clutch not engaging on s14

[silviaguy240]

so, the clutch on my s14 wasnt engaging completely, and releasing way high so i figured it would be the slave cylinder sticking and not releasing all the way.

now that i just replaced it, bled the cylinder and the damper box, the clutch doesnt engage at all. i can release the clutch fully with the car in gear and it does nothing, with the car running i can change gears without pushing the clutch in and nothing happens.

any help?

[NeedCAforS13]

There is adjustment in the pedal itself. Crawl under the dash and adjust the threaded rod that goes from the master cylinder to the pedal.

And bypass the damper box. You will never get it bled properly with that box on there. Just carefully bend the hard line to meet the soft line and remove the box.

[silviaguy240]

yea, the rod is almost all the way in twords the pedal, there is a little bit of adjustment left. i may go try that later.

[silviaguy240]

help! about to sell my truck and i need to get my Z back from my bro.

[lightsource]

What does the pedal feel like?

Does it feel like the clutch should be disengaging?

[Bigsyke]

if he can shift into other gears while the car is running.......wouldnt it be something other than the clutch?

[silviaguy240]

pedal is solid, and feels like a normal pedal, there is no grab though at any point that feels like it should be engaging.

[Sileighty_85]

sounds like the clutch is fried

[silviaguy240]

But that's the thing it was engaging 20 minutes before we changed it. Just not very well. I'm not saying it was a perfectly healthy clutch, but good enough to move the car around.

[specialk2003]

Did you adjust the push-rod the wrong way? As if the clutch was disengaged all the time?

[Sileighty_85]

wow youp ppl dont seem to understand how a clutch system works

When the clutch pedal is not pressed in the clutch is engaged 24/7 until it is pressed down to disengage it so you can shift gears

pedal adjustment will have nothing to do with this problem
he not having a problem with putting it in gear

[gotspins13]

wait so you changed the clutch??
if you did are you sure that you put it on right?
cus when we did mine we put on the new clutch backwards and it would not engage or go into gears but the petal felt normal

[silviaguy240]

didnt change the clutch...drove the car home with it slipping slightly but think it was more the slave cylinder because i could feel the clutch grabbing but then fading around 3500-4000rpms... got home pulled the car in the driveway no problem, changed the cylinder bled it and when i went to engage the clutch, it feels as if the clutch isnt even making it to the flywheel? can have it in gear and let clutch out completely no shudder no noise no nothing...only thing i did was undo the cylinder line and change cylinders and replace it...and have no idea why it worked 20 min prior with an old cylinder and now not with a brand new one...

[NeedCAforS13]

Can you have someone else push the clutch while you watch the slave cylinder under the car to see if it's actually moving the clutch fork (piece with the throwout bearing on it)...

It sorta sounds like the slave cylinder isn't releasing pressure.

[silviaguy240]

the cylinder is operating fine thats why im so baffled, im hoping that the throwout bearing or springs or whatever inside didnt freeze up or move for some reason not allowing the clutch to engage...

[NeedCAforS13]

If the slave is actually moving the clutch fork and it's still not engaging the clutch, something internally isn't working properly. Either the clutch is completely fried, or it's not engaging for some other reason because something broke. Either way I think you're pulling the transmission to see...

[silviaguy240]

yea, thats what i thought, was just hoping for something easier to fix.

[lightsource]

Do you have anywhere to take the engine out? If you have anything you want to do to the engine bay or inside the tranny, or on the motor I suggest you do that now. So much easier.

[silviaguy240]

nah just got this one, unfortunately trying to make it driveable for now no mods yet...theres nothing else wrong with it at the moment and thought this was gonna be an easy fix..so much for that.

[teamsprock]

I didn't read the whole thread so sorry if anyone already mentioned this but did you properly grease the throw out bearing when you changed the clutch? I had this problem before and when you push on the clutch it moves the TOB and if its not greased in the groove inside the TOB it slips off the ledge on the input shaft sometimes and can't move back because it gets hung up, essentially making the clutch partially engaged . Its easy to fix, besides the fact that you have to pull the tranny. If you look at the FSM it shows where to grease the TOB. Sorry if I'm not explaining this very good I can draw a picture.

Long story short, check the clutch fork and make sure it moves freely and that when the clutch is released that it moves back, you should be able to push on the cluthc fork and have it move back enough to start pushing the pin on the slave cylinder back in. If its not free you can try and wiggle it but your going to have to pull the tranny to really fix the problem. PM me if you have questions, I've seen this happen on more than a few SR's.

[NeedCAforS13]

I didn't read the whole thread...

