A friend from work says that I need to fix my "clutch adjustment cable".

When my clutch pedal is right to the floor, I barely lift it and it's already trying to to engage. I'm still able to get into all my gears to get around but it's getting worse. I also have a lot of play between where the clutch pedal normally rests all the way down to just before hitting the floorboard where the clutch actually engages (that was kind of redundant).

I've looked in the Haynes manual but I have pages missing from it! Does anyone know how I can fix this and if at all possible post up images of how to do this if you can?

Please help... either the cable needs to be adjusted or my clutch is finally wearing out

 

Wankeled, if you take a look at the components in your (presume 1985 RX-7) clutch system you will not find a cable. Look at the clutch system & tell us what parts the system consists of.

David

 

My car does this and it temporarily went away when I bled the hydraulic fluid.

I believe it's more to do with a weak master/slave clutch cylinder than to do with any adjustments....

 

Our cars have a hydraulic clutch, so there are no cables. Check the hydraulic fluid. It could be leaking in which case you will have to rebuild the master and/or slave cylinders. Look under the hood, follow the lines from the transmission. It is pretty easy to understand. Should you have to rebuild them, it is not that difficult. The kits are cheap. I did mine in the fall and it didn't take very long at all. Hope that helps.

 

thanks a lot! I knew I came to the right place!!

so I'll first check the master/slave cylinders and trace it back to the transmission to see if it's leaking fluid from anywhere. If it is, there's my problem and I'll have to get the cylinders rebuilt (hopefully its not too expensive, especially if I take it in someplace).

If they're not leaking, drain/replace the fluid

PS. I do have an 85 rx7, and it is a hydraulics clutch system and not cable (doh!)

Much appreciated guys.


Now, what do those cylinder thingamajigs look like!.... hmm...


EDIT: just noticed your signature 1stgen4life... you're still the original owner!?!!? VERY NICE!!

 

make sure you check on the INSIDE the firewall under the carpet.....if the master is leaking that's where you usually find it.

 

I'm trying to figure this one out myself. 1stgen4life's profile says he was born in 1986, yet he's the original owner of a 1980. How does that work? No big deal, but I look for original owners since I bought my '79 new in May of 1978.

Rich

 

maybe it was a hand me down through the family

 

Could be, and I'd have to agree that would qualify as an original owner...

 

I'd recomend replacing both the master and the slave. They're pretty cheap as far as parts go and if one's going, the other is going to follow sometime in the near future. It's any easy job. I took all of two hours. You'll need someone to press the clutch repeatedly to help bleed it once they're installed. Good luck.

 

If the fluid is really dirty looking (i.e. almost completely black), would that cause the same symptoms? I have the same problem, and my fluid looks pretty friggin' dirty.

 

I have come to the conclusion the black fluid is caused by the breaking down of the black hydraulic hose. I recently rebuilt both my master and slave at the same time and within a few days my nice clean fluid was black again. This was not the first time I experienced this. Maybe I will replace the hose, or mayabe just wait until it bursts.

From my experience, if your clutch pedal almost hits the floorboard before enganging the clutch, it is the slave cylinder. If your pedal engages the clutch with little pedal travel but looses hydraulic pressure causing you to push the pedal further down, it is the master cylinder.

 

Actually my dad, who I still live with is the original owner. I set up the account, but we both use the information, so technically I am not the original owner, but the title has never changed hands. My dad bought it new in 1980, and still owns it and loves it 25 years later. Hope that clears up the mixup.

Also, just rebuild it yourself if it needs it. It seriously takes about 15 minutes once you get it out of the car. It is really simple. And you definately came to the right place. Good luck.
John, son of original owner!

 

The black hydraulic hose is on the top side of the transmissin, underneath the fluid resevoir, correct? Or is there more hydraulic hose that might be somewhat inaccessible?

And do you mean "If you clutch pedal almost hits the floorboard before disengaging the clutch?" I'm confused at how you worded that. I have to push my pedal all the way to the floorboard in order to disengage the clutch, and even then sometimes it doesn't disengage it all the way. I.E. When I start the car, and put it in reverse, sometimes the gears will grind. I'm a little concerned that this could be the synchros going out, but I'm hoping that it's just a problem with the clutch cylinders.

I might answer my own question later today/this weekend. I'm going to go pick up a rebuild kit for the master/slave cylinders for the clutch. I'll try to post info on whether or not it fixes my problem for sure.

Also, in order to change the clutch fluid, do I have to bleed the entire system, or would it be possible for me to siphon most of it out and try to get as much clean fluid in as possible? When you take/put the cylinders out/in, is draining the clutch fluid part of the process, or is it like changing the brakes, where you try to keep as much fluid in as possible?

P.S. Sorry about so many questions, damn Adderrall gets to me.

 

Wankeled, my first post worked. You now know what parts are within the clutch actuating system outside the bell housing. I replaced my master cylinder & slave at 82,000 because when I took the master cylinder apart & looked down the cylinder with a small flash light the inside of the cylinder was corroded.

David

 

***When I start the car, and put it in reverse, sometimes the gears will grind. I'm a little concerned that this could be the synchros going out,***

For information only reverse gear has no Syncro. If your idle is a bit fast at times there will be a grinding of teeth as you shift to reverse. The reverse teeth on the reverse slider gear have teeth extensions (>) which are wearing off (]).

Don't bother trying to save clutch fluid. The whole deal can't hold maybe a pint.

