When I press the clutch pedal the clutch doesn't disengage. The problem is the car starts in neutral just fine but you can't put it in any gear once it is started. If you try to start it in 1st gear (with clutch pedal pressed to floor) the car just jumps forward. Car goes into and out of gear just fine when car isn't running, leading me to think it isn't the shifter cable.

Replaced clutch, pressure plate, and slave cylinder all new.

The only thing I think that I can blame it on now is the fact that I had the flywheel resurfaced and a good bit of material had to be removed (possibly too much material??)

Seems the hydraulic system is working because the brakes still work fine (master cylinder) and the clutch pedal is firm and I can see the slave cylinder move when pedal is pushed in.

Any ideas? I also tried to adjust the clutch pedal as far as I could to get the longest "stroke" out of the master cylinder but no luck.

Pics of slave cylinder (taken through the small rubber cover around the slave cylinder):

without pedal being pushed it looks like:




and these are with the clutch pedal pushed down to the floor:

 

I have had the exact problem you describe. Unfortunately mine was due to a broken clutch disc. That being said, since my center had broken a spring retainer that caused the disc to bind up when pushing in the clutch which meant it would not disengage and it did the same thing you are experiencing. I hate to say it bro but you have to pull your tranny back out. When you didnt align it correctly the first time and you bound it up I am guessing you broke one or more of the sprung center springs in the clutch disc. I took pictures but I cannot seem to locate them at the moment. I think you are going to have to pull your transmission out again and remove the clutch and carefully inspect the springs on your clutch disc, post detailed pictures if your not sure what to look for and I should be able to tell you if this is the case or not.

The only other idea is your slave is a dud. Either way I am 99% sure you will be pulling your tranny back out again .

 

3rd times a charm? LOL

 

You did not bleed your clutch line enough...the brake fluid reservoir needs to be full to the cap not to the brake fluid max line or it will not have any oil going to your clutch master cylinder, try to pull off the hose going from your brake fluid reservoir to your clutch master cylinder and see if there's oil coming out, if not, fill the brake fluid reservoir completely to the cap and rebleed your clutch. If there is oil coming out when u pull the rubber hose off the brake master reservoir, just fill the brake fluid reservoir completely to the cap and rebleed your clutch even more. Its happened to me where i could not bleed the clutch enough because the oil wasn't going to the clutch slave because the oil level was only to the max brake fluid line. It also has happened to me where i did not bleed the clutch enough so the air bubbles would not let the clutch slave push the pressure plate completely to disengage it. Good luck, Alex

 

Just reinstalled the trans for the 3rd time, got excited because I got it into first gear (I thought) but it turns out it was just because the wheels weren't on the car and when I pushed in the clutch it still didn't disengage.

After putting the tires back on and dropping the car to the ground I tried to put it in gear again and sure enough I am back to where I started 2 weeks ago.

 

The new clutch disc isn't in backwards is it?

And +1 for what marcouxa1 said, my friend and I dicked with the clutch bleeder for half an hour before we realized that the fluid needs to be at least 1/4 inch above the max level on the brake fluid res to be able to bleed the clutch.

 

We are getting straight fluid (no air) when we manually bleed it.

 

So you have pulled your transmission back out and put it back in already? no pics of the disc?

 

Good point on the backwards disc this is a possibility

 

flat side towards flywheel correct? and the middle that sticks out goes towards pressure plate?

 

Yeah pretty sure that is correct. You should have taken some pics of the sprung center man to be sure its not damaged. It may not be readily apparent. The amount of force those springs endure means that any change in the retaining structure of that disc could potentially cause it to bind. Mine only had one damaged and the other 3 springs were fine but it still caused it to bind.

 

Have you tried what i told you with the clutch bleeding? you will still get fluid if there's air in the system....i had to bleed mine a lot for it to disengage at the right height with all the steps i have said before.

 

Is bleeding best when the car is on or off? I bled it while running and it seems to be getting more air out now

 

Not to insult your mechanical ability but bleeding a clutch is not like bleeding brakes you know this correct? Proper bleeding if using the pedal would be:

Pedal up, open bleeder

push pedal all the way down and hold it, close bleeder

SLOWLY raise the pedal all the way up, open bleeder

push pedal all the way down and hold, close bleeder

and so on and so forth until you get some good resistance on the pedal

 

This is exactly what I have been doing