Anthony1968

Ok so I have a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer ES w/ 115,000 miles and a 5 speed manual.

My clutch chatters at very specific times. Only when I am in the rpm range of 1300-1700 and I am rolling between 5-11 mph and I am attempting to start in 1st gear because I'm going too slow for 2nd. Usually I avoid the chatter by coming to a complete stop, or over-revving and under-revving. This is getting annoying.

Also, I feels like the clutch grab point is slightly different when I change gears. Through all gears it grabs a little differently each time making smooth shifting not impossible, but a moderate challenge that requires focus. I have driven/owned tons of cars with manual transmissions and I have never had a changing friction point like this before. It feels almost like a looseness in the drivetrain. The clutch itself is in good shape I believe, it grabs and holds great, just not in a consistent manner.

The other day I watched the engine while someone else started it up and it lurched a fair amount after it caught. I am thinking that the motor mounts are beginning to fail. Or the transmission mounts? Both? Something else?

Has anyone experienced this before? Or knows a ballpark of what it'll cost to fix? Any info you got is appreciated. Thanks!

CrAnSwIcK

iTrader: (5)

bleed and adjust the clutch pedal...

Ev0ikon

iTrader: (18)

Oh slave clutch cylinder is going... Check Master and Salve Clutch cyl.

Anthony1968

Interesting. I had not thought of that, I will have to check into those things. As far as I know, all transmission parts, clutch assembly, etc. are original to the car so it may be time to look into replacing some of those components that are starting to get pretty old.

Thanks for your help!

Sam Hendryx

I have a 2002 Lancer OZ. I literally JUST replaced my clutch slave cylinder over Easter weekend. I believe the 2003 and 2002 are exactly the same design and part. It is a ***** - I'm not going to lie. The most amount of time was spent physically getting the tranny out so I could replace the internal slave cylinder. The part isn't cheap either.

If you know for a fact that the clutch is newish or good, just look for a slave cylinder online. I had a really tough time finding one from Autozone for some reason. I could only find it as part of a kit. Came with everything including the clutch (there's 3 or 4 parts). It was around $320.

Longer story short - the clutch was like new but the slave was wasted. It had so much play it was really obvious why I kept having irregular friction points and no pedal randomly. It would completely engage at random times.

If your slave is going you should be losing brake fluid and might be able to open the rubber dust cover and see some gunky build-up inside the tranny from brake fluid and clutch dust mixing together.