Hoo boy...

Decided to go all out and replace everything for my 05 Ion. Picked up this kit from Rockauto https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...000985&jsn=823 I had heard good things about AMS. I even got a new clutch pedal because the bushing in my old one was in pieces.

My mechanic said the install went smooth as silk. I had let him know ahead of time that these clutch hydaulics can be a pain so he bled that sucker six ways from Sunday. He managed to get a reasonably stiff pedal with no leaks and holds pressure but the clutch WILL NOT fully disengage. I went over to check it out and sure as **** with it up on the lift, you clutch in and shift into first and the wheels start turning (no funky noises though...). But if you hit the brakes with the clutch in/first gear wheels turning the clutch makes a god awful dragging sound but doesn't stall out the engine. I stuck around for a couple/three hours while he dicked around bleeding it some more( he has all the fancy vacuum bleeders etc...) and no real change.

Wheels on the ground it is actually driveable(no I don't plan on driving it like this...). It doesn't threaten to stall out the engine and I don't have to use excessive force to get it in gear. It also shifts through the gears okay. That aweful dragging sound at a stop in gear with the clutch in though.

We are both at a loss. The only conclusions we can come to are we suck at bleeding (from what I have seen it's all or nothing in this respect?) or a bad part somewhere. He says visually everything looked fine but from what I gather tolerances are pretty titght when it comes to clutches and hydraulics so who knows?

He has a couple of big jobs these next few days but said he will fiddle with it as time allows. Maybe we try a different master cylinder. Worst case scenario he has to tear it down again. If it comes to that I think I'll eat the cost and get all OEM components.

Anywho...this has been more of a rant than anything but if anyone has any insights I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Did this job myself on my 04 Ion when I bought it three years ago -- it needed a transmission so I put in a complete new clutch kit. I struggled on and off for a couple of weeks trying to bleed it, and finally noticed there was brake fluid coming from the weep port at the bottom of the bell housing. So I pulled the transmission back out, and found that the slave cylinder had a manufacturing defect. An internal o-ring was not seated because of a badly formed internal seat, and was allowing fluid (and pressure) to be released. I put in a new slave cylinder (covered by warranty) and put it back together. And even with the vacuum pumps and other tricks, still had a hard time getting it bled. It's working fine now, but it does require putting the clutch pedal all the way to the floor to fully disengage -- a challenge sometimes with my duck-shaped EEE feet! Keep at it. I spent two weeks before I got it to where I was satisfied with it.