New Clutch Click Sound when cold

[rogue1313]

I'm new to the forum and the Honda Civic world. I've read about clutch clicking noises on all kinds of forums, but nothing seems to fit my situation exactly....

So here's the deal:

I bought a 1995 Honda Civic Del Sol Si 1.6 SOHC w/135,000 miles on it. Very stock...very clean...needed a few things, but not a bad deal.

Anyway, the clutch was worn so I had it replaced last week ('clutch kit'....cluth, flywheel, throwout bearing). I've put about 150 miles on it since & it seems to work well.....BUT there are two 'noise' issues I've noticed when it's cold (sat over night)


1) I hear a bit of 'whirring' sound when the engine is running & the clutch is not engaged (idling, in neutral)

2) This morning, the clutch (NOT the clutch pedal) was making a distinctive 'click' sound at the point of engagement.

Again, this is occuring in the morning, after the car has sat over night....then both issues seem to go away after the car is warmed up and driven (and shifted) a few miles.



So the 'whirring' sound sounds like a throwout bearing-type noise....it's kind of faint, so it's not loud, but I can hear it...and a then it goes away when things warm up.

The 'click' sound I just noticed today......If I'm sitting in the driveway in neutral, I push in the pedal, and upon release about half way up, the 'click'. Same sitauation when I was driving & shifting gears. The 'click' was louder & more pronounced at first, then began getting quieter as it warmed up & I got a couple miles down the road. Now, if I go out in the parking lot at work, and try it, no 'whirring' & no 'click'.


Again, the 'click' sound is NOT coming from the pedal iteself, but from the engine/trans....I can tell the difference. It seems like instead of the clutch mating with the flywheel smoothly, it kind of slaps into it at the last second......It's just a pronounced click...not a 'the thing is going to blow up sound'....but it's noticable & it seems to go away as things warm up and as it's run through the gears a few times.


I headed to the place I had the work done on the way to work....about 3 miles from my house....and of course neither of the sounds were happening at that point (everything was warmed up). They want me to leave it overnight so they can hear it cold.

It's so hard to describe. but like I said, I know it's not a clutch pedal issue....it's the clutch/trans itself.

Anyone had a similar experience? Is it perhaps just shoddy workmanship by the mechanic? Maybe the cluth master has to be bled/adjusted for the new clutch?

It's just one of those things that, OK it goes away when things warm up, so is it nothing or is it a sign of worse things to come. The shop I took it too gets good reveiws, but ????

 

[AlaskaB16]

Never experienced that myself. Hopefully who ever did the install torqued everything down correctly and something isn't catching until the last second which it sounds like. You shouldn't hear anything like that. Cold or hot. Was it an OEM replacement or did you go upgraded aftermarket? Forum "what's this noise" help is always hard to do.

 

[rogue1313]

I bought the Del Sol to use as a commuter, so I just want everything stock....so the replacement clutch is OEM or at least not high performance or anything.


Yeah I know, 'strange sounds/noises' are tough...... I mean, I know a thing or two about cars, but not this car. I don't have years of intimate knowledge regarding all the little squeaks, rattles, and 'clicks'....so it's hard to tell if it's a normal thing or what.

I mean, I definitely don't think the clutch 'click' is normal....And the 'whirring' sounds like a throw-out bearing that's saying 'I need some grease'.....but agian, it's pretty faint & goes way relatively quickly.....and I don't know what a Del Sol is supposed to sound like.

To me it just seems like a more unique situation that I'm hoping someone else ran into before.......As much of a pain in the butt it is to have to jockey around with leaving the car at the shop, that's what I'm going to do.....If a new part is bad or something was put together wrong, I want it fixed (because I spent good money & I don't want bigger problems down the road).......I'd just like to try and have some idea of what might be going on (in case the shop is stumped or tries to tell me it's all good).


It's been doing the 'whirring' sound since I picked it up fro the stop last week, but the 'click' is new this morning (at least I didn't notice it before). I've read some things about the clutch master cylinder causing a clicking sound, but it was OK before the clutch was replaced so I'm wondering if it just needs to be bled or something (it's hydraulic, so can't really adjust it).

Just trying to think what would cause this 'click' condition cold, then go away when things have warmed up? Could it be the metal of the flywheel or the clutch disk expanding & bridging a small gap? The hydraulic fluid heating up and closing a small gap?

It runs/shifts well otherwise...no noises while it's running....just weird.

It's kind of funny too....like you don't want to hear any strange noises after you spend money to get work done....but as I'm driving from my place straight to the shop, i was crossing my fingers it wouldn't go away before I got there.....of course, the more times I shifted, the less pronounced the 'click' became.....so I'm like, 'noooo....hold on another mile'....crazy.

 

[rogue1313]

For what it's worth.....Took the Del Sol back to the shop....they removed the tranny & checked things out....came to the conclusion that the 'click' sound was the clutch fork.

So the theory is that the old clutch fork (probably original) was worn in the pivot areas...so it didn't fit as snugly in the throw out bearing....causing it to hang up & click.

Also thought that after all the years of being in a different spot on the transmission shaft (because the new clutch is thicker, therefore things sit in a slightly different spot now)...the old fork might have kind of sat in it's own groove, and now that it was located in a slightly different position, it was hanging up a bit.

I don't know, sounds about as good of a theory as any.....they replaced the fork & put in another throw out bearing, so we'll see if that does the trick.

It was funny though.....I left the car there overnight so they could hear it start cold.....I went back in the morning & of course, when we started it up there was not 'whirring' sound or 'click'. We decided to let it ride for a week and see if it returned.....I was just about to leave & after running for a few minutes, the 'click' showed up.......Moral of that story, don't think you're crazy & give it a little more time to happen, even when the shop is trying to get you out of there in a hurry.


Bottom line....it still runs/shifts great.....no 'whirring' or 'clicking' sound as of yet....we'll drive it for a week and see if the problem was solved. My suggestion to anyone getting a clutch done.....just have them replace the clutch fork too...it was only another $32 dollars. If it solves the problem, it could have prevented all this if it had been replaced in the first place.

.

I don't know, sounds about as good a theory as anything.