Do I Need a New Clutch?

[CDL0012]

Hi all, I have a technical question for all of you.

I have a 1996 Honda Prelude Si and it has around 137,000 and I believe that my clutch needs to be replace... but I could be wrong. Please bare with me, I've been only driving standard for a month and learning things everyday. Here are the symtoms.

1. When shifting, I will lightly press the gas and let off the clutch slowly as you should. When I let off the clutch slowly I hear my engine rev until I'm 2 inches away from letting it out fully. When I press it back in, to feel how far it will go until I hit the harder part of the clutch... its like about 2 inches away from when its fully out. So in otherwords, my clutch is only fully engaged when the clutch is fully out... when I first got the car, it use to be when its near the middle when it would fully engage.

2. When shifting to higher gears, I would feel an umphh of power instead of a steady gain like I use to get. It feels like everytime I shift into a higher gear I hit a bump on the road.

However... I've been told that if I'm in first gear at a standstill, and let the clutch off slowly, not to the point where it would stall, and the clutch engages slightly after you let off the clutch, it means that your clutch is in good condition. Well, I've tested this out, and the car starts to every so slightly move just a few inches when I let off the clutch. Leading me to believe that the clutch is in good condition.

I'm a very confused man. Someone please enlighten me! Steps I should take instead of jumping on getting a new clutch.

Thank you!
-CDL0012

I apologize for any duplication in other forums.