David

 

I'm not talking about saving clutch fluid, I only aim to replace it. It's just regular hydraulic fluid, anyways, it's not like it's some kind of special fluid.

That's good to know that reverse gear has no synchro. My idle is above 1k RPM right now because of poor idle below 1k. I'm still getting all the kinks worked out; the biggest part is the idle mixture, because the back of my car is turning brown (white car, easy to see), which I'm guessing is due to my carb running rich.

If you adjust the idle mixture screw, will that also affect the idle speed? I've tried looking for the idle speed and idle mixture screw, but I've only found one screw that is adjustable. I'm guessing it's the idle speed since turning it causes the RPM's to go up or down. Either that, or the richer idle mixture is causing it to idle higher (which would make sense to me, since running the choke causes it to idle higher.)

The screw I'm talking about is [while facing the front of the car (hood directly in front of you)] on the right side of the carb, near the bottom and centered laterally. Any idea which screw this is? ('82 GX)

P.S. The Hayne's manual doesn't help at all because the carb pictured in it has the 2 screws right beside each other.

 

moonchopper, when you stand on the drivers side of the car looking at the motor the following is true.

The screw centered front to rear on the carb with a head looking like (+) crossed screw driver slots is the idle mixture adjuster. I don't rember exactly but this screw may have a plastic piece of $hit cover on it. IIRC I crunched this plastic cover with a pliers.

A same looking screw at the side rear of the carb is the idle speed adjust.

There is also a screw with a nut going through a bracket at the side rear of the carb. This is the accelerator pump adjust.

David

 

Ahhh ok. Then I was right. I was just adjusting the idle mixture, not the idle speed. That explains alot

BTW, I believe only the California 7's had the plastic cover on them. Perhaps not just them, but it's probably a requirement over there.

 

I was wondering when I typed that which was correct, but you seem to have figured out what I meant. Either way, your best bet is just rebuild them both at the sametime. The black hose I was refering to is the one connected to the slave cylinder. The first part coming from the master is fabricated from aluminum tubing and is then connected to the black hose.

 

Well, I was forced to take my rx7 to work yesterday and the clutch worked fine? (something still feels wrong, but much better than before)

So as hadoken said before, I probably have weak master/slave clutch cylinders?

Tomorrow morning I will check for leaks both from the transmission end and from the inside firewall area and regardless find out where to order the rebuild kits for both cylinders and try to do it myself.

Before installing the new cylinders, I'll drain the hydraulic fluid and as PT Ray suggested check to see if the black hose connecting to the slave cylinder needs replacing or not.

Moonchopper and ddwehurst, can you guys write up instructions with pictures for our 1st gen sticky posts for others to read and follow on how to rebuild the cylinders and bleed/replace the hydraulic fluid?? It'll make our sticky FAQ's (lol) more complete


THANKS!

 

Good luck with your rebuild. It is really easy.

 

Doh! Sorry, I've already rebuilt both cylinders, so no pictures. But I'll do a write up tomorrow. It really is pretty easy, and you can get rebuild kits from either Advance Auto (preferred, they seem to be more knowledgable [sp]), or probably Auto Zone (Never been there, heard bad stuff about them though.)

As for how it went, everything went real well [except for the long *** bolts/studs for the master cylinder that made it a bitch to get off. They were also stacked with 5 washers for each bolts.] My clutch problems are fixed now. I did the slave cylinder first (was waiting on master cylinder to arrive at Advance Auto), drove with it, and the 'release stroke' was definitely fixed, but I had the let the pedal up all the way before the clutch would grab. After rebuilding the master cylinder, it evened the stroke out, and it drives just like new. Well, as new as a 23 year old car could get, anyways :-D

As for the clutch fluid, I'm pretty sure the reason why the clutch fluid was black is because it had never been changed before. Hopefully it won't turn black within the next couple of days.

To bleed the hydraulic system:

1. Get an assistant to sit inside the car and pump the clutch 5-6 times. [This gets all the air to the end of the system or to the resevoir, where it dissipates. (not sure which one it does, but it works.)]

2. On their last pump, have them hold the pedal down. While they have the pedal down, slowly loosen the bleeder on the slave cylinder (Slave cylinder = on top of the transmission, drivers side. An 8mm deep socket with an extension usually helps in this case.) The bleeder looks like a bolt, except the head has a hole in it and it's sort of round.

3. After the fluid stops coming out, tighten the bleeder back up. Check the hydraulic fluid in the resevoir to make sure it isn't too low. I usually fill it up if it's close/at/below the "low" mark. Just fill it up to the "max" mark.

4. Repeat #1 and check to see if there are any large bubbles coming up through the hole in the resevoir. I usually bleed the system until there aren't any more large bubbles coming up, and then bleed it one more time after that for good measure.

*IMPORTANT* Make SURE you cover ALL painted areas with shop rags, paper towels, or something else substantial. The hydraulic fluid WILL squirt out of the bleeder if you loosen it too much at one time, and will quickly eat away the paint. Usually, the socket will keep the spray to a minimum, but I would still cover painted areas to be safe. If you do happen to get some fluid on your paint, you can rinse it off easily with a hose or something else. (something with some kind of pressure behind it.)

 

also make sure to open/close the bleeder all while the pedal is held to floor...

Pump/hold/ open bleeder->close bleeder/release clutch

 

oops. Yea, I left the 'close the bleeder while pedal on floor' out. That's a big part of it, too.