Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800


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vstaral
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Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:58 am
Location: Elyria, OH
Motorcycle: 2002 GL1800

Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by vstaral »



Good Day: I have a 2002 GL1800 with 59k miles. Last Fall as I was putting the bike away for the season, it fell on its left side. :x After picking up the bike, I noticed the clutch lever had almost no resistance and was not disengaging the clutch. I did not notice fluid leaks anywhere, everything else looked normal, and nothing appeared broken. Not having time to troubleshoot, I decided to wait until Spring to play with it.

I ended up rebuilding the master and slave clutch cylinders, and no matter how much I attempted to bleed the system, I could not build any pressure. When I disconnected the clutch hose at the slave cylinder and filled the master cylinder with fluid, no fluid would come come out of the hose.

I filled the master cylinder and let it sit overnight, and the level looked the same the next day.

I'm thinking either the hose became plugged, or there's a pinhole leak in the system somewhere that's allowing air into the system.

I'd hate to replace the clutch hose myself (it looks like it'd be a bear to replace, having to remove part of the handlebar, unwrapping it from other cables, etc.). I was unable to find anyone willing to work on the bike because of the age of it. It's been a very good machine, this is the only issue I've experienced with it.

I'm looking for ideas as to what I could check or other ways I could test to see what's going on. I also wouldn't mind finding someone willing to work on it. :)

Thanks!!


Techdude2000
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Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by Techdude2000 »

Maybe the plunger seals got torn in the master cylinder or the rod between the lever and the plunger has an issue after the impact. You may need to take off the lever and compare it to the front brake lever and push rod and look for signs of something being bent, broken, or missing.
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GoldWingrGreg
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Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by GoldWingrGreg »

Here at JustWings we have a 2010 that just came in that does the same. The customer states that the clutch does not disengage. If it were started in gear with the clutch in, it would go through the wall. When it was dropped off, I instantly noticed that the clutch lever had little resistance.

This one has a liitle bit of maintance history. It was bought used, and came in for a 24k service, 23 months ago with 15k on the ODM.

The ODM now shows 19k, that means it's only been rode 4,000+ miles. So there is the only history that I know, and probably he also. Without knowing more, I can nearly gaurentee you that this Wing has been poorly maintained. A well maintained with gets it brake and clutch fluid changed ever 2yrs, or every 12k whichever comes first. Coolant ever 2yrs or every 24k whichever comes first. That means that the brake fluid probably missed out on getting its brake fluid changed in 2012, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 2022. When poor maintance occurs, sometimes that leads to expensive repairs. We'll see on this one.

On yours, and this one too, the diagnosis should always starts at the beginning. With todays labor rates, no professional shop want to end up saying, "oh ... sorry, we should have checked that first." The inspections starts with the lever action. Even though this one's lever was removed, cleaned, inspected, and lubed 2-years ago, and reassembled, the inspection still starts there. 2-yrs ago on this one, the piviot pin was replaced because of wear, and the boot because it was torn, the inspection process is still the same. Assuming on this one all is good there, of coarse the m/c cap will be removed, and the fluid level checked. With the cap off, and when the lever is pulled, I'll be looking to see if there is any "fluid action." On your lever I'd start by moving the end of the lever up/down and compare it to the frt brake lever ... is there a differance ... my bet says there is. After all the clutch lever is used 3x+ more often and fully pulled. Also, your levers should be OEM. Once cleaned and inspected, be sure to replace any worn parts before reassembling. Assuming your lever is OEM, as we both know, these Wings probably have other issues.

I'll post more in a bit.
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Asphaltmaniac
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Black 2006 1800 Goldwing.
2017 BMW 1200 GS Adventure...

Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by Asphaltmaniac »

vstaral wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 5:42 pm Good Day: I have a 2002 GL1800 with 59k miles. Last Fall as I was putting the bike away for the season, it fell on its left side. :x After picking up the bike, I noticed the clutch lever had almost no resistance and was not disengaging the clutch. I did not notice fluid leaks anywhere, everything else looked normal, and nothing appeared broken. Not having time to troubleshoot, I decided to wait until Spring to play with it.

I ended up rebuilding the master and slave clutch cylinders, and no matter how much I attempted to bleed the system, I could not build any pressure. When I disconnected the clutch hose at the slave cylinder and filled the master cylinder with fluid, no fluid would come come out of the hose.

I filled the master cylinder and let it sit overnight, and the level looked the same the next day.

I'm thinking either the hose became plugged, or there's a pinhole leak in the system somewhere that's allowing air into the system.

I'd hate to replace the clutch hose myself (it looks like it'd be a bear to replace, having to remove part of the handlebar, unwrapping it from other cables, etc.). I was unable to find anyone willing to work on the bike because of the age of it. It's been a very good machine, this is the only issue I've experienced with it.

