I am located in Toronto and have a 97 Civic LX Manual transmition

For the past few i am having a hard time shifting gears as soon as i start the car. After a while the gear shifting is ok. Also i have been seeing a drop in pressure on the clutch pedal. After like 2-3 min of running the car , the clutch and transmission would respond better.

Today i started my car and my clutch pedal had almost no pressure and it just went flat down almost to the end. I could not shift into neutral. I had to wait a good 4 min before the clutch started getting the pressure back and also disengaging the clutch plate.


I have never done a transmission oil change. Every time i ask a shop about changing the tranny oil they say manual tranny oil change not required...


Can anyone suggest how to go about diagnosing this problem.

Should i just go to a shop have my tranny oil changed

 

If you clutch has no pressure then you need to look into replacing your Clutch master and slave cylinders. For the shifting problem, I would definitely get a shop to make sure you don't have any leaks in your transmission casing and change out the fluid.

 

Would bleeding the clutch and/or topping the fluid be a good idea

Any videos on bleeding the clutch

 

Its worth a shot. I couldn't find any videos but here is how you do it:

ask your friend for help or if you could find a way to press and hold the clutch pedal down using your car's driver's seat then great.

1.open your car's hood and the clutch fluid reservoir.

2.tell you friend to press down the clutch pedal and hold it there.

3.you: locate the slave cylinder, and as your friend has his foot pressing down the clutch pedal you will see that the pushing rod of the slave cylinder is extended (open). now open the bleeder and as you open the bleeder you will see fluid coming out as well as the pushing rod going back to its original position, when the pushing rod stops and with the bleeder still open, push the rod all the way inside until it stops and hold it there, now tighten the bleeder and then let go of the pushing rod. as you do this extra step you will see more fluid and some air bubbles come out through the bleeder.

4.do not pull up the clutch pedal yet. add some fluid to the reservoir, enough so that the level is at the max line.

5.you or your friend could now pull up the clutch pedal. check the reservoir again, and add fluid enough so that the level is at the max line.

repeat steps 2 through 5 four times.

You want to loosen the nut pictured here on the right.

 

Thx for ur suggestions will try

1> topping the clutch fluid.
2>If 1 does not work bleeding the clutch..

 

One thing i observed with the transmission, if i let the car warm up the transmission shifting is a lot more easier..

Do u still think i need a transmission oil change..

If yes , then how do i deal with the mechanics who all say manual tranny no oil change needed, one mechanic said he has never seen it done in 4 years he has been a mechanic.


Opened up my clutch reservior , i could see the fluid but the level was below some sort of overflow/return opening.

Topped it off. Will know tommorow evening when temperature drops if it is working.