Hard, Sticky Clutch on i20, any suggestions?

irdevanand · 2nd November 2014, 12:18

Dear Tbhpians

My Honda city has done nearly 5 years and 65k kms.I had some left knee pain around 55k kms and was advised to change clutch. Read all topics in team bhp and felt like its not time yet. So asked the service center to try bleeding. Knee pain gone.

Cut to 65k kms. Two things affected me
1) a cab driver known to me had to drive my car for an outstation trip and he immediately said sir clutch is hard. change cable (i think his indica has got cable.).
2) Had taken the car to a honda service center (not the usual one where i service) for a noise in brake. After checking the guy said its common if you hit water logged areas (i did a full scuba diving into a subway near thillai ganga nagar during diwali). But he said Sir clutch is hard. You should change it or else it might get stuck when you are driving. That drove me crazy. Being stuck in city traffic or highway. Thats bad.

After these two independent incidents my left foot is now paining !!
I dont know if those two guys infected my brain or is my clutch genuinely ready for a replacement? So please help me decide.

Now car is at servicecenter. Guy didnt even mention about clutch. He asked me to change the brakepads and disc. This was mentioned in the recommendations column in last service so i think this is genuine. Even the other service center guy mentioned this. But the thing is after i started talking about the clutch the service center guy says Sir its better if you change. I told him clutch is neither slipping / revving suddenly nor i feel any lack of power. He said its upto you. If you can drive then continue.

Change clutch? - clutch assembly/flywheel - 25k. cylinders - 10k
Should i bite the bullet and go for it? or try bleeding one more time?

Regards
Dev
mods- not sure if there is another thread on this topic. if yes please merge.

SS-Traveller · 2nd November 2014, 20:56

Clutch assembly can well be replaced without replacing the flywheel in a City. Even with the flywheel, 25k sounds high.

Hard clutch may be due to 2 main causes - pressure plate, or hydraulics.

Start off by bleeding the hydraulics - check if the pedal becomes lighter, and / or there's air in the system. You may need to replace the master cylinder & slave cylinder if the hydraulics are at fault.

If all's well with the hydraulics and the clutch still remains heavy, opening up the clutch is the next option - replace both the pressure plate and friction plate. The flywheel in the City can be faced, and need not be replaced (depending on the condition).

You might consider choosing a reliable FNG over going to Honda ASC, especially since your car is out of warranty.

Grr7 · 2nd November 2014, 23:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by irdevanand

Now car is at servicecenter. Guy didnt even mention about clutch. He asked me to change the brakepads and disc. This was mentioned in the recommendations column in last service so i think this is genuine. Even the other service center guy mentioned this. But the thing is after i started talking about the clutch the service center guy says Sir its better if you change. I told him clutch is neither slipping / revving suddenly nor i feel any lack of power. He said its upto you. If you can drive then continue.

Change clutch? - clutch assembly/flywheel - 25k. cylinders - 10k
Should i bite the bullet and go for it? or try bleeding one more time?

I am not too sure if Honda City got a cable mechanism or what. But my advice of changing the clutch wire to solve a hard clutch pedal have been beneficial to 3 people.
Start with this cable(which is the usual culprit and wont cost more than a couple of hundred) and then proceed with the subsequent steps. More of like an elimination strategy for diagnosis. Esp since you are saying that the clutch is neither weak nor slipping.

Regards

irdevanand · 3rd November 2014, 17:01

Thank you SSTraveller for the tip. I took the car back after service and without doing the clutch job. Service center guy mentioned that clutch is fine but he can replace it clutchassembly+flywheel+bothcylinders for 35k. Total bill would be around 55k as i am changing my brakepads/discs in addition to the normal service. Too much. Said will decide later.

Regarding this

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

You might consider choosing a reliable FNG over going to Honda ASC, especially since your car is out of warranty.

Are they good friendly neighbourhood garages FNG (took me a while to figure this out so trying it out) in Chennai? Chennai-tbhp-ians please help.

Dev

callvvijay · 3rd November 2014, 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by irdevanand

Regarding this are they are good friednly neighbourhood garage FNG (took me a while to figure this out so tying it out) in Chennai? Chennai-tbhp-ians please help.
Dev

This thread could not have come at a more appropriate time than this. Thank you mate!

Over the past week, I have been digging through the two very informative threads related to clutch -

SCAM Alert "Saar, your car needs a clutch overhaul"
and
Clutch wear- How to identify?

I own a 2008 Alto which has clocked around 56K kms and I face the same issue as you have mentioned - hard clutch without any slipping. The last time I took it to the MASS, they asked me to change the clutch assembly which I denied.

