Clutch Pedal Goes to the Floor – How to Fix in a Honda Passport or Isuzu Rodeo

Clutch Pedal Goes to the Floor – How to Fix in a Honda Passport or Isuzu Rodeo

If you have recently changed the clutch in a Honda Passport or an Isuzu Rodeo and had the clutch pedal suddenly go to the floor without disengaging the clutch, you have most likely had the quick release throw out bearing come loose from the clutch.

There is no simple fix as the transmission will have to be separated from the engine to access the clip. There is however a way to keep the problem from happening again.

These vehicles use a pull type throw out bearing, a type I was not familiar with until I saw it on a Honda Passport. All the others I have worked with before use the more common push type throw out bearing. In the push type, the throw out bearing is pressed against the fingers of the pressure plate to release the clutch.

With the pull type, the throw out bearing attaches to the fingers and pulls back as the clutch pedal is depressed. On some vehicles the bearing is attached to the plate at the factory and in others like the Isuzu and the Passport, the bearing is designed to clip in place during installation of the transmission to the engine.

There have been numerous reports of aftermarket clutches having weak clips and they will come off unexpectedly often within days of installation. Since it is a relatively time consuming job to remove and replace the transmission, I preferred to have a more secure fixing of the bearing to the pressure plate.

Because the Isuzu bell housing has two large access holes, it is possible to attach the release fork to the bearing even if it is already attached to the pressure plate. Therefore the snap ring can be permanently fixed to the plate prior to installation.

I snapped the bearing into place and carefully put a few small welds on the clip to prevent it from ever coming back out. While this makes reassembly of the transmission slightly more complicated it is better than having to deal with it popping out unexpectedly.

I had to slightly modify my clutch alignment tool to make it fit through the bearing hole. I put it in my lathe and turned down the knurled part until it fit through the hole.

Reinstallation is the same as usual except that the bearing ears need to be aligned with the prongs of the release fork as the transmission is slid into the clutch disk. I used a long screw drive to manipulate the bearing through the two accesses ports on the bell housing. Once the forks engaged the bearing, I slid it up and proceeded with the normal installation.

I learned this trick from a Youtube video by briansmobile1. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to engage the release fork with the bearing permanently attached to the pressure plate. The owner of the Passport was very happy that she did not have to buy a new clutch assembly to get her Passport drivable again.
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