My son drives a 2007 Honda Accord with ~75K miles. He had surgery on his ankle and and has not been able to drive for 8 weeks, so his car has been sitting while recovering (he did start it once in the intervening time but did not drive it). He took it out today for the first time since removal of his cast, and he said that the clutch sounds like it’s “creaking” and more difficult to press when pushed in all the way. He held his phone next to it so I could hear it (he lives in another state) and “creaking” is the best term I can use to describe it.
Unfortunately this being a Sunday, every place near him that will work on a clutch/transmission is closed, and he needs to be able to drive to work tomorrow. I called an auto parts store near me and described the situation, and the fellow there said it could be that rust built up on the clutch flywheel while sitting unused all that time, and that use will wear it off.
Since the clutch was having no issues before this, it sounds plausible, but wanted to get some other views.
To clarify (since I don’t see a way to edit my original post), “more difficult to press when pushed in all the way” means that he said it feels more stiff the further in the clutch is pressed in, particular when nearly fully engaged.
@BillRussell, fair point. Guess I should have just stuck with “pushed in all the way”. :-\
@Barkydog, if the sound is caused by rust on the cable, is that an urgent thing to be corrected, or should the car be OK to drive until he can get it in somewhere (not likely until next Saturday)?
Lube the hinge area of the clutch pedal, if the noise is coming from inside the car. Otherwise it’s coming where the action of the clutch pedal moves a lever on the clutch mechanism. If it’s like my 1999 Civic, a piece of rubber fits into the clutch housing and surrounds the action end of the slave cylinder. Peel back that rubber and you’ll see a ball-and-socket that may need lubrication. Inside the housing, hard to see, is another pivot point. I have found reaching in there and spraying some Triflow has cured a creaking sound that matched the travel of the clutch pedal. I am careful not to use too much lube - lest some migrate into the clutch’s friction surfaces.
I have experienced this & I think it’s very likely it will go back to normal with use . A couple times I’ve had clutches completely freeze up on vehicles that sat for a long period of time .
Since the clutch system is hydraulic and doesn’t utilize a cable, the noise is either from the clutch pedal pivot, throw out bearing fork, or the throw out bearing.
But as suggested, just drive it and the noise will probably go away.