Clutch Squeaks

Hoping someone can help me with this problem. The problem is a squeaking/creaking noise coming from the engine bay when I depress/release the clutch pedal. While I can't be 100% sure, I think its coming from the clutch slave cylinder. So anyways, I greased up the ball joint that connects the slave cylinder to the tranny and greased up the shaft of that removable pushrod as well, but it still makes the noise, only I think its worse now. I used Valvoline synthetic grease, the super high temp stuff, and even bled the cluth line with new fluid, but no luck.

Now I had this problem once before when I got the car from a dealer, and I just took it to a Honda dealer and had them do a bunch of stuff including this under warranty, but no more warrranty anymore. They had mentioned it just needed a little grease somewhere and poof, the problem was gone for like 1 1/2 years.

It should be mentioned also that while cleaning the old grease out of the dip in the tranny lever for the ball joint, I felt a groove in there with my finger. The ball joint itself was perfectly smooth however, no groove or scratch marks.

So maybe its something else, but I don't know what it might be anymore. If anyone has any input they could offer, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, its a '97 Civic too.

I don't know if you are gonna get the same answer but I asked the same question a few months back and was told it was "normal". I have a 93 civic and mine makes a squeak once in a while and drives me crazy. Please post on here if you find out any more info.

Normal, who told you that. I tried to search for a thread on this, but was unsuccessful. However, I'd never accept that. It's not true anyways. The dealer fixed it once, but stupid me never asked exactly what the greased up thinking it wasn't gonna come back anytime soon.

Well, anyways, I'm gonna rip apart the slave cylinder again sometime in the next couple days since I have the time off and I'll let you know.

Possibilities I think may be that the piston might be scratched up or that groove I mentioned. Gonna try putting smething in there to smooth it out.

I really suspect that the problem is lubrication however casue I've noticed now that the creaking is non existent after the engine has warmed up and the car's been driven for like 10 minutes with normal shifting.

yeah, my 97 civic ex has the same problem, but after it warms up, like shifting for couple minutes, it goes away, i don't really hear it though cuz i turn the music up all the time.

I have the exact same problem with my stupid commuter - the 92 Geo Storm. The clutch causes a bad squeak for about the first 10 minutes of driving, and then it goes away until the car has been parked and cooled down. If you find a solution, definitely let us all know. The Storm is bad enough on its own, but it's even more embarassing when it makes this obnoxious squeaking noise while people are walking by.

:bloated:

my clutch squeaks when I kick it in, maybe becuase it has 221,000 miles on it :)

Originally posted by Ebranste
Normal, who told you that. I tried to search for a thread on this, but was unsuccessful.
I might have asked on the civicland.com forums then.............Anyways mine does the same thing its squeaks until it warms up I guess after some time shifting.

Man, this seems to be really common. Mine does the exact same thing. It's a 92 Civic CX. It didnt before and all of a sudden it just started. I highly doubt that it's normal. It's embarassing, hell. Please let me know when you find out.

My first guess would be the throw out bearing.

I talked to a real mechanic today and he said it's almost certainly the throw out bearing as well. He said it can be replaced, but in most cases you're just better off replacing the entire clutch assembly. He also said that it might just squeak for years and I won't have a bigger problem, or that I could be in serious need of a replacement like next month.

:(

I hate the squeak it sucks and it makes me feel stupid. Depress the clutch and hear a squeak, release the clutch and hear a squeak. What the hell I knew honda shifters were good but this clutch squeak sucks:mad: :newburn:

OK......for all those interested, I solved my squeaky clutch issue described at the beginning of this thread.

The solution may not affect all of you who have posted but should help those with hydro trannys.

The problem with my car was the dip in the release fork that mated with the slave cylinder. That dip had a groove in it which was more than just a groove. It seem that when the grease in there gets too low, the metal grinds in the slight rotation caused whenever the clutch is pressed/depressed. So my release fork actually developed a flat wall on one side since I decided not to grease it back up when it first showed signs of wear. That wall wasn't dramatic, but just enough of a flat edge to cause a problem.

My solution, since no amount of grease seemed to resolved this, was to take 2 small pieces of electrical tape, put on over the other in a cross pattern and drop it in the dip as smooth as possible without making folds in the tape. Afterwards, i worked alot of grease on top of the tape and reassembled it. Seems to work like a charm and the thickness of the tape proved not to be an issue as the clutch still fully engages and disengages as well. I was worrie that the thickness of the tape may actually cause an issue but I used the thinnest 3M electrical tape I could find which was barely thicker that scotch, however the durability and elasticity of the 3M should suffice.


As for the squeaking/creaking disappearing after its warmed up......it must be related to the temperature of the metal involved. After the engine is warmed up the tranny housing and the slave cyinder/assembly all get pretty hot.

As to how long this will last, I am not sure. My expectations are at least 6 months as the amount of movement in the balljoint is minimal and the use of super high temp synthetic grease should ensure some peace and quiet for some time.

Of course, on the other hand, the best way to resolve this would have been to replace the release fork and the pushrod extending from the slave cylinder, but after reading the Helm's manual, I believe I could remove the release fork no problem, but putting it back in without dropping the tranny out looks to be impossible. The locking clip that holds it in extends into the tranny housing quite a ways and I felt removing the release fork was too risky as I am not prepared to have the car towed to a shop to get the engine pulled.

Anyways, maybe someone can shed some light on the release fork and whether it is simple to reinstall with the engine/tranny in the car. Other that that, I'll repost if the solution above fails anytime soon.

Man that was pretty creative. I give you props. Now I have to figure out what all that is....let me pull out my Civic manual.... Thanx a million for the info.

no, not in most cases.......in every case.. if you are going through all the shit to get to the throw out bearing to replace it, do the clutch at the same time...you never know when a tooth will get bent, etc.. the labor is a bitch, so do it all at once.

Originally posted by CivicRacerX
I talked to a real mechanic today and he said it's almost certainly the throw out bearing as well. He said it can be replaced, but in most cases you're just better off replacing the entire clutch assembly. He also said that it might just squeak for years and I won't have a bigger problem, or that I could be in serious need of a replacement like next month.

:(