rotarybeat1287

iTrader: (16)

Hey guys,

I've had my 1987 TurboII going on 2 years now. When I got it @ 54k original miles I noticed the clutch pedal was soft but never really thought about it that much. Bled the system and that didn't change anything. Replaced the stock clutch when it went out around 64k miles w/ an Exedy Stage 1. Replaced EVERY hydraulic part of the system from the slave cylinder, hard/soft line, and master cylinder brand new from Mazda.

Well... fast forward months and its always had a problem going into gear here and there. Not all the time but sometimes it is VERY bitchy. I have the rod on the clutch pedal almost all the way out on adjustment so that it goes super far into the plunger of the master cylinder. Still notchy coming out of gear and going into the next. It holds in gear just fine but on some days my car freaking lays down the power and sometimes it feels like its just struggling to go. I'm not sure if the clutch is holding it back or whatever depending on the so called mood its in that day?

Now the only thing I can relate to how bad it is as of right now... its progressively gotten worse and it reminds me the time my pilot bearing shattered into a million pieces and I couldn't put it in gear or anything while the engine was running. Regardless it is completely unable to do anything now. I drove to work today and like 5 minutes from leaving the house, totally unresponsive. I drove to work and back today by rev matching and babying it. I hated every minute of it but wanted the car home instead of leaving it and calling a tow truck.

I'm not sure if it's the throw out bearing, pilot bearing and I just found out today that the FC clutch fork is pretty weak. So if so... has anyone ever heard of anything similar? Has anyone ever had a clutch fork go bad on them? That seems really likely as when my friend brought it up... I remembered even the stock clutch felt really weak and like when I would shift from 2nd to 3rd while boosting it would just feel soft and it would take a bit for it to seem for the gear to stick and then lay the power to the ground.

I'm going to try and get the tranny out here soon... No stranger to dropping FC tranny's as I did an auto to 5-speed swap in my last FC and had it in and out a good bit. I've had my TII tranny out once but I'll inspect everything but was wondering if anyone has had a fork go bad on them and if my symptoms sound like that could be the case. Regardless it'll get a trouble shoot of the only things it could be and get taken care of. I just want to hear what you guys think in the mean time while I'm too busy working to get under the car.

Thanks!

-Allen G.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

Ok..you replaced the clutch.
the Mistake was not replacing the Pilot bearing and Throw out bearing..trust me I did the same thing,and being "spinally Challenged"(three bad discs and lower veretbrae) it was Not fun finding out the Throw out was Bad when I put a TII trans in.
The Pilot bearing Will Prevent the car from going into gear If it is bad..and make your life miserable until you replace it.
The throw out bearing is only used when you Press the Pedal in,then release..has nothing to do with the Car's Gear SHIFTING.
the Fork sits on a Ball headed Pin..and that Pin can Break if something is hindering the Clutch fork from Pushing the Throw out bearing against the Presure plate..but IF you Still have gears,and can put the car in and out of gear,I would say that it is OK.
YOu have to Drop the transmission My friend..and Fix what you should have replaced..the TWO Bearings.
Reading your post again,I saw rev-matching.
That Indicates to me,that the Pilot bearing IS totally Fubarred and you need one,REAL bad.
If the pilot bearing is not allowing the Trans to separate from the Drivetrain( because the Screwed up Bearing has Now Seized the input spline to the back of the Engine) the Whole Drivettrain is Still moving while you are trying to shift gears..that in itself wil explain WHY you are having a hard time shifting.,IT is The pilot Bearing.

rotarybeat1287

iTrader: (16)

The pilot bearing and throwout bearing were replaced w/ the clutch. It all came new w/ the kit. But it now has 40k miles on it. I know its still possible for it to go bad.

But the pedal pops and creaks bad when pressing it down. You can hear it coming from the tranny and it is loud and doesn't sound good. So I dunno. I agree w/ you on the pilot bearing and I'm almost confident that might be the case along w/ the fork also?!?!?! But when the car would warm up... or idle for a long time in the mornings. I would get in and the pedal would be firm and it would shift butter smooth. But if it were cold I couldn't get it into reverse or any gear smoothly. I would have to force it. This was almost always the case after the clutch was installed. It went on being kind of a shitty feeling all the time for months.

But now whatever the problem was/is has completely failed and No Dice! lol.

So I don't know if I'm installing the pilot bearing incorrectly or what but any input would be appreciated! Thanks for chiming in man! Thought I recognized you and thanks for my AFM a while back.