I've had this 97 Civic for a couple of years now, and it's always had this problem. When you are putting it into gear, mostly into first, and you give it enough gas, the car will shake, sometimes pretty violently. The shaking stops when the clutch is completely engaged. I've had a couple people look at it one guy told me that my problem was called clutch chatter and I need to get a new flywheel and clutch assembly. Some other people told me that my hydrolic line had some air in it and it needed to bled. I bled the line because it would be such a cheap fix, and it didn't have any effect. I suppose my next step would be to buy a new clutch assembly, but it's not something I want to do if it's not going to help. I was wondering if anybody had any other idea about what my problem might be.

Yes, your first advice was correct. It is the clutch chattering and it will require a new clutch package and likely a new flywheel also. What you need to look for while in there is anything that could have caused the problem in the first place such as oil leaking onto the clutch or possibly a broken pressure plate. Just overheating the clutch and flywheel could have done it also.




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

Thanks, I was hoping to take my clutch out and inspect the flywheel and pressure plate before I order a new assembly. But I know there is a special tool required to install the new plates, but do I need any special tools to remove the old clutch parts?

All you need is the alignment tool for the clutch disc. Most clutches come with one. Just plan on replacing the flywheel. You wouldn't know what to look for anyway and if it's already chattering, the flywheel is burned.




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

Alright well It has been awhile sense I posted, and I'm just now getting around to making my move. tomorrow I'm going to take off the old clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel. I've already bought a new clutch kit that came with a clutch plate and pressure plate along with the bearings and that tool. But I feel I will need to do something with the flywheel as well. Somebody told me that you can get a machine shop to resurface it, and it will work good as new. Is this a viable option, or would everybody recommend I just buy a new one? I'm a little pressed for cash.

It really depends on how severely the flywheel is damaged and what the cost of a new one is. Most machine shops will charge you anywhere from $25 to $75 to do that. If the flywheel is severely burnt or cracked, it would not be an option anyway. Some new flywheels can be purchased for under $100 and would make that decision easy.




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

Just following up, I bought a clutch/flywheel kit that came with everything, all the bearings, clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel, for about 170, I did all the work by hand, following honda's official repair manual, it took me probably about 10 hours, to replace all the parts, but it fixed the problem. Thanks very much for your help.


(This post was edited by Winkler707 on Sep 14, 2009, 8:52 AM)

We love happy endings. Thanks for reporting back




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida