clutch slippage when i lay on gas

[geoboy5000]

thank you guys for helping me in the past but i need your help again

i have a 92 geo metro lsi 1.0L 3cyl. the clutch is'nt even a year old

a month ago i was driving. the clutch petal became very stiff and hard to press down. well i drove it back home and the car wouldnt go faster than 35-40 mph without it slipping. i let the car sit while i tryed to find someone to fix it. after a month of only driving it once every 3 days to go to the store. i drove it about 7 miles and it got better. the petal now is normal to press down and the clutch only slips when you give it alot of gas. i asked someone about it today. they said that "it needed clutch fluid". so i go to auto zone to get some clutch fluid. the lady at auto zone says "it uses brake fluid to lube the clutch" so i got some dot-3 brake fluid like i was told to do by the lady. i look in my haynes manual to find they dont list where to put the fluid. if there is a spot to put it in where would that be? if it doesnt require any fluid what could be the problem be?

[Crvett69]

your clutch uses a cable, it does not need brake fluid, check where the cable connects to the clutch arm, if its to tight clutch will slip. as clutch wears you have to adjust it out. should have 1/8-3/16" freeplay in end of arm, if its more or less than that adjust it by turning nut on end of clutch cable. if it ever gets real hard to press on the clutch its usually the clutch cable starting to fray inside the cover

[geoboy5000]

thank you soo much ill do that tomarrow and let you know if it fixes the problem

[lawbob81]

I have the same problem with a 94 Metro 1 liter manual tranny. The clutch slips when I lay on the gas. I've had the clutch replace twice already, so I don't think it's the plate being worn out. I think it might be OIL leaking from the rear seal onto the plate, but I don't see any leaking OIL anywhere near the underside of the hood area when parked.

I found that if I hook up a bungee-cord to the clutch arm and stretch it from the front bumper bracket, with plenty of pressure working AGAINST the throw arm [opposite direction], then this has helped, and I can get more POWER on the engine before it slips again. The principal here is to put reverse pressure on the clutch arm so that it seats more snugly against it's ZERO pressure point.

Otherwise a great car, gets unbelievable mileage [48 MPG average when the clutch is working great], and can get better if I drive it at regular speeds. I like to get around FAST, and push it hard up hills [plenty of power up hills, no problem going up 8% grades in 3rd gear], so this clutch problem has caused me to really slow down on engine power, and my mileage has gone up now to around 51 average. Which is fantastic. I have really beat up my unit lately, and it looks pretty ruff. My biggest complaint with the car is the interior items, like the interior door handles all seem to break off, and the window slide rail weld points are all broken down, so the windows only go down about 1/3rd of the way. The plastic parts on the dash all break off, but oh well, the rest of the car is just fine, and runs great at near impossible mileage, so I am not complaining.

Roberto

[91Caprice9c1]

Originally Posted by lawbob81

...The principal here is to put reverse pressure on the clutch arm so that it seats more snugly against it's ZERO pressure point...

This shouldn't be necessary as long as the clutch is adjusted as Crv instructed. If you've got enough play in the cable there may be some binding going on with the throw-out bearing lever shaft if you have to use a bungee cord. If your clutch is slipping and you've got sufficient play in the cable and throw-out lever, then there's nothing you can do but replace the clutch.

-MechanicMatt

[Woodie83]

I've had the throwout shaft get sticky which would explain the bungee cord fix. I dribbled a bit of motor oil on the shaft where it goes into the top of the transmission then worked it up and down. There's about a millimeter of play in the vertical direction and that seemed to help break up the gum.