So, over the weekend a problem popped up.

Stopped, engine off: super easy to shift.
Stopped, engine on: hard to impossible to shift *.
Moving, engine on: can shift, with light resistance.
Moving, engine off: haven’t attempted... not sure I’d want to.

* When stopped, it is practically locked out sometimes. But if I keep the clutch pedal down and keep attempting to shift, I can eventually shift into the gears with some difficulty and then it’ll get easier if I keep working through the gears. Once I let off the clutch pedal, it starts over.

The problem feels kinda backwards... I would’ve thought I’d have more difficulty shifting while in motion, than while stopped. It feels more like the lockout is busted instead of the clutch.

In any case, I’m asking the forum for some guesses before I take it to a shop or the dealership. I don’t have a lift, so I don’t intend on DIYing this.

 

How frequently if at all have you changed the MTF? Manual calls for it every 30k and there's a noticible change in shift characteristics afterwards. You really should look into doing it yourself however. Two quarts of the Honda stuff is $15 bucks, and half an hour with basic tools and a jack stand is all you need. Maybe pick up clear poly tubing from Lowe's to snake into the transmission fill port to make pouring easier.

 

Admittedly, it has only been changed once, a necessary step when the mechanic replaced my snapped front right axle.

I might attempt the fluid change. We’ll see how that goes.

 

This is from the service manual. I'm not bothering to attach the splash shield removal, its really self-explanatory. Also not strictly needed, you can access both bolts from underneath. You'll need to borrow a buddy to help pour new transmission fluid into fill hole. You could also drill a hole in the top of the lid for the transmission fluid bottle, and snake the pvc tubing into the hole and squeeze to pump into the transmission, or a siphon pump for $8 bucks from walmart will do. It's an extremely simple job, having done it twice on my Fit it's among one of the easiest maintenance jobs. But those damn spark plugs man....

 

Oh, I have a service manual for the 2nd Gen Fit. I bought it a while back... totally looks like some guy printed out the pdf. Oh well, it's enough.

Getting someone to help... probably isn't going to happen as I don't really know anyone with free time. But I think it would be doable by myself.

I have various aquarium tubing... not that I actually have an aquarium. The tubing was for the purpose of trying to get oil to the goofy ass opening on the back of the Sprintex SC. It worked, so long as I went slowly, otherwise it would make a mess. Thank goodness it's only 2 ounces.

I actually bought MTF a long time ago (6 years ago this month it seems), but because I couldn't quickly ID the drain and fill bolts with a quick glance as I'm heading to work, I decided to be lazy and pass it off "till later."

I guess this counts as later.

=.="

 

I had 90k miles on my original fluid and the car shifted smoothly. Something is not working properly. My first thought was the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder is going bad and not allowing the clutch to be completely disengaged.

 

I don't discount that possibility, but as far as things to try, a fluid change is one of the less expensive steps to check off the list.

Digging through the post on the forum (starting with https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ml#post1289970 ), I had my axle replaced (and thereby the only MTF change so far) some 4-1/2 years ago at almost 90k miles. I currently have 163k miles on it.

Interestingly enough, I just recalled, before the axle/fluid change, the shifting started getting a little rough. Hum... I hope its because of the fluid change, not the snapped axle. @.@

Anyway, like I said, while I wouldn't be surprised at an actual failure, a fluid change is simple starting point.

~~~~~ Update: ~~~~~

Gave it a fluid change and... no dice. Still pseudo locks me out when stopped...

Now, I'm debating getting some aftermarket parts and letting a mechanic/shop I know do it, or just handing it over to the dealership (the ones near me won't deal with aftermarket parts). The advantage of the dealership is outside of it, because I won't have another car and I can't rely on my sister, but there's a rental place near the dealership.

 

Well, that's fun... according to the dealership, pretty much everything related to the clutch is fragged. Clutch plate, pressure plate, throw out bearings and maybe something else too...

Since I don't have a choice in the matter as its my only car and I need it to do deliveries, I had to leave the Fit there for them to do the repairs tomorrow.

At least they gave me a loaner and I didn't have to fork over more $$$ to rent something.

How's that song go... "I think I'm gonna cry..."

 

I would confirm that the slave cylinder is moving when someone pushes the clutch pedal to the floor. It may still be difficult to tell if it's moving enough to fully disengage the clutch, but it's either this or the clutch disk has failed - the springs can break out of their carriers and transfer motion between the engine and transmission even when the clutch is disengaged.

 

Thumbs up to the most recent post. Really wanna help you out, Goobers!
If you can verify motion of the SS, I'd recommend a pedal adjustment before part swapping. You *can* shift without the clutch, but yeah, the car has to be moving. Here's an article on that.

Your solution may well be switching to an Exedy or Luk clutch (and of course swapping the throw out bearing stuffs) BUT in the interim you may well be able to adjust your clutch pedal to fix the jacked up engagement (unless the throw out bearing is the fault).

I'd recommend buying the parts, can provide a link, and taking it to a private shop. In the interim, you'd be hanging out with Uber drivers, but still should save money vs. the dealership.

Minimize driving until this is resolved becaaauuuse the clutch is there to protect your tranny. Can work without it, but you'll increase wear and potential for damage.

Edit: both of the mentioned brands come recommended and I have read that people prefer them to the stock clutch, which I feel is too strong

 

I had thought about using aftermarket parts like the Exedy or Luk you mentioned (as far as I saw it on a few websites anyway). And even the Cusco limited slip diff like 555SexyDrive put in his Fit.

That said, I had to let the dealership do the job. I can't use UBER as I do deliveries, so I'm basically being "uber" (for food anyway). And with my sister/boss being the way she is, I can't take any days off without a somebody getting pissed off. I can't seem to drive as "efficiently" in anything other than "my own" car. Despite hitting the same overall speeds on the road, I noticed that I'm still taking longer to do deliveries in the loaner HRV compared to my Fit. So I have to get my Fit back asap.

Could I have given my car to a smaller, less expensive shop to do the job? Probably, but there are other (personal) details involved that... are so headache inducing, I'd rather just pay the dealership.

Maybe in the future, I might consider upgrading those parts (with lots of planning ahead of time to avoid the "headaches")... that is, assuming I still have the Fit. I'm reluctant to part with it because of all the things I've done with it (ie. road trip and installed parts), but there will come a day that the repair cost is far too much to justify verses personal investment. Though $2300 for this clutch job is pretty freaking close considering I've finally driven the HRV that I've been looking into (transporting an elderly parent).

~~~~~

Update 7/27/19: I won't double post, so I'll just post it here. I picked it up yesterday but forgot to post here. It costed $2500, so that hurt a bit. The clutch is very light compared to before the repair (or even before the current issue cropped up). It's taking a little time getting used to it. The dealer mentioned a leak coming from the front left caliper (BBK I installed), so I tried to fix that today. I think it's okay now. I hate NPT fittings and trying to apply teflon/PTFE tape. GAH