Then perhaps don't post if you don't read the thread? Your suggestions aren't relevant. He didn't change the clutch.

[teamsprock]

It really doesn't matter if he changed the clutch or not its still one reason this could be happening. And now that i read the post I see your comments are incorrect. Pushing in the clutch/the slave moving is what makes the clutch disengage not engage. Thats why he needs to make sure that when the slave cylinder retracts that the clutch fork moves back freely. Essentially with it getting stuck its like having the clutch pushed half way in all the time and thats why you can shift without using the clutch. It has to be either that or the pressure plate is failing.

The Slave cylinder would have nothing to do with this, if the slave was bad it would not be able to press the pressure plate and the clutch would not disengage.

[silviaguy240]

the slave cylinder works, pushes the fork fine, and retracts fine.

[teamsprock]

But does the fork move back even farther than it will when the slave retracts? You need to make sure you can push the fork back even further, to the point where you are pushing the slave cylinder back in. If its stuck it will still move back to the point that the slave retracts but it still continues to have pressure on the pressure plate. I've seen this a lot lately on SR's. Its happened to me before and I would say almost 95% of the time an issue like this happens on an SR it turns out to be this problem.

If its not that then I would say the pressure plate is probably worn out.

[drkidd22]

I was having the same problem, so what I did was:
Replace clutch master
Replace Slave
Bypass Damper
BLEED it REALLY GOOD.

But in your case you say the slave is pushing the plate and releasing fine, so make sure it is being pushed all the way back when you put your foot on the clutch and that it releases smooooothly when you take the foot off the pedal, you will need someone to press/release the clutch for you. You can try putting your car in gear, lets say 2nd, and try to push your car (without the clutch pedal being pressed) if your car moves then you have a clutch that's fully relased and not engaging. So next part is take your tranny out and fix it.

Good Luck!

[silviaguy240]

But does the fork move back even farther than it will when the slave retracts? You need to make sure you can push the fork back even further, to the point where you are pushing the slave cylinder back in. If its stuck it will still move back to the point that the slave retracts but it still continues to have pressure on the pressure plate. I've seen this a lot lately on SR's. Its happened to me before and I would say almost 95% of the time an issue like this happens on an SR it turns out to be this problem.

If its not that then I would say the pressure plate is probably worn out.

1 its not a SR and 2 its a brand new slave cylinder, its not getting stuck.

[jspeedm]

one possbility is that when you changed the slave, you pulled the release fork out. when that happened, it came off the tob. if it did not go back in correctly, the fork could be behind the tob. if thats the case, then even when you release the clutch the tob is sitting to far foward and holding pressure on the pressure plate. this will cause the cl;utch to remain disengaged though everything else seems to work properly.

[johngriff]

unbolt the slave.

try to start the car in gear.

Should lurch forward.

If not, you need a new clutch.

Get one at pep boys, its less than 100 for the whole deal.

[silviaguy240]

already have one, just was seeing if we did something wrong so we didnt have to open it up.

[johngriff]

Meh.

Besides over adjusting the hell out of the pedal to make it fully engaged, nothing else will make the clutch not engage besides it being smoked.

Should have got on it when everyone else said to, you might have been done by now.

Me + 1 helper = 45 min clutch jobs and tranny swaps, so get busy son.

[jspeedm]

take out the rubber gromet that the release fork goes through and make sure the fork is on the tob and not behind it.

[jspeedm]

Meh.

Besides over adjusting the hell out of the pedal to make it fully engaged, nothing else will make the clutch not engage besides it being smoked.

Should have got on it when everyone else said to, you might have been done by now.

Me + 1 helper = 45 min clutch jobs and tranny swaps, so get busy son.

this will.

one possbility is that when you changed the slave, you pulled the release fork out. when that happened, it came off the tob. if it did not go back in correctly, the fork could be behind the tob. if thats the case, then even when you release the clutch the tob is sitting to far foward and holding pressure on the pressure plate. this will cause the cl;utch to remain disengaged though everything else seems to work properly.

if thats the problem, then you saved yourself some money and time. if not, replace the clutch like everyone else says.

[teamsprock]

IT really doesn't matter what engine it is but I am not talking about the slave cylinder, I am saying the clutch fork should move freely. Simalar to what was said about the fork coming off the TOB but if the TOB is pressed hard and/or the pressure plate is weak it can move too far forward and it will not freely move back as there is a lip on the input shaft.

But as John said with the amount of time this post has taken you could have pulled the tranny already. Seems like you don't like anyone's suggestions anyway.

[jspeedm]

ever fix this?