I recently bought a '98 Sunfire GT, and stumbled across this site while researching what might be wrong with its clutch. I've got a ton of questions, but I'm going to start with what's currently the most important one.
The clutch has no resistance while the engine is running, and won't go into gear. What tends to be the cause of this? The seller told me it has an Exedy clutch and pressure plate, as well as a Fidanza flywheel. I have the Hayne's manual and will have the car on jackstands soon. Any advice on where to troubleshoot first would be appreciated.

So when running you can't put it into gear and the clutch pedal has no resistance? Does it return after pressing it down?

Start with the easiest and work your way down:

1. Ensure the clutch hydraulic system is full and bled.
2. Ensure the clutch master cylinder is working and not leaking (hell, even try a new one since it's relatively easy)
3. Look in inspection hole of transmission bell-housing to see if excess clutch friction material is present.
4. Pull transmission and replace clutch disc, pressure plate, slave cylinder/throw out bearing (they're the same piece), and Fidanza friction disc.
4a. Inspect Fidanza flywheel for cracks or other issues. They are known to sometimes have cracking issues.

It sounds like it may be a slave cylinder issue. They aren't the best in these cars and they're concentric
which means you have to pull the trans to replace it.



"In Oldskool we trust"

Exactly. While the engine is running, the pedal stays down if I press it. With the engine off, it springs back after being depressed. I'll follow up after I get the hydraulics and slave cylinder checked.

Howdy! How's your clutch now?

Still bad. Finally got it jacked up, and the tear-down started. Tomorrow I'll try putting some fluid in the master cylinder and pump the clutch, watching for where it bleeds out of. I found that I will need to pull the engine out and re-do at least the head gasket before running it again. I'm debating doing a full rebuild while I'm at it, raising the compression ratio and putting in an AEM 50/50 injection while I have it out. Any advice on where to get those parts, which pistons to use, where to put the injectors, etc.?

I'm sure the info's scattered around on the site, but I've found that forum answers (linux forums, factory five forums, unity game engine forums, etc.) are better when asked with full context as opposed to compiled from other questions and other applications. Stick with what works, etc. etc.

Doesn't really much idea here. Hope some experts would chime in.

Got the clutch fixed. The hose connecting to the slave cylinder had come off. When I tried turning it over, though, it just clunked. The timing chain fell out of time. Maybe broke, maybe just slipped off, I haven't gotten it pulled back apart yet to take care of it. Still looking for advice on where to put the water/meth sprayer and mount a reservoir. Can the sprayer be fit in the metal portion of the cold-air intake, or does it have to be after the air and fuel are already mixed? I have the LD9 engine, with the AEM cold-air intake. I'm not set on the meth injection kit being AEM, I'm actually looking into a local (to Georgia) company, Coolingmist, and I'm open to other ideas. Good price, good service, and good instructions are the big part I care about.

hopefully the timing issue didn't mess with the valves. you mentioned needing to do a head gasket anyways so good time to do all that. the board has been split for a decade over just pulling the engine to do so ir try to wedge in to get the timing cover off in car. if you do take it out may as well do more to make it fully reliable. wont take much longer if it is on a stand. sorry for the delay from your last post, hope it works out.

Thanks. When I got the timing cover off, I couldn't find anything wrong, so I took it to the mechanic I use when I just can't get something fixed right. He found that the bolts on the crankshaft stripped out, and wrecked the crankshaft. I'm thinking I may toss the ld9 (not because I don't like it, but I have found that performance parts anymore are either unobtainable or more than I'm willing to pay when I could get something like an impreza or a civic and get it to 500hp for what I'd pay just to get the ld9 to 300. If I go that route, I'm going to put either a 20b or 26b in there, and make it rotary. Yes, I'm a rotor-head. I love that - with the right rebuild - not only do they have the potential of an engine 3x their size, but they're much more reliable (as long as you don't go crazy with the boost).

Jeffrey Womack wrote:Thanks. When I got the timing cover off, I couldn't find anything wrong, so I took it to the mechanic I use when I just can't get something fixed right. He found that the bolts on the crankshaft stripped out, and wrecked the crankshaft. I'm thinking I may toss the ld9 (not because I don't like it, but I have found that performance parts anymore are either unobtainable or more than I'm willing to pay when I could get something like an impreza or a civic and get it to 500hp for what I'd pay just to get the ld9 to 300. If I go that route, I'm going to put either a 20b or 26b in there, and make it rotary. Yes, I'm a rotor-head. I love that - with the right rebuild - not only do they have the potential of an engine 3x their size, but they're much more reliable (as long as you don't go crazy with the boost).

Or I'll just throw some louvres and rain guards on the sunfire, freshen up/redo its paint, keep it as my daily driver, and just get an rx8 from auction to throw that 26b in. Even a simple sequential twin turbo setup (bring the 425 up to maybe 500) will make that thing soar. 3k lbs, 500 hp, and reliable so long as I route everything correct (intercooling, BOVs, 50/50 injection, etc.).