Hey everyone...

I am fairly new to my evo. I have an ix mr. I will get straight to the issue.....Had an oil change done yesterday (mobile 1 synthetic)....today the evo started acting very strange. It only happened in the lower gears at lower speeds. Its hard to describe how it felt but I will give it my best shot...Everything felt like it was tightening up...the clutch, gearbox, even the brake pedal...got a slight grinding noise when i engaged the clutch and then it just did not feel right....right when i would release the clutch it felt like the car didnt want to move (almost felt like the parking break was pulled or something and it started to sound a bit bogged down. But then it would go away for a couple minutes and then start up again. Its only happening in the lower gears in stop and go traffic....nothin in the high gears on the highway. The car never really stalled out and the engine itself seems fine it almost feels like a transmission issue or something but I have no idea. Also today was really the first time that I was driving in pouring rain...not sure if that had anything to do with it.

If anyone can decipher what I am trying to explain ANY help is appreciated. I took it back to the guy who did my oil change at pepboys (he used to own an eclipse gsx and is into tuners so i trust him) but it wasnt happening when he took it for a spin...then low and behold on the drive home it started happening in the stop and go traffic.

If any one can give me any idea that would be great or if you need a more detailed description let me know.

like i said ix mr roughly 63xxx miles. TBE, upper and lower IC piping, intake, BOV, radiator...CBRD Protune


Thanks!

 

oh also the clutch is fine it is not burnt out or slipping. mechanic even said the clutch feels fine. Has never showed signs of slipping or anything like that.

 

maybe the ebrake is sticking? move the car in neutral if its rubbing it will make a noise at the ebrake - driverside rear. just a thought.. otherwise i dont know.

the clutch sound might of been the throwout bearing... but stuff tightening up im not sure.. maybe change the fluid in the clutch master cylinder? and inspect all fluid levels in your car to be sure

 

^^good thought. The brake master and clutch master are tied together in our cars. You need to fill the brake master res to the top if you want to bleed the clutch side. I don't mean the max level, I mean all the way to the top of the res. Otherwise you will sit there for hours wondering why your clutch wont bleed. Don't ask how I know.

You may also have two or three seperate problems. The brakes tightening up may be a problem with the booster (big black housing mounted right behind the brake master cylinder.) Check your hose connections and vacuum lines in the area. Just follow the lines in the engine and look for kinks, cracks, dry rot, ect.

Second, with the clutch being hard and grinding at times, once again, inspect the clutch master from the brake master by following the little hose that runs towards the drivers side from the brake master. This will lead you down to the clutch master res. If you have the battery and upper piping plus intake out of the way this will all be much easier. You can then continue following the line out of there to the clutch slave on the tranny. At this point I would have someone help you bleed and adjust the clutch (there should be how-to's if you search, if you cant find them let me know.) Also inspect the routing and condition of the underhood shifter bushings. These are attatched to your cables coming from the shifter in the car. Just inspect for anything out of the ordinary. Kinks, corrosion on the cables, dry rotted bushings ect.

Lastly. With the clutch adjusted and bled properly it is time to change the tranny fluid if you havent already done this. This should help with the stiff gear engagement if you have old fluid. Sometimes a few oil changes in a row is good to flush the tranny.

You have an evo with 60k+ miles. All of what I described is routine maintenance for our cars. If your friend is a competent mechanic, none of this is difficult. Not to knock anyones situation (lord knows I am underemployed) but don't take your evo to pep boys. Find a good reputable shop and pay if you can't perform this stuff yourself. Evo's are too tempermental and a evo mechanic with "tribal knowledge" is what you want.

GL and let us know. I am not always checking threads and on the board as much as I was in the early days, so PM me if I dont respond.

 

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies guys. I am very new to evos and tuners in general and I do not have a strong enough knowledge of all the components of the car to perform any kind of maintenance myself. I am going to bring the car back out to CBRD and have Chad and those guys try to diagnose the problem. I am confident they will clean the car up for me. And I am just going to get my 60k maintenance out of the way while its there.

Another very strange thing I noticed is that all of this happened during the pouring rain. Since the rain has stopped and the car / roads are dry none of this is happening. The gearbox still feels a little bit tighter than usual but it is no where near as bad as it was during the rain. Could this possibly be water in the engine if I have a leak somewhere? Just seems all to coincidental.

Thanks again for your help everyone I really appreciate it.

 

meant to say water in the gas* not water in the engine lol