Problem: clutch pedal sticks a little when fully depressed

[annointed]

Hi. I just took delivery of my '95 NSX-T yesterday. I had a trusted family member who is very good w/cars inspect it out in CA where the car was. Anyway, upon driving it, I immediately noticed that the clutch pedal sticks a little bit when fully depressed.

If I press the pedal fully to the floor, and then begin to release the clutch to start moving in 1st gear, the pedal briefly sticks to the floor. As I continue to ease pressure on the pedal, it suddenly comes up off the floor, making it tricky to take off smoothly, and even making it easy to stall out. Mind you, all this happens with my foot completely on the pedal. Its just a slight, but noticable, reluctance of the pedal to come back up and off the floor, which makes pulling off from a standing stop tricky.

Anyway, I've owned 14 cars, 13 of which have had manual transmissions, so I'm pretty familiar with normal clutch pedal function. Is this a typical problem with a known remedy? Do I need a new clutch master cyl, perhaps? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

Mark

 

[annointed]

Oh, one more thing, this problem feels almost exactly like having a floor mat positioned so that the clutch pedal manages to just slip under it when fully depressed. Then upon lifting off the pedal, you get that "sticking sensation" followed by a sudden release as the pedal pulls back out from under the mat.

 

[SugrueNSX]

Hmm hard to diagnose remotely. Could a weak return spring on the pedal cause this?
As has been said many times on Prime. I would check the easy stuff first. Bleed the system to make sure there is no air in there. If it’s still bad after that then I would suspect that you might need a new master cylinder?

Regards,

Patrick

 

[nsxtasy]

Hmm hard to diagnose remotely. Could a weak return spring on the pedal cause this?
As has been said many times on Prime. I would check the easy stuff first. Bleed the system to make sure there is no air in there. If it’s still bad after that then I would suspect that you might need a new master cylinder?

 

[C-speed]

Bleed the clutch.. if there is air in the system, it could easily cause it to do that.

 

[annointed]

Thanks, I'll start with these suggestions. Where is the clutch bleeder located? Do I access it from the top or bottom of the car?

 

[SugrueNSX]

Thanks, I'll start with these suggestions. Where is the clutch bleeder located? Do I access it from the top or bottom of the car?

It’s on the slave cylinder on the left hand side of the engine bay. I seem to remember that you can go in from on top or underneath. Check it out in the online manual. It’s a two handed job as in two people as I’m sure you know. Unless you have installed a speed bleeder nipple which I recommend. Good luck and remember not to get any fluid on the paintwork coz it will strip the paint right off.

Patrick

 

[C-speed]

Ya, you can get to it from the top. Just put a piece of vaccum hose on the nipple and feed it into a small bottle to catch the fluid. Bleed it just as you would bleed brakes.

Good luck!

 

[annointed]

I wanted to update this thread. I've gotten used to the trickiness/finnikiness of shifting my NSX, and pulling out w/the sticky pedal, etc.

Several weeks ago, I got into the car, and the pedal had a slight click/clunk sound when I fully depressed it. The car then shifted into Reverse PERFECTLY, no triple clutching, etc. I then drove the 10 minutes into Atlantic City, and the whole way, it had that little clunk/click sound, and the shifting action was smooth and sweet. The pedal engagement was also right by the top of the travel, rather than barely off the floor.

I parked the car, went about my work day, and when I started it to drive home, the clutch pedal was back to its old, difficult self, sticking when pedal is fully depressed, and engaging very close to the floor. So I briefly experienced what the pedal action is supposed to feel like, smooth shifting, high engagement point, etc.

Since that time, I've had a 50/50 shot at having the clutch work normally. Lately, it seems that it works normally 75-80% of the time, so I've had a gradual evolution from not working well at all, to occasionally being smooth and normal, to usually being smooth and normal...although there is no in-between. Its either a bitch to drive, or nice, normal, and smooth.

One thought I have is that the weather has been warmer of late, as summer approaches. This shifting problem is not related to engine temps, though, as I could drive the car for an hour, and it still had the annoying clutch action, and difficulty engaging gears without double and triple clutching. It also might be in my head, but it seems like the clutch is happiest on days after it rained overnight (car often sits outside in the rain on nights I stay at my condo near Atlantic City, instead of driving back home to Philadelphia area and garaging it). These factors shouldn't make a difference, but I wanted to mention them, just in case they may actually play a role.

