Roddimus Prime

Hey guys, I've purchased an 86 5spd base coupe from a friend and the clutch pedal just sits on the floor. The guy I bought it from said he filled it up with fluid but it just leaked out (not sure where from). I was planning on filling it up and watching to see where it is leaking from but according to the service manual you can only bleed the clutch system on the slave cylinder??? is this right?? I'm unable to get under the car as my driveway is still mud until I can get it paved. I'm pretty much stuck though since I can't even start the car or drive it to a shop with a lift.

Also, is this a common problem with a 20yr old car? I'm hoping I can get away with just filling/bleeding the system but are any of the hydraulic componants known to fail regularly?? I can purchase a new master/slave cylinder pretty easily if they are known problems.

advice/suggestions??

Apathy

Ha, ha... master/ slave cylinders are prone to failure for any old car or car with alot of use... Second, you dont have to get underneath the car to bleed the clutch, in fact its not possible to do it from the bottom. If you look on the top of you transmission from the drivers side, right next to the oil filter, you will see you slave cylinder... all you need is a partner to help you bleed it and an 8mm to open/close the bleed screw... 2nd, just make sure you handle the problem.....

Roddimus Prime

oh ok, I was unaware the slave cylinder bleeder could be reached from the top. It appears in the diagram I saw to only be accessible from the tranny tunnel. Since it's an easy swap should I go ahead and purchase new master cylinder? I'm very green so bare with me.

xtremeskier97

Read the Factory Service Manual. It's very easy to bleed the clutch system. It is also very easy to replace the components, and most times, doesnt cost all that much.

Apathy told you everything you really need to know.

Good luck.

Needa13b

Just yesterday I finished a complete clutch hydraulics job on my '86 N/A. My clutch was bleeding from the slave, and was leaking out the rubber boot. If your clutch pedal is just sitting on the floor, and you have fluid in the reservoir, you need to draw fluid into the line. DO NOT try to bleed air from a system that is entirely air. Make sure you have a bottle or 2 of brake fluid handy and do this:

-Bleeding Screw CLOSED> Pull pedal from floor.
-OPEN Bleeding Screw> Touch/Push Pedal back to the floor, it will stay on it's own.
-CLOSE B.S.> Pull pedal from floor again.
-OPEN B.S.> Touch/push pedal back to floor again.

Repeat this process at least 3-4 times, (you can do this part by yourself, faster with 2 people.) To know that you have pushed enough air, and pulled in enough fluid for "actual bleeding" do this:

-CLOSE B.S.> Pull pedal from floor.
-STILL CLOSED> Push pedal.
-if it falls to floor, you need to do more fluid drawing
-if it falls to floor, maybe you have a serious leak
-if it DOES NOT fall to floor and offers your foot resistance, you can either start proper bleeding, or diagnosing where your leak is.

***Always keep an eye on your fluid reservior, keep ample fluid in during the whole process, if it goes empty, you need to start all over, (because you pulled air into the system, not fluid)***
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Common trouble spots for leakage are (you can search to find these):
-Check your carpet by the clutch pedal inside your car, this would be a master cylinder failure, fluid leaks past the pushing rod and back into your car, staining your carpet.

-Mine was a slave cylinder leak, just get a flashlight and look around the clutch release fork for fresh fluid.

-Check your flex line running to your slave for cracks or leakage.
-Check steel hard line running from your master for breaks or cracks.

Once you get down in there, you will realize the clutch hydraulics are fairly straightforward. I opted to just get New Slave cylinder, New Master, and a SS Braided Flex line. With shipping all came to around $80. If you just fix the leak by rebuilding, the next weakest link is gonna go sooner or later. Buy your Master and Slave from NOPI. Really good deal, and get your flex from Mazdatrix, the SS Braided was only $18, OEM Rubber line is like $16, shipping will put it to $25 i believe.

Apathy

yea, it is very easy to replace... their are two bolts for the master cylinder which are acessible in the car... all you have to do is look by the clutch pedal, and you'll see them, right next to the pushrod... and the two bolts for the slave cylinder are pretty easy to see... you will need 12mm for all 4 bolts... also, you will need a 10mm flare wrech to loosen the clutch lines... if you use a reg. wrench you run the risk of stripping it... Also, before replacing, you should consider rebuilding it'll only cost you like $30 from Autozone...after removing the components use the FSM to test and check them and see if they are rebuildable...

Roddimus Prime

wow, what great advice guys. Very informative.

There is NO fluid in the resivoir so I'm looking for a leak somewhere. I asked around and was told to only use hydraulic clutch fluid and not brake fluid. Whats the recommended fluid type for this application. According the service manual it's hydraulic clutch fluid. Can anyone recommend a specific brand or type I should look for?

Apathy

Ah, thats one to me... I've been using hi-temp brake fluid...anyway, I just replaced my whole hydraulic system yesterday, my slave cylinder actually fell apart on my way from Jacksonville to Orlando for a car show on Sunday... I drove all the way back w/o a clutch...lol, that was really fun...

Roddimus Prime

how in the hell did you do that?

Apathy

Well seeing how I learned how to drive stick in a semi-truck, it wasnt that hard... All I had to do was rev the engine up to like 3500rpm and put minimal pressure on the stick, when its the sweet spot, it'll slip right on in...2nd, when I did come to a complete stop I would have to turn the car off, put it in 1st and then turn it back on... to keep from having to do that I just drove really slow whenever approaching a red light so it would be green by the time I got to it.

xtremeskier97

Everyone should learn their car's "sweet spot". It can come in REALLY handy in instances like these. You will do some grinding when learning, but you'll get the hang of it. A lot of times Im just to lazy to push the clutch in, so I kinda learned by being lazy

Apathy

Yea, I rx7 trannies seem really tight to me... thats why I say to barely use any force when pushing the gear in, just rev the engine and put a little leverage on it and it'll go in by itself at the perfect rpm... except, they only seem to go in during decel...

xtremeskier97

my findings EXACTLY!

Needa13b

You're gonna need to fill the reservior and do the procedure I outlined a few posts up, it will help you find your leak alot faster than looking for old dried up fluid,(dried up fluid?) anyway. DOT 3 brake fluid is what is recommended via the reservior cap, brake fluid is clutch fluid and vise versa, DOT 4, DOT 5, just have higher boiling points, more associated with heavy braking, and generating lots of heat. Your clutch hydraulics are not normally put to such extremes, if you are running stock clutch and your not racing.
The Haynes manual says to use DOT-3 or DOT-4 for both brakes and clutch.

Forgot to mention, you should have a clear hose fitting over your bleeder screw so you can see air bubbles when you get to the bleeding part of it. And it makes it less messy.

Question- Do you need to have the other end of the bleeder hose resting in fluid? Or can it be in the air? I had mine resting in fluid, but did so blindling reading directions.

Roddimus Prime

I'm hoping to get home in time to check everything out in daylight to see exactly what I'll need to do to get everything out and bled properly.

I thought brake fluid was fine also but I was warned against it.

Needa13b

Personally I have never heard of a specific "Clutch" Fluid. Maybe for extreme applications.