[James92SE]

Originally Posted by CMax03

contaminated clutch assembly! Either a leaking rear main seal, dirty clutch assembly upon assembly, or a non resurfaced flywheel!!! Shabby work showing up!

Yep, this is what I'm thinking it is. Well, I actually thought it was this at the beginning but there is a distinct grabbing/shuddering (yet almost a "slipping" feeling) brake-ish sort of feel to it at certain places in the clutch range that I could have sworn was the brakes grabbing. It's really hard to describe, but there is a distinct weird feeling to it aside from typical clutch chatter

I disconnected the ABS box in the trunk and I get the same issues. I know for certain the flywheel wasn't resurfaced as I didn't resurface the flywheel in my Civic and I remember how that felt and I have that same sort of feel here. However, there's still a distinct separate bizarre feel to it at certain points and i can't explain. Judging by the looks of the underside of the engine and transmission, it certainly looks like the rear main seal is leaking pretty badly. I'm thinking all of your guesses apply here - the rear main seal is leaking all over the whole assembly AND the flywheel is probably pretty torn up and wasn't resurfaced.

Gunther: Actually, sometimes, it almost feels like clutch chatter combined with some sort of weird "dead" spot in the power steering. The power steering pump doesn't make any noise so I don't think it's bad. I haven't ever had any steering rack issues (so I don't know the symptoms off-hand) but I'm wondering if it also has an issue with the steering rack