Anyway, just looking for fresh insights. I really should check the fluid levels again, now that I've logged 1500 miles on the car, and see if the clutch fluid is low, since it wasn't before, when I first accepted delivery of the car. I suppose its possible the previous owner topped it off before the car shipped out to me.

Thanks for your insights, I really appreciate this forum.

Mark

 

[Esprit1]

Had similar problems last month. But with the help of fellow NSX'ers here, my problem is fixed. Please kindly see link below.

Best Regards
Paul

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65419

 

[SugrueNSX]

I wanted to update this thread. I've gotten used to the trickiness/finnikiness of shifting my NSX, and pulling out w/the sticky pedal, etc.

Several weeks ago, I got into the car, and the pedal had a slight click/clunk sound when I fully depressed it. The car then shifted into Reverse PERFECTLY, no triple clutching, etc. I then drove the 10 minutes into Atlantic City, and the whole way, it had that little clunk/click sound, and the shifting action was smooth and sweet. The pedal engagement was also right by the top of the travel, rather than barely off the floor.

I parked the car, went about my work day, and when I started it to drive home, the clutch pedal was back to its old, difficult self, sticking when pedal is fully depressed, and engaging very close to the floor. So I briefly experienced what the pedal action is supposed to feel like, smooth shifting, high engagement point, etc.

Since that time, I've had a 50/50 shot at having the clutch work normally. Lately, it seems that it works normally 75-80% of the time, so I've had a gradual evolution from not working well at all, to occasionally being smooth and normal, to usually being smooth and normal...although there is no in-between. Its either a bitch to drive, or nice, normal, and smooth.

One thought I have is that the weather has been warmer of late, as summer approaches. This shifting problem is not related to engine temps, though, as I could drive the car for an hour, and it still had the annoying clutch action, and difficulty engaging gears without double and triple clutching. It also might be in my head, but it seems like the clutch is happiest on days after it rained overnight (car often sits outside in the rain on nights I stay at my condo near Atlantic City, instead of driving back home to Philadelphia area and garaging it). These factors shouldn't make a difference, but I wanted to mention them, just in case they may actually play a role.

Anyway, just looking for fresh insights. I really should check the fluid levels again, now that I've logged 1500 miles on the car, and see if the clutch fluid is low, since it wasn't before, when I first accepted delivery of the car. I suppose its possible the previous owner topped it off before the car shipped out to me.

Thanks for your insights, I really appreciate this forum.

Mark

OK
So we can assume that you bled the clutch as per our advice?

Patrick

 

[annointed]

OK
So we can assume that you bled the clutch as per our advice?

Patrick

:redface:

lol...I havent' had a day off from work since Dec 25th, so I'm embarrased to say that I have not bled the clutch. In June I have a two week block that I'm taking off, so I have several items on my agenda to square away during that time, including hopefully working this gremlin out of the car.

Air really does seem like a legit possibility, though. Its odd, the clutch is nearly always fine lately...literally 90% of the time. Strange that the first 750-1000 miles were hell. The past 300 miles have been great. Its just odd for the character of the car to change dramatically for no apparent reason.

 

[SugrueNSX]

:redface:

lol...I havent' had a day off from work since Dec 25th, so I'm embarrased to say that I have not bled the clutch. In June I have a two week block that I'm taking off, so I have several items on my agenda to square away during that time, including hopefully working this gremlin out of the car.

Air really does seem like a legit possibility, though. Its odd, the clutch is nearly always fine lately...literally 90% of the time. Strange that the first 750-1000 miles were hell. The past 300 miles have been great. Its just odd for the character of the car to change dramatically for no apparent reason.

I don’t want to hear any excuses Mister!
You could have bled that clutch in the time it took to write your last post.
It really is only a ten minute job, even the first time you do it.
The intermittent nature you describe is exactly the type of symptom you would expect from having air in the line. Remember the air has some water in it and as it gets hot and cold it can boil off and then re condense causing the symptoms to change. Also long term that water vapor might cause corrosion.
Don’t you dare post again until you have bled that clutch! :smile:

Regards,

Patrick