Has anyone had long term success with these clutch masters?

i bought 3, not sure what brand, from Rock Auto about 7 years ago. All three have only lasted about 2-3 years.

I’m hoping the Exedy will last longer than that.

And yes, I always replace the slave at the same time.

It seems that the rubber plunger is what fails. It gets sticky and won’t retract.

thanks

 

I don't recall the specific brand of the last one I replaced but it's been in there a few years and it came from Rock Auto. Maybe Beck Arnley?

In addition to replacing both the slave and the master at the same time, it's good practice to clean the hard pipe and also replace the rubber line.

The time before this, I had a quick failure. I had replaced both cylinders, flushed with fresh fluid. I re used the rubber line and didn't clean out the hard line.

 

You need to drive it more Chris! Seriously, I got mine from RockAuto last time and I think it was a Beck Arnley (they always have made superior parts in my experience). The other thing is I have a stainless softline. I also, every year empty and flush the master/slave with new fluid. I do that with brakes on my cars as well. What I see is that the rubber in the master and slaves deteriorates over time and turns the fluid black. The stainless line helps lessen this because its teflon lined but the flushing helps clear out the rubber gunk so it doesn't cake up in the cylinders. I seem to get pretty good life out of them doing this.

 

Thanks for the input! I definitely do need to drive it more! Just nowhere to go living in this tiny area.

went back through my files and they were B&A. I did replace the soft line on my original replacement. I’ll replace that again. The fluid has always turned instantly black, so I’ll disassemble everything and clean.

I do replace the fluid every six months, just because it’s so humid here, but it always goes black in like a week.

 

Maybe I can offer some assistance on this matter. I have an FC3 S5, so clutch hydraulics probably similar to a 1st Gen, but not identical. I bought my RX7 new in April 1990 and have tried to keep an up-to-date maintenance log on my car since new.

Clutch MC, slave and SS line (Mazda) July 2001
Clutch MC & slave (Daikin) April 2016
Clutch MC & slave (Exedy) July 2021

I've got good service life out all my clutch hydraulics. I try to replace the hydraulic fluid every couple years. That might be the reason for the long lifetimes. My first replacement was with Mazda parts in July 2001. I just installed an ACT Street & Strip clutch kit, which was advertised to have 40% more clamping force over the stock clutch. Well, the original rubber clutch hose blew out, so I replace all the hydraulic components. That Mazda MC started to develop a slow leak so, my second replacement was in April 2016 with Daikin components from Rockauto. My third replacement was in July 2021 with Exedy components from Rockauto. Initially, I had a little trouble with these hydraulics. I resurfaced the flywheel and changed the entire clutch assembly with an Exedy clutch kit. The clutch would start engaging when pedal was just barely off the floor. After repeted bleedings, the same problem persisited until one day everything started working normally. Go figure? I think the key to long life is to repalce the fluid regularly and replace the rubber hose about every 5 years or better yet use a SS line.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Daikin and Exedy are the same company. In 1995, Daikin Manufacturing changed its name to Exedy Corporation, and its brand name changed from Daikin Clutch to Exedy Clutch.

 

Thanks! I just, 1500 miles ago replaced the whole clutch and associated parts. The master has been sticky for over a year, but silicone oil in the plunger cylinder has kept it working. I just got frustrated with the process, so I’ll replace it with the Exedy.

It’s amazing that the OG lasted more than 30 years and nothing lasts these days!

 

Exactly! They now call themselves Exedy Globalparts Corporation. They used to manufacture their parts primarily in the US (Roanoke,VA). Now, Exedy has manufacturing facilities in the US, China, Hungary, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India. So, I suppose the parts lifespans depends where they were made.

 

I was going to come to Exedy's defense until I checked my RockAuto history- Ordered the Exedy MC207 in March of 2011. It lasted 2.5 years- I ordered the Beck/Arnley 0728341 in September of 2013 and it has been in the car ever since.

 

RockAuto doesn’t carry them anymore. I’m going to try the Exedy and see what happens.

It’s definitely not a fun job changing, wish Mazda made them or even something close that could be modified!

 

Sometimes, manufacturer's have different quality levels for parts depending on who is selling them. For example, a few years ago I replaced my tie rod ends with ACDelco parts that I bought from Rockauto. I've typically used only Mazda parts, but they were much more expensive than the the ACDelco replacement parts. The ACDelco tie rod ends come nowhere close to the Mazda parts regarding the car's handling. Then I Googled ACDelco and there are many complaints from people about their quality. A few commenters' stated that ACDelco has two different tiers for quality. There are apparently genuine (or premium) ACDelco parts with high quality (that are sold through dealers) versus standard ACDelco parts (that are sold through parts outlets like Rockauto) which are lower quality. Same might apply to Exedy because genuine Mazda clutch parts were, I believe, supplied by Exedy.

 

Agreed. Same applies to the FC. Last time I changed mine in July 2021, I couldn't loosen the fittings for the pipe that ran from the MC to slave. So, rather than struggling and rounding off the fitting, I just took the whole assembly, i.e., MC, slave and pipe, off the car as a unit, clamped the fitting in a vice and spun off the MC as well as same for the slave.