[Synergy]

I let my friend borrow my car (which I will never do again) and he somehow managed to screw up my car. And badly. He claims he "didn't know what happened", which I call BS. Long story short, our friendship is over but he is paying for all the repairs.

When you step on the clutch, there is zero pressure. I can move the entire clutch pedal in and out with my hand and feel nothing, as if there is no clutch at all (imagine stepping on the pedal and it takes almost no force to move it). I also want to point out that when I press the clutch pedal, it does not stay on the floor. It does spring back to the original position. I can definitely smell the clutch, so my guess is he was riding the clutch all night and screwed it up. He refuses to admit the truth, so I don't know what REALLY happened.

I'm not leaking any fluid from my slave cylinder as far as I can tell, and my car only has 80k miles and was 100% functional before loaning it to him.

What causes a clutch pedal to lose pressure? Is my clutch completely gone? I would try bleeding it, but I can smell the clutch and think there is a bigger issue than that. Thanks for any input.

[Volasko]

Does it engage the clutch, ie) can you actually move the car and the pressure feedback is gone or the entire car is beached?

[Synergy]

Originally Posted by Volasko

Does it engage the clutch, ie) can you actually move the car and the pressure feedback is gone or the entire car is beached?

That's a good question. I'll try your suggestion when I get home from work. I can't start the car (of course), but I'll check to see if the clutch actually works. Should I put the car in gear and try to roll the car back and forth?

Thanks for your advice.

[Volasko]

If you can't start the car it sounds like the pedal doesn't actually actuate the plates, as you would have been able to start the with the pedal pressed in. You said you can't tell if there is any leaks but it really sounds like you don't have any fluid in your lines.

[Synergy]

Originally Posted by Volasko

If you can't start the car it sounds like the pedal doesn't actually actuate the plates, as you would have been able to start the with the pedal pressed in. You said you can't tell if there is any leaks but it really sounds like you don't have any fluid in your lines.

What could explain the smell of a burnt clutch?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Synergy

What could explain the smell of a burnt clutch?

Wait you're serious? How about he dumped the sh*t out of it trying to do a burnout or race someone from a stop?

[bhmax16]

Honestly he could have ridden your clutch day in and day out for eternity, but that's not going to cause a loss of hydraulic pressure in your clutch pedal. The pressure is directly related to your clutch master cylinder, the lines, and the slave cylinder. I'm hardpressed to think of anything your friend could have done to MAKE any of those components fail. Sounds like a coincidence that there was a failure while your friend borrowed your car, yet your friendship is over and your friend is paying the price for something that was out of his control and no fault of his own.

[Synergy]

Originally Posted by DSC_OFF

Wait you're serious? How about he dumped the sh*t out of it trying to do a burnout or race someone from a stop?

No, I get that. Volasko suggested I had a leak somewhere, which caused my clutch pedal to stop working. My question was if I had a leak, then why can I actually smell my clutch? My guess is I don't have a leak, and he f'ed something else up.

[Synergy]

Originally Posted by bhmax16

Honestly he could have ridden your clutch day in and day out for eternity, but that's not going to cause a loss of hydraulic pressure in your clutch pedal. The pressure is directly related to your clutch master cylinder, the lines, and the slave cylinder. I'm hardpressed to think of anything your friend could have done to MAKE any of those components fail. Sounds like a coincidence that there was a failure while your friend borrowed your car, yet your friendship is over and your friend is paying the price for something that was out of his control and no fault of his own.

While I agree with you, he did admit to driving it very hard, but he didn't say he was "racing" or doing burnouts for five hours straight. It's difficult to believe that he had zero role in whatever happened to my clutch..

[3002 tii]

Friend aside, dead clutch pedal usually results when you get air in the clutch line. I would bleed the system and see what happens. If the issue still persists, then replace the slave / master cylinder.

[Synergy]

Originally Posted by DSC_OFF

Friend aside, dead clutch pedal usually results when you get air in the clutch line. I would bleed the system and see what happens.

I'll give it a shot. But wouldn't the clutch pedal stick to the floor in that case?

Thanks.

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Synergy

I'll give it a shot. But wouldn't the clutch pedal stick to the floor in that case?

Thanks.

Nope, it'd just have that flappy dead feeling you're describing.

[Synergy]

Originally Posted by DSC_OFF

Nope, it'd just have that flappy dead feeling you're describing.

Thanks for your advice. I'll try that.