I was almost to school to study for a cell biology exam, when I pushed on my clutch and I could barely shift so not wanting to get stranded at school I limped home in 3rd gear about 20 miles on a great windy road, rolled threw a couple of stop signs and made it home when I pulled into the drive way there was no pressure on the clutch pedal.My question is, is it worth buying a rebuild kit for $13 or a new master cylinder for $70. Being a student I am short on money and have everything I need to do DLIDFIS except the new spark plug wire and I don't have enough $ for both. Is the rebuild a waste of time or will it work.

Thanks

 

that depends on the condition of it etc

usually when you have 1 go bad the other is bad to, or close to being bad

 

I don't trust rebuild kits as in my experience, they've gone bad quickly. (This was with rear brake cylinders on other cars, but same principle.)

If you use the kit, you may end up rebuilding again soon...

I'd try to borrow a car and find $100 to replace the entire clutch hydraulic setup. (Master, Slave, and Hose.)
As they all tend to go bad at close times.

 

Don't rebuild, buy it new. Replace the master, slave and the hose all at once. Victoria British sells all three. Somewhere around $100
dave

 

I replaced the slave cylinder about 7 months ago. So it should still be fine. I don't know how old the master is I have owned the car for a year and a half. I will have to pull it off and see what kind of shape it is in. I will probale replace it because I don't want to go threw this again in a few months.

 

Replace, you don't want to take that sucker off more than once. It's a bitch to get out of there. Plus you don't want to be late for another exam.

 

I'm going to be doing the new master/release/hose thing as soon as I get home in a week.

I got the new ones from mazdatrix, with the nice braided hose for about $110. The braided hose is really nice, I'd recomended it if you're swapping out the other components too.

 

Hmmm, every hydraulic cylinder I've rebuilt has lasted a LONG time. I hand hone the bore, finishing with 600 grit. That leaves the bore really smooth so it won't tear up the new rubber in short order. Of course, that's assuming that the bore isn't pitted too deeply to prohibit a proper rebuild. I can't believe the prices people are quoting for a new master cylinder. I bought my last new one for $30 when I swapped my RX4 over to MT. That top nut on the clutch master is really a challenge to remove, though, so I can't blame anyone for not wanting to remove it more than once. Having been poor when I was younger taught me to be pretty resourceful. I've rebuilt the motor on my 30+ year-old vacuum cleaner twice now, but it still sucks.

 

Rimshot.

 

The clutch *master* cylinder was a piece of cake for me... it was the slave that took me the greater part of two hours... a 5" extender, attached to a 4" extender, attached to a socket and a wratchet.... and a rubber mallet.... not to mention a lot of liquid wrench.... but I got it out! :P

If you got the slave out, the master is child's play because the bolts are inside the cabin where no water ever goes.

Jon

 

I payed 150 parts and labor last week for mine!

 

Ummm what? The slave took me 10 minutes including the time to bleed it. Maybe it's easier with all the emissions removed.... I found the master the hardest because access to the top bolt was quite limited. The mazdatrix prices for these kinds of parts suck. I replaced both my hydraulics for 70$CAN and some brake fluid.

 

yeah really, the slave is hella easy to remove. ALOT easier than the master cylinder. And I have a 89 motor, so I have more emissions crap than I know what to do with!

Just use a u-joint.... makes everything so much easier.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I gotta do this on my 85 soon.

BN

 

I changed the clutch masters cylinder not too long ago with one that I got from the junk for $10... its working great.... make sure you tighten things tight... the only tricky part is getting that upper 12mm bolt on the clutch masters... everything else is a snap... don't for get to bleed your system afterwards...

 

I changed the clutch masters cylinder not too long ago with one that I got from the junk for $10... its working great.... make sure you tighten things tight... the only tricky part is getting that upper 12mm bolt on the clutch masters... everything else is a snap... don't for get to bleed your system afterwards...

 

It would have been much easier with the emissions out of the way, but using a joint made it impossible to get the kind of grip I needed to loosen the tight bolts... I couldn't force hard enough w/o the joint bending and thus making the socket come off the head.

Where do you get replacement bolts for this car? I stripped the hell out of one of my slave cyl bolts and I want to replace it... But I have no clue where to get them and I think I'd feel kinda dumb going all the way to Mazda just to say "umm.. hi... I'm here for a single slave clutch cylinder bolt.." and they'd respond "sure thing sir, that'll be 20$ plus tax"

Jon

 

That's why you want to use a six-point socket.

 

id say, go to the scrap yard see if you can find one, they are easy to take out.

 

Huh? Hard to take out the master? Nah.. You remove the push rod from the pedal arm first, then get the upper 12 mm bolt... Since you're replacing the cylinder, you're gonna have to adjust the pushrod length anyway...

 

It helps to be real skinny and flexible, too.

 

True. But ideally you'll need a 12mm SEMI-DEEP socket. This socket is hard to find (snap-on carries them), and is deeper than a standard socket but not as deep as a deep socket. A deep socket will not fit into the limited space. You can still remove the nuts with a standard 12mm socket, but the bolt won't allow it to fully seat on the nut and will tend to slip off until you have the nut threaded off the first few threads or so.

 

I had this dilemma not long ago. Rebuild the masteras the bore was fine and got a new slave (15AUD = US$9-10!!!!!). The best bet however, is rather than buy a new master is to get the bore resleeved with stainless steel. Clutch and brake specialists here do the service for cheaper than the price of a new one and it will last HEAPS longer, with the stainless bore and the better tolerances they use.

 

that ^ and sitting in the seat backwards with your head at the pedals and your feet at the head rest. 12m wrench worked just fine for met to get it out and back in.

 

i would try this also you might find one for really cheap...or you can always try http://www.mazdarecycling.com/