97 SE 5SPD. I think my stock clutch is finally done at 149k. Exiting off interstate yesterday, I push clutch in as I'm coming to a stop. I feel no pressure in the pedal until it's halfway down. I manage to get it into 2nd so I can pull off to the side of the road. Now I'm stopped and feel no pressure when pressing in the clutch until about an inch or two from the floor. And car will not go in gear, any gear. I never like to run my car into the ground til it breaks and I didn't think I was because I never once felt that clutch slip. Is this definitely the clutch?

Question 2: I have symptoms of the 4th gen differential bearing issue. Look out credit card. Mainly 1 drop of transmission fluid leaking every other day and increasingly louder whining when moving in gear. If my clutch is done and they're in there fooling around, I may as well drop an extra grand to have this done, right? Maybe a dummy question, but what would happen if I didn't have this issue looked into? Would the improperly shimmed bearings ultimately lead to a tranny failure?

Car is sitting at the dealership right now cause I am going with the stock clutch again. Haven't talked to them yet (car was droped off after hours yesterday) and I want to have an understanding of my problems before I talk to them and get effed in the a. Thanks for listening. me > < dealer

 

out of all places why the stealership?

 

Purchase Amsoil Series 2000 SAE 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube, for your transmission.
Well worth the money.

 

I want the stock clutch. That is if it's my clutch in the first place.



Redline MT-90 is good too.

 

I just got my bearings and seals replaced. But I drove around for about a month and a half before I had the money to fix it. But if it is your clutch also might as well get it fixed all at once. And why can't you get a stock clutch from a regular transmission guy. You are going to pay up the *** for the work at the dealer.

 

ok this happened to me before. when you feel no pressure on your clutch, and it does not go into any gear, it means your clutch slave is out. you have to replace it. it usually costs between $150-$200 dollars. good luck.

 

Man it sounds like the slave or master cylinder went out on you. Exacly the same symphtoms my friends GS-R exhibited after 6 years of driving. Make sure to inspect those items AFTER you get your car back. Cause the dealer might say yeah they put in a clutch for ya, when they just changed a 50 dollar part in 15 min and charged ya 800 dollars for a clutch job. Just a warning

 

Thanks everyone...going to the dealer now to see what they say.

 

Turns out it's the clutch slave cylinder. For anyone who's done this, is this something the amateur diy-er can do with a haynes manual?

Dealership wants 180 parts and labor. Part is only 45 from courtesy.

clutch and tranny will have to wait.

 

You will need a 2nd person to help you bleed the clutch system afterwards. 180 bux is not all too bad. I guess it just depends on how soon you will need you car and if Courtesy doesn't screw up their order for you like they did for me a few times

 

You could definately do it yourself. The hardest part would be getting bolts off the slave cylinder since they're hard to reach. I would say you would need 3 hours or so if you've never done it before this includes bleeding.

 

To me your clutch problem sounds like you ran out of clutch fluid. You should've checked your slave cylinder to see if there was any fluid. you probably just had a leak in there some where. I have a leak in my clutch line and just haven't fixed yet so about every 4 months or so I have to fill up the slave cylinder with fluid. Maybe one of these days I'll replace the clutch line and not have to worry about it anymore.
As for the differential bearings I'm not sure about that but you said your tranny leaks so you probably need a new gasket.

 

I guess I probably should have read the entire post before just posting things, such as above. Hope you can fix your problem I don't think it's too hard.

 

update: Talking to the service desk on the phone and I'm asking the guy if the amateur mechanic can replace the clutch slave cylinder? He starts feeding me lines like, "oh, I don't know your mechanical abilities, blah, blah, blah; I can't really say." Well they had the part in stock for $55 so I went to the parts desk looked at the part and talked to the parts guy for a few and he starts telling me how easy it is. I figure, I've got nothing to loose. 2 hours later, i'm driving away. It was very easy: had to remove the battery to get to it and then there were only 3 bolts. 2 which mounted the part and 1 that connected a hose from the slave to the master. Bleeding the clutch was very easy too.

So if any of you ever loose pressure in your clutch and figure out it's the clutch slave cylinder, I suggest doing it yourself and saving $130. Some resources that helped were my haynes manual and pictures from motorvate. Very easy, and thanks for all of your replies.