1997 Honda Accord clutch problem / cylinder problem?

Hi all,

I have a 97 Honda Accord LX stick shift that’s giving me some trouble. I bought it at 146k miles and now it has 151k miles.

– Here is the symptom –
I feel that I have to lift the clutch pedel higher to fully engage the clutch after driving for 20 mins. The problem showed up several times and one time the clutch was somewhat slipping and I had to park it somewhere and got towed. After sitting there for several hours or overnight, the problem would gone – and it could show up again at some time. The strange thing is that I am not always getting this problem. The car could sometimes run over 1 hour without any unusual feeling on the clutch.

I also noticed that when the clutch is not working well, the clutch pedel is stiffer than usual (I never had problem disengaing the clutch though). When I push the pedel to the very bottom on the floor, I can hear some noise and the car even had a tendency to move a little when in 1st gear.

Once I opened the hood and looked at the position of the release fork when the car was cold. After driving about 20 mins, I looked again and found that the fork moved a little bit away from the slave cylinder as if someone was pushing the clutch pedel gently! I think that’s why the point at which the clutch engages is becoming higher. But I don’t know what is the real problem. I replaced the slave cylinder last week but it did not solve the issue.

Could anyone please help me find the cause of it? Is the clutch bad again or the cylinder?

Thank you in advance!
– Here is the repair history –
About a year and a half ago I found the clutch slipping. So I had the clutch replaced and the flywheel resurfaced by a mechanic. It was good for a few months until that problem rose again. Then I went to an auto shop. They told me that the slave cylinder was the real problem and got it replaced. I was good for about a year. Now I am still getting the trouble above.

I’d consider also replacing the clutch master cylinder any time I replace the slave. Also, change the brake fluid and bleed the clutch system. If the problem is in the hydraulic release system, that will eliminate practically all sources of trouble. The master cylinder is not expensive, and parts should run you about $40 to do the whole thing.

Thank you! I will replace the master cylinder and see if it solves the problem.