Help Needed Please. Just Changed My Clutch But Car Won't Go Into Gear

[S2G-Unit]

I just had my transmission rebuilt by a local shop, with new synchros and sleeve hubs etc.

I got a deal on a clutch from a member here on a low mile dual disk clutch for my 1994. I had that installed along with new Fidanza lightweight flywheel. I also had my master & slave cylinder changed, along with the SOS stainless slave hose.
At the moment, when the car is off, it can get into the different gears. When the car is on, it won't go into gear. We have bled the hydraulic system a second time.



After some reading, we might need to check the flywheel inspection plate. https://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Clutch_Initialization. I'm not sure what it is exactly in the service manual.


We also did have a lot of trouble getting the transmission to line up & bolt back onto the car. Does that have anything to do with clutch initialization? Why would it have been hard to line up & bolt on the transmission?

What else should we be looking at? What could have went wrong?
Thanks,


**edit** Going to get the car now. He had to reset the clutch again.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Did you initialize the clutch? If not, start there, if it is not initialized it will not disengage, and not go into gear.....

Also did you use a pilot shaft to align the clutch disk splines when installing the clutch?

HTH,
LarryB

 

[S2G-Unit]

Did you initialize the clutch? If not, start there, if it is not initialized it will not disengage, and not go into gear.....

Also did you use a pilot shaft to align the clutch disk splines when installing the clutch?

HTH,
LarryB

I will confirm with him it's been initialized. I am NOT mechanically inclined lol. Is page 12-16 "Mid Plate Guide Initialization", what I should be looking at?

The pilot shaft was used to align the clutch disk splines.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Is page 12-16 "Mid Plate Guide Initialization", what I should be looking at? Yes

Also the WIKI article above has the procedure.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[S2G-Unit]

Is page 12-16 "Mid Plate Guide Initialization", what I should be looking at? Yes

Also the WIKI article above has the procedure.

HTH,
LarryB

Thanks, I read the read wiki earlier but now need to confirm what page would I see the "moon shaped flywheel inspection panel" in the service manual.

One thing I missed when buying this low mile clutch a 2years ago is, that it seems I could have just bought new friction disks??? So maybe the easiest thing to do now would be to swap out the worn/finished discs & put in the 19k mile used discs? Any issues with doing & then putting in the lightweight flywheel as well?
Disc 1: 22200-PR7-305
Disc 2: 22400-PR7-305

 

[Larry Bastanza]

That is the panel on the lower bell housing of the trans, engine side, just remove it, three bolts, to access the rear of the flywheel..

 

[Old Guy]

Thanks, I read the read wiki earlier but now need to confirm what page would I see the "moon shaped flywheel inspection panel" in the service manual.

One thing I missed when buying this low mile clutch a 2years ago is, that it seems I could have just bought new friction disks??? So maybe the easiest thing to do now would be to swap out the worn/finished discs & put in the 19k mile used discs? Any issues with doing & then putting in the lightweight flywheel as well?
Disc 1: 22200-PR7-305
Disc 2: 22400-PR7-305

It is not clear what you are asking. Don't you already have the replacement 2 year old friction disks currently installed and isn't the light weight flywheel already installed? What would you be thinking about swapping out or swapping back in? I was presuming from your first post that the flywheel and replacement clutch were all assembled and that the car was back on the ground with the clutch was failing to disengage. Short of some significant assembly error or some of the replacement parts being defective, I can't see that parts swapping is going to provide a solution. I would really pursue whether the clutch initialization procedure was carried out as the first item to check. For further details on the initialization procedure, search Prime and you should be able to find links to the service manuals. There is a 1991 service manual and one a couple of years later. I might try looking for the later service manual since I think the initialization procedure might have been revised slightly (not certain about the revision because I have the later dual mass clutch arrangement).

I would offer the suggestion to check slave cylinder travel to rule out air in the hydraulics as a problem; however, that is not particularly helpful since Honda does not seem to provide a spec for slave travel. Perhaps somebody has measured their slave travel and can advise on what is typical.

 

[S2G-Unit]

It is not clear what you are asking. Don't you already have the replacement 2 year old friction disks currently installed and isn't the light weight flywheel already installed? What would you be thinking about swapping out or swapping back in? I was presuming from your first post that the flywheel and replacement clutch were all assembled and that the car was back on the ground with the clutch was failing to disengage. Short of some significant assembly error or some of the replacement parts being defective, I can't see that parts swapping is going to provide a solution. I would really pursue whether the clutch initialization procedure was carried out as the first item to check. For further details on the initialization procedure, search Prime and you should be able to find links to the service manuals. There is a 1991 service manual and one a couple of years later. I might try looking for the later service manual since I think the initialization procedure might have been revised slightly (not certain about the revision because I have the later dual mass clutch arrangement).

