for awhile yet. I think it was just a clutch line because after the loud noise, I was still able to shift the car into neutral when I stopped. That just kinda dawned on me while I was reading this. I'm sure if it was the clutch I would have had to pull it out of gear rather than shift it so smoothly out. I hear no grinding afterwards and the tranny shifted ok when I was stopped and the car was turned off. Tomorrow I'll have to poke my head underneath to see where all the leaking was coming from, so I have a chance to see it in the daylight. The fluid was quite dark, almost with a metallic silver look to it(which worries me that I may have glazed the flywheel).Thanks,
Dustin

the metallic silver fluid is your trans fluid. it looks like that after the fluid hasn't been changed in a while.

 

[the_red_pooch]

Ok, so you think it was my tranny fluid then? Thats what I figured/hoped. I checked the oil in the motor and it was clean and full on the dipstick. If it was the tranny fluid then thats not a good thing either I spose... What do you think happened exactly that it would be spewing fluid all over. I have blown several clutches and trannies in other vehicles I've owned and have never experienced the fluid pouring everywhere with either situation so that's why I was a bit confused as to what exactly happened... All in all I'm sure its not a good thing, but I'm really hoping it wasn't too terrible... What kind of bill do you think I'd rack up if I had to get a new tranny and clutch? I'm thinking if both are necessary then I'd go with a shep rebuild and get everything double synchroed and probley with an ACT 2600. How much of a pretty penny will that be running me?!
Thanks so far,
Dustin

 

[WMD]

Wow, well keep us posted. This would be my first time hearing about a MT breaking and causing a stream of oil. I would like to know what went wrong.

 

[the_red_pooch]

That's exactly what I was thinking... I've never had this happen to me before either. I'm not sure that the tranny is broken, thats kinda what I'm asking because I honestly don't have a clue... I need to find a 4g63 guru around me who could possibley take a look and maybe tell me what the hell I did wrong... Thanks so far though...
Dustin