Hey Rotary gurus,

check this out, i go to start my 87 S4 base model, after getting back from turkey dinner; i wanted to just move it to the other side of the street cuz of the street cleaners. I push my clutch down and it felt odd. just went down way too easy. car starts tho. cuz you gotta push the clutch in to start it.. so it starts just wont let me put any of the gears. i turned off the car and put in gear.. all gears are fine i even started it in reverse and it started up, even moved and got to drive in revers for a bit to move the car LOL...

so how would i go about trouble shooting this? im guessing its the clutch cable. any ideas? this sucks too cuz i wanna go on the So Cal Turkey run on saturday.

thanks yall

 

check your clutch fluid and if there are any leaks.

if its low, add the proper fluid. you might have to bleed it to make sure it works and feels normal.

possibly air in the lines?

 

Urgh... sounds fun. ill have to tackle this in the morning if i can or after work. thanks.. if anyone has any other suggestions, i would appreciate it.

 

Either the clutch slave or the clutch master cylinder are leaking. Look for fluid inside the boot of the clutch slave pushrod, very common failure on these cars.

 

+1 to the above post

I also posted a reply to the cross thread you posted in the west section.

Either have air in the system from a leak, the clutch master leaks causing the fluid to bypass the piston, or the slave cylinder leaks.

Seeing you mentioned the clutch CABLE being the problem I would do a little research into how a hydraulic operated clutch works before attempting to tinker with and R and R the parts...

 

best bet is to replace the master, slave, and the hose. all three do fail

 

sounds good. ill look into that after work today.

any ideas on price range if i gotta replace both cylinders? can i get these at like autozone or do i have to junk yark shopping?

 

Parts store will have them... Both together should be just under $100.
Add a Stainless Steel line to the mix as well and that should put you right at or maybe a bit over $100.

Click here: https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...56&postcount=4

 

Question. is this the same Cylinder i see in the engine bay? the one for the brakes or is it a differnt one? any pics? just so i know what to look for

 

The clutch Master Cylinder is the small one with the round cap. It has a line coming from it which wraps around back to the firewall, then connects to a rubber line and goes to the Slave Cylinder which is mounted on the top/back of the motor. What you see there is pretty much the whole system. I bought a clutch master cylinder for 70 bucks i think from mazdatrix.

 

this is it.

They dont get air in them overnight, something is not good so replace all 3 and be done with it.

 

The one for the brakes is the one for the brakes... Look closer to the fender. There's a smaller one.

 

checked the cylinder next to the fender.. found that it had no fluid in it so i got some dot3 and pumped it a few times, works now. i didnt notice any leaks tho. maybe i cant see them. i think ima gonna buy a new master and slave anyway, some time later this month maybe.

thanks for all the help

 

Replace the hose as well.

 

Look under the dash. Look up where you see the clutch pedal hook up to the cylinder. It'll dribble down the firewall.


Back when I had my FB, I kept losing clutch fluid. I was like WTF, where is it going?! I parked on a clean parking space and put cardboard under to see if it was dripping off the car. It was not.

I put several bottles of brake fluid into that cylinder while driving the car around.

Then I had to do something on the floor under the driver's seat. The carpet was wet. Lifted the carpet, BIG ******* PUDDLE OF BRAKE FLUID.

 

^^ thanks ill look under there today

 

i did notice that when i started the car this morning. the pedal needed to be pumped inorder to function... happen to me on the freeway way too. i was driving in 5th great just cuising to work. then got off on my exit and had to down shift. i almost freaked out when the pedal went down but not back up. pumped it afew times and it was fine. cheked the fluid level and it was just a smidge under the max line. i guess i do have a leak somewhere.

 

replace it now, I had my slave go out on my 1st gen when I was trying to get home at 11 at night

I got the car home with a combo of shifting without the clutch and trying to time out the lights, I would have to shut the car down in gear and start it back up in gear as well.

Replace those items when it is convenient and you wont get stuck somewhere, that fluid IS leaking someplace and it also eats paint.

 

If I had a quarter for every time the master failed in my car and fell to the floor before I replaced it...

The clutch hydraulics in our cars are famous for either breaking the seal at the slave and leaking all the fluid out all over the tranny or breaking the seal inside the master and basically leaking into itself, showing no signs of being bad externally.

You can get the rebuild kit from NAPA for like 40$ or so. Or you can buy both the master and slave brand new for about 90$.

I'd almost recommend buying a extra set for when it goes out again...

 

I purchased a Beck Arnley MC and slave (try a Google shopping search) for cheap online and purchased the SS clutch line from mazdatrix. Took all of about an hour or so including bleeding the hydraulic system to fix. Usually when you replace one component, the other one will fail soon after... think "weak link" in the system.