I would offer the suggestion to check slave cylinder travel to rule out air in the hydraulics as a problem; however, that is not particularly helpful since Honda does not seem to provide a spec for slave travel. Perhaps somebody has measured their slave travel and can advise on what is typical.

I'm going to pickup my car now, so it seems to be all sorted.

I'll rephrase my question. If we currently are using an OEM dual disk clutch, when the clutch begins to slip, it seems that we can replace only the 2 frictions disks without needing a full costly clutch kit? I literally have never once in 12 years of owning this car dropped the clutch. So maybe I could have gotten away with swapping the 2 disks? I'm really only curious now. Could the pressure plate and or mid plate have been reused?

Disc 1: 22200-PR7-305
Disc 2: 22400-PR7-305

 

[Old Guy]

Theoretically yes. However, if you are dropping the transmission to get to the clutch, I definitely would add the pilot and throw out bearing to the minimum replacement list and be doing a careful inspection of the pressure plate. The mating surface on the flywheel would also require inspection; but, may be quite fixable with slight machining. That said, just the replacement disks are no longer available directly from Honda. They might be available from Japanese vendors.

Good that it seems to be sorted without the drastic measure of removing everything.

 

[S2G-Unit]

Theoretically yes. However, if you are dropping the transmission to get to the clutch, I definitely would add the pilot and throw out bearing to the minimum replacement list and be doing a careful inspection of the pressure plate. The mating surface on the flywheel would also require inspection; but, may be quite fixable with slight machining. That said, just the replacement disks are no longer available directly from Honda. They might be available from Japanese vendors.

Good that it seems to be sorted without the drastic measure of removing everything.

Sorry, yes. I did also mean that we should also change pilot, throwout bearings, forks, boots etc as standard. I was curious only about the clutch.

So since I swapped an OEM for for an OEM clutch I kept my old clutch kit. Can I/should I at some point down the road rebuild my friction disks? Should I buy those 2 part #'s listed above for my future clutch change? I won't be needing a new clutch anytime soon as I went 12 years with a decent amount miles before needing to change it.

 

[Old Guy]

Old clutch kit?? Do you mean you have 22000-PR7-305 which is the clutch kit that Honda sells - includes flywheel, friction disks, pressure plate, pilot bearing; but not the throw out bearing (go figure). Is that what you bought from the Prime member?

As an observation, you don't rebuild friction disks, you replace them. If you now have a complete dual disk Honda 22000-PR7-305 clutch kit minus the front and back friction disks and you can actually find new front and back friction disks for a sane price, I would be inclined to purchase them because the rest of the kit is really just paper weights without the disks. Keep in mind that the discounted cost of the Honda kit is a nudge under $2000 and the SOS 275 kit is around $1400. You probably want to evaluate how much you spend on the two friction disks and that the total cost should not be approaching the cost of the SOS kit.

 

[S2G-Unit]

Old clutch kit?? Do you mean you have 22000-PR7-305 which is the clutch kit that Honda sells - includes flywheel, friction disks, pressure plate, pilot bearing; but not the throw out bearing (go figure). Is that what you bought from the Prime member?

As an observation, you don't rebuild friction disks, you replace them. If you now have a complete dual disk Honda 22000-PR7-305 clutch kit minus the front and back friction disks and you can actually find new front and back friction disks for a sane price, I would be inclined to purchase them because the rest of the kit is really just paper weights without the disks. Keep in mind that the discounted cost of the Honda kit is a nudge under $2000 and the SOS 275 kit is around $1400. You probably want to evaluate how much you spend on the two friction disks and that the total cost should not be approaching the cost of the SOS kit.

Yep, I had my old & slipping 22000-PR7-305 removed to install another 22000-PR7-305 clutch kit that I bought from another Prime member. I've come to the conclusion, I could have gotten my hands on front and back friction disks and just had those swapped inside my older clutch. Honestly, no big deal. I guess I can just keep my old clutch kit with it's flywheel, pressure plate in a box. At some point, I'll buy a front and back friction disk, then in 10-12 years time when I need a new clutch. I'll just throw that set in with the new friction disks without needing to buy a whole new & expensive clutch kit.

 

[drew]

I usually only replace the friction discs and bearings when I redo just about any clutch. As long as the unit grabs properly and there is no chatter. Few shops will do replace only the discs as they don't want any problems and the hardware costs are less than labor, so it isn't worth it to a shop.

fortwayneclutch.com can rebuild your unit for several hundred dollars (cost me $500 many years ago). Just send them the NSX unit in a Large USPS flat rate box; fits nicely, do wire all the parts together just in case the box breaks as the clutch unit is HEAVY.