Can you/someone please elaborate on what is 'bleeding'? And how it is done? Will changing the clutch cable give some relief?

OT: Do you stay in Nanganallur/Thillai Ganga Nagar? My residence is in T.G.Nagar. Let's try to catch up sometime.

Cheers!

irdevanand · 4th November 2014, 12:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by callvvijay

Can you/someone please elaborate on what is 'bleeding'?

This might help http://www.wikihow.com/Bleed-a-Slave-Cylinder
Bleeding is possible only if your clutch uses hydraulics (hence those cylinders) and not a clutch cable. You might be better off if you just replace the clutch cable.

Regards
Dev

anky · 4th November 2014, 13:15

@Callvvijay AFAIK Alto never came with a hydraulic clutch , so better replace cable and see bro .

narayan · 4th November 2014, 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Clutch assembly can well be replaced without replacing the flywheel in a City. Even with the flywheel, 25k sounds high.

Hard clutch may be due to 2 main causes - pressure plate, or hydraulics.

SS-Traveller - that was a useful explanation. Would you know if the Vista 2009 model also came with a hydraulic clutch ? I think its most likely a hydraulic one but my FNG claims bleeding can be detrimental to the cylinders ?! Unfortunately even TASS wants to replace the whole clutch assembly along with the hydraulics. I dont encounter any slippage but the clutch is real hard and as I drive, the gear shift also becomes hard gradually ( more harder if I use the a/c )

meetbadri · 5th November 2014, 14:51

I have an issue to be reported regarding hard clutch on my Ritz. It never slips but is very hard and I get pain on my toes and on my legs after driving for about 10 Kms in bumper to bumper traffic. I did consult a SA and as per his note clutch need to be replaced.
Note: Ritz has hydraulic clutch so change of cable is ruled out. Please help me how I can go ahead and resolve this without changing the entire clutch assembly. Does bleeding the clutch helps me?

SS-Traveller · 5th November 2014, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by narayan

...if the Vista 2009 model also came with a hydraulic clutch ? I think its most likely a hydraulic one but my FNG claims bleeding can be detrimental to the cylinders ?!

Yes, it's hydraulic.

Bleeding is a quick way to check if things improve. Detrimental to cylinders in what way?

Quote:

Originally Posted by meetbadri

Note: Ritz has hydraulic clutch so change of cable is ruled out. Please help me how I can go ahead and resolve this without changing the entire clutch assembly. Does bleeding the clutch helps me?

Try bleeding the system (and replacing the hydraulic fluid if it is due or discoloured) as a first-aid measure. More expensive options are always to be reserved for later.

irdevanand · 15th December 2014, 12:08

Sorry for the late reply.
Finally i changed my clutch couple of weeks back.
Rs. 32k in total for flywheel+ clutchassembly+other parts which i dont remember+ labour + tax (actaully parts were only 24k or so).

Vehicle is back to form and is my left leg. Thanks to all for your valuable suggestions.

Dev

cataclysm · 9th October 2017, 15:07

Hi folks,

I have 2012 i20 which has run around 52k kms. These days the car is just driven around 500 (or less) kms a month.

I have recently noticed that the car starts moving if I let go of the clutch just an inch. I don't know if I am phrasing this right, I think the clutch travel is less (?).

Apart from this the car is working fine. So I am not sure if this is something I should worry about?

Thanks!

TT-S · 15th December 2021, 08:28

My 2010 Apr make i20 suffered the same issue again after a year, last Sunday. The roadside response team hearing the issue knew its a first gen i20 - which means this issue is common on these models when left unused for more than a few weeks.

Car is towed to service center and they have overhauled the clutch cylinder. The clutch slave cylinder was changed for the same issue last year, but I could drive the car back home by taking 10 minute breaks to cool the clutch system, during the last occurrence. This time the clutch would not engage at all, after releasing the pedal.

