Ive read mostly all the threads on clutch problems here and I believe this case is a little different.

Ive been having small shifting issues (wouldn't go into gear when downshifting even with rev-matching) with my car that came shortly after some electrical problems (which ended up just being a loose positive terminal) Once that was tightened up the clutch issue still remains.

This morning was the worst of it. Couldn't get the car into gear this morning when sitting. Pedal feels fine. Slave is engaging. No odd sounds (other than the grinding of when you attempt to force it in gear. I was able to get it into reverse a couple times but it would be notchy getting in out and the one time I got it into first, same thing, notchy and it wouldn't go into another gear.

Assuming it was the pressure plate I sat and collected my thoughts. The car was still running, I went to make another attempt and it went right into gear and I drove straight to work without the slightest of problems...

Ever heard of a conditionally working pressure plate? Yeah me either.

Thoughts?

~96k Miles and Ive been pretty aggressive on the clutch (heel-toe down shifts etc usually because I miss driving my actual racecar)

 

I actually experienced it but it's not the pressure plate per se.

One of the clutch springs went loose and jammed itself between the pressure plate and the clutch disc. It put enough pressure on the input shaft to prevent me from engaging gears. There was a slight rubbing noise though. It was an intermittent symptom because the spring would sometimes move and go out of the way.

It didn't take much time to get worse though!

 

The fact that there is no unusual sound, I guess I can possibly rule that out.

After work today I went to start it up to check it out and it went into gear fine, turned off the car, went back in to close the office and came back out, wouldnt you know when I start it back up again I get the same symptoms as this morning. Wont go into a single gear.

With the clutch in, attempting to push into a gear the car nudges forward ever so slightly.

I was able to force it into reverse and with the clutch in the car moved backward. Was able to force it into 1st and the car moved forward with the clutch in.

A bit frustrated I jammed it into second and it went in, drove around the parking lot a bit and was able to get it into the gears with a good bit of force (no grinding sound when put in)
Drove it home and was able to hamfist it into all the gears (had to shut off the car to put it into 1st though)

I had my buddy order an Exedy. Im going to bleed system just to make sure its not that before I drop the trans.

I had a similar issue with my Celica, but the symptoms were more cut and dry than the Fits. I was only able to rev match shift in the Celica. Would not go into gear no matter how hard I tried.
When I took out the clutch this was the issue (the retainer was sheared but had still stayed in place)



I had a similar-ish issue with

 

Your clutch master cylinder is full?
Did you look for any prob with the clutch pedal?
Just a couple of things that could cause the problem.

 

I like this theory. Since you've still got knotchy-ness and you did get it to work, your tranny should be okay! Does your vehicle mileage lend itself to the possibility of a worn out clutch?

 

I sure hope it isnt the trans lolol
I just got my racecar ready for the season and not ready to drop money on a new used trans lol

Havent looked at the pedal yet, and the master cylinder is full yes.
The clutch might be veeery slightly slipping in second but is okay the rest of the gear range.

I am driving the car up 2hrs to where I hibernate my racecar and will take the weekend to diagnose it properly before I drop the trans and replace the clutch on Monday. Im going to bleed the system, check the cabling and pedal then all thats left it dropping the trans.


The problem seems to be pretty consistent now. I havent been able to get it to just work fine like it was off and on before.
This morning it was funny. I cold started it and it wouldnt go into any gear not even forcibly. Once the idle dropped below ~900RPM I was able to get it into 2nd and drive to work lol (still notchy force shifting)
1st is still inaccessible like before.


Sorry for the info dump. I just like to keep a thorough log in the case that someone else experiences this same issue.

 

that sounds pretty similar to how my clutch behaved leading up to its failure. it started with the occasional rough engagements, then got harder to get into gear, was able to force it in gear revving it up, then it failed completely. i ended up stranded on a highway rest stop for a few hours waiting for a tow, so definitely check it out soon id say it worsened over the period of a month or so, which was a few thousand miles for me at the time.

my driving habits are similar, lots of rev match downshifts etc. I think what actually failed was the diaphragm spring on the pressure plate, so when i looked at the slave etc that all looked fine.

 

Yeah Im expecting it to have a complete failure soon (hopefully not tonight on my drive up). The countdown started when 1st gear was no longer a selectable option lol

Silver lining though, if the clutch goes, at least you are able to still have your car run and get heat and music

Ive been leaning towards a pressure plate problem more so than anything else. Possibly some bent diaphragm spring tines or a fracture at their base causing them to collapse when pressure is applied. Nothing is looking out of the ordinary on the outside so it leads be to believe its something inside.

 

an end to the story


At the very end the clutch really decided not to work. Pedal was useless and could only push (gravity nudge) start the car in gear, and clutch-less revmatch up and down shift (1st-2nd was a bitch to learn)

Exedy OEM is going in, even though I still think maybe I should have gotten a sturdier clutch

 

RIP. I think thats exactly what happened to my clutch. (dont remember if it was diaphragm or plate springs that failed, had to have a shop do mine)

with the new one i wanted to go sturdier, and get a lighter flywheel. the lag in RPM drop when you shift drives me crazy. but also just went OEM because I already lost days of work :/

the dream is to keep the fit around for a while longer and do a swap when my kids get old enough to help, so something sturdier is definitely going in next time!