I'm looking for ideas as to what I could check or other ways I could test to see what's going on. I also wouldn't mind finding someone willing to work on it. :)

Thanks!!
What exactly did you replace on the master and slave cylinders?
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GoldWingrGreg
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Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by GoldWingrGreg »

Without reading my last post, I should mention that the customer stated that the Wing was dropped when it was being loaded onto the tow truck. Like your's it was dropped on it's left side. As for clutch lever action, it has a OEM lever that was set on #4, and it has Kury fat grips. Setting #4 shortens it's lever throw and fat grips does the same. The fluid was filled to its cast mark, and cloudy at the bottom.

When bleeding the system, the 1st pump had air, and once that was out, and fully bled, I now have a normal feeling clutch lever, and the clutch now disengages and engages normally. Do I know for sure what was causing his issue, no. He'll get the choice of chancing that it's fixed, or replacing the m/c, slave, and hose. If air in the system was causing the issue, then pulling in on the clutch lever, was not moving the slave far enough to disengage the clutch. If there was a particle in the system causing fluid blockage, or if the clutch hose is delaminating on the inside, causing the same, either can cause trapped fluid pressure not allowing the slave to relax. Bleeding can cause enough disruption for the symptom to disappear.

As for yours. Usually when we remove the hose from the m/c, air get trapped in that area. Usually when reattaching, we'll manuall blead that area first by pumping the lever, cracking the banjo, pumping the lever ... until no more air is seen there. Sometimes bubbles are very fine. Then we'll bleed at the slave. In most cases, our lever will then feel normal. As a last step, we'll bleed again at the m/c banjo. Possibly one time, we had to bleed at the slave, and the banjo bolt at the m/c, before all was sell. Be sure to use new crush washers. Their torque is 25 ft/lbs.
vstaral
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Location: Elyria, OH
Motorcycle: 2002 GL1800

Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by vstaral »

@Asphaltmaniac Here are the rebuild kits that I purchased and installed: @Techdude2000 From what I can tell, the clutch handle and rod appear normal, neither seemed to have deformed after the bike tipped on its side.

@GoldWingrGreg Thank you for the suggestion about cracking open the banjo bolts when bleeding, I will give that a try (sometime in the upcoming weeks, whenever I can scrape a block of time together). The clutch lever, hose, and master/slave cylinders (minus the rebuild kits) are OEM. I am the second owner of the bike (purchased it in 2000), unsure when the last time the clutch fluid was replaced.
Find This Item on Amazon:
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Asphaltmaniac
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:57 am
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1986 1200 Aspencade. Purchased as a non current brand new in the box 1988. Sold.
Black 2006 1800 Goldwing.
2017 BMW 1200 GS Adventure...

Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by Asphaltmaniac »

I think allballs sells quality stuff. I dont think you went wrong using them. :D
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GoldWingrGreg
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Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:18 am
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Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by GoldWingrGreg »

vstaral wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2024 8:14 am Here are the rebuild kits that I purchased and installed:
Just an FYI ... here we only use OEM parts. The reason is this. They come with unmatched quality ... we can expect nearly perfect results. Although there can be many reasons for part not to work, such as miss packaged, poor quality, some are right, while other parts in the package wrong, deffective, damaged, etc, Honda OEM quality is as near perfect as parts gets.

Especially with after market parts, did you inspect them all, and verify that they all appear correct by matching them to what came out ???

The only time we use AllBalls here are for steering head bearings. We do that knowing they make tappered bearing for 5th gen steering heads, and are really the only ones who do. But we also know that the bearings are made with Chineese steel which is as cheep as it comes.
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Asphaltmaniac
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:57 am
Location: Sparks Nevada
Motorcycle: 1977 Honda 550K. Sold.
1986 1200 Aspencade. Purchased as a non current brand new in the box 1988. Sold.
Black 2006 1800 Goldwing.
2017 BMW 1200 GS Adventure...

Re: Clutch will not disengage, practically no clutch handle resistance, 2002 GL1800

Post by Asphaltmaniac »

vstaral wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 5:42 pm Good Day: I have a 2002 GL1800 with 59k miles. Last Fall as I was putting the bike away for the season, it fell on its left side. :x After picking up the bike, I noticed the clutch lever had almost no resistance and was not disengaging the clutch. I did not notice fluid leaks anywhere, everything else looked normal, and nothing appeared broken. Not having time to troubleshoot, I decided to wait until Spring to play with it.

I ended up rebuilding the master and slave clutch cylinders, and no matter how much I attempted to bleed the system, I could not build any pressure. When I disconnected the clutch hose at the slave cylinder and filled the master cylinder with fluid, no fluid would come come out of the hose.

I filled the master cylinder and let it sit overnight, and the level looked the same the next day.

I'm thinking either the hose became plugged, or there's a pinhole leak in the system somewhere that's allowing air into the system.

I'd hate to replace the clutch hose myself (it looks like it'd be a bear to replace, having to remove part of the handlebar, unwrapping it from other cables, etc.). I was unable to find anyone willing to work on the bike because of the age of it. It's been a very good machine, this is the only issue I've experienced with it.

I'm looking for ideas as to what I could check or other ways I could test to see what's going on. I also wouldn't mind finding someone willing to work on it. :)

Thanks!!
Ya know there is a small stainless steel "plate" type thing in the bottom of the reservoir. Maybe that hole is somehow plugged?


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