2nd November 2014, 12:18	#16
irdevanand BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: chennai Posts: 359 Thanked: 954 Times	Clutch not slipping but hard. Tried bleeding once. Replace or bleed again@65k km? Dear Tbhpians My Honda city has done nearly 5 years and 65k kms.I had some left knee pain around 55k kms and was advised to change clutch. Read all topics in team bhp and felt like its not time yet. So asked the service center to try bleeding. Knee pain gone. Cut to 65k kms. Two things affected me 1) a cab driver known to me had to drive my car for an outstation trip and he immediately said sir clutch is hard. change cable (i think his indica has got cable.). 2) Had taken the car to a honda service center (not the usual one where i service) for a noise in brake. After checking the guy said its common if you hit water logged areas (i did a full scuba diving into a subway near thillai ganga nagar during diwali). But he said Sir clutch is hard. You should change it or else it might get stuck when you are driving. That drove me crazy. Being stuck in city traffic or highway. Thats bad. After these two independent incidents my left foot is now paining !! I dont know if those two guys infected my brain or is my clutch genuinely ready for a replacement? So please help me decide. Now car is at servicecenter. Guy didnt even mention about clutch. He asked me to change the brakepads and disc. This was mentioned in the recommendations column in last service so i think this is genuine. Even the other service center guy mentioned this. But the thing is after i started talking about the clutch the service center guy says Sir its better if you change. I told him clutch is neither slipping / revving suddenly nor i feel any lack of power. He said its upto you. If you can drive then continue. Change clutch? - clutch assembly/flywheel - 25k. cylinders - 10k Should i bite the bullet and go for it? or try bleeding one more time? Regards Dev mods- not sure if there is another thread on this topic. if yes please merge.
	() Thanks

2nd November 2014, 20:56	#17
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,276 Thanked: 28,712 Times View My Garage	Re: Clutch not slipping but hard. Tried bleeding once. Replace or bleed again@65k km Clutch assembly can well be replaced without replacing the flywheel in a City. Even with the flywheel, 25k sounds high. Hard clutch may be due to 2 main causes - pressure plate, or hydraulics. Start off by bleeding the hydraulics - check if the pedal becomes lighter, and / or there's air in the system. You may need to replace the master cylinder & slave cylinder if the hydraulics are at fault. If all's well with the hydraulics and the clutch still remains heavy, opening up the clutch is the next option - replace both the pressure plate and friction plate. The flywheel in the City can be faced, and need not be replaced (depending on the condition). You might consider choosing a reliable FNG over going to Honda ASC, especially since your car is out of warranty.
	(3) Thanks

4th November 2014, 13:15	#22
anky BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 402 Thanked: 115 Times	Re: Clutch not slipping but hard. Tried bleeding once. Replace or bleed again@65k km @Callvvijay AFAIK Alto never came with a hydraulic clutch , so better replace cable and see bro .
	() Thanks

5th November 2014, 14:51	#24
meetbadri BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 229 Thanked: 143 Times	Re: Clutch not slipping but hard. Tried bleeding once. Replace or bleed again@65k km I have an issue to be reported regarding hard clutch on my Ritz. It never slips but is very hard and I get pain on my toes and on my legs after driving for about 10 Kms in bumper to bumper traffic. I did consult a SA and as per his note clutch need to be replaced. Note: Ritz has hydraulic clutch so change of cable is ruled out. Please help me how I can go ahead and resolve this without changing the entire clutch assembly. Does bleeding the clutch helps me?
	() Thanks

15th December 2014, 12:08	#26
irdevanand BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: chennai Posts: 359 Thanked: 954 Times	Re: Hard, Sticky Clutch on i20, any suggestions? Sorry for the late reply. Finally i changed my clutch couple of weeks back. Rs. 32k in total for flywheel+ clutchassembly+other parts which i dont remember+ labour + tax (actaully parts were only 24k or so). Vehicle is back to form and is my left leg. Thanks to all for your valuable suggestions. Dev
	() Thanks

9th October 2017, 15:07	#27
cataclysm BHPian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Chandigarh Posts: 200 Thanked: 553 Times	Re: Hard, Sticky Clutch on i20, any suggestions? Hi folks, I have 2012 i20 which has run around 52k kms. These days the car is just driven around 500 (or less) kms a month. I have recently noticed that the car starts moving if I let go of the clutch just an inch. I don't know if I am phrasing this right, I think the clutch travel is less (?). Apart from this the car is working fine. So I am not sure if this is something I should worry about? Thanks!
	() Thanks

15th December 2021, 08:28	#28
TT-S BHPian Join Date: May 2016 Location: Cochin Posts: 110 Thanked: 183 Times	Re: Hard, Sticky Clutch on i20, any suggestions? My 2010 Apr make i20 suffered the same issue again after a year, last Sunday. The roadside response team hearing the issue knew its a first gen i20 - which means this issue is common on these models when left unused for more than a few weeks. Car is towed to service center and they have overhauled the clutch cylinder. The clutch slave cylinder was changed for the same issue last year, but I could drive the car back home by taking 10 minute breaks to cool the clutch system, during the last occurrence. This time the clutch would not engage at all, after releasing the pedal.
	() Thanks