erik550c

I'm having some problems with the fc i just bought. I took it to a mechanic for a checkup and he said i may need a new master clutch cylinder. My friend noticed that the clutch pedal felt a bit soft and he recommended i tighten my clutch plate. The car already had problems grinding (sometimes) when i put it into gears (especially high rpms and while racing around and reverse gear). I took it to another mechanic to change the tires and do their full check up and he didn't notice anything wrong. The next couple days later my clutch or something started messing up bad and when i put it into gear, the car bounces around, like when you let off the clutch too fast. It also hardly accelerates, regardless of wot. Tonight it felt somewhat normal again. The clutch pedal feels soft (but it's my first manual car, I've only borrowed my friends honda's and occasional other cars in the past), and the whole pedal does nothing except for the last like inch or two before it's fully released and it's hard to have the car throttled enough because it's hard to tell where the action of the clutch is since it only has like an inch or two of action at the very end before you release it. I told the guy I bought the car from over the phone this story and he thinks I need a slave clutch cylinder!! Everyone says something different and I don't know what part(s) to replace!

It would be very, very helpful if someone could offer any advice on what needs to be done? I would like to put on a nice clutch (possibly a top of the line racing clutch) as my car is fairly modded.. what would a good clutch be and what else could the problem be??

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
-Erik

ivegonemad

replace both the slave clutch cylinder and master clutch cylinder itll help alot...plus check the oil in the tranny as well could be low

Tiers

yes replace slave and or master...they are cheap really have done it to 2 of my rexex...slave was like 29$ master a bit more...easy job and fixed same descript prob immediately fairly easy to do , bleeding was toughest but ...not really...

ivegonemad

no it was plain and simple...lol..wo mine in total cost a bit more...$36 for slave and $70 for the master

Andrizzanizz

iTrader: (1)

if you dont like the freeplay your car has you can adjust it with the rod behind the clutch pedal.
but like the two said in front of me might was well replace the mc and sc.
and also if you are goign to replace the clutch disk,which you have to take your tranny out to do, you would need to replace the pilot bearing and throw out bearing.

2gTURBOrx45

be careful with the high rpm grinding that might be your gear syncronizers going bad

Andrizzanizz

iTrader: (1)

wtf are you talking about. he has said nothing about grinding gears in high rpms.

are you just trying to get your post count up?

0x0000FF

Are you blind?

freemanrx7

^^ I suggest you read the OP post again.

Change the clutch fluid
Change the tranny fluid
Inspect or replace the shifter bushings. These bushings are common to go out and cause grinding. I had a customer recently want to trade in their rx7. They were told they needed a new tranny cause it wouldn't go into 5th and reverse. I told them to put in new bushings. WHOLA went in to reverse no problem. It's a cheap fix to. Mazdatrix has a great write-up with pics. REALLY EASY TO DO!!!
Welcome to the club

Andrizzanizz

iTrader: (1)

ha i guess i am blind. but still that guy was posting in every thread saying the same **** other people said.

2gTURBOrx45

Ok I am backing what others say because i am not an a** thats going to say something other than the truth and having others back a good decision is usually helpful, at least to most people.

erik550c

Thanks a lot for help... The problem became worse after posting this thread. I had to shove it into first. I put in a new slave clutch cylinder and that became a bit better. When I took the old one off it was loose as hell. So I'm going to change the master and try the bearings cause it grinds in 3rd and reverse and 1st now too. I also tightened the clutch pedal and that helped a lot. My car is becoming slower and slower!!!!!! How come?? It's like it's half as fast and everything was great a couple weeks ago. I have intake, exhaust, piping, headers, new valves, plugs, cables, and some other stuff. It was all solid but now my car is way slower. What gives?

Andrizzanizz

iTrader: (1)

Roen

iTrader: (2)

You did bleed the clutch, right? You do have fluid in the cylinder right?

If the master cylinder is leaking, time to get a new one. I would never trust rebuilds since the old cylinder is probably too f'ed up anyway.

If you do get a new master, make sure you get either OEM Mazda, or Tokico (They make the OEM Mazda cylinders.) Do not go with a parts store discount cylinder, those are usually all rebuilt, and will have problems MUCH MUCH sooner than the OEM. Mazdatrix sells the Tokico cylinder in their clutch hydraulics section. (www.mazdatrix.com)

If it was a problem with the slave, your fluid would still be pushing through, but the slave wouldn't do anything (i.e. make the throwout bearing disengage the clutch). You would have a hard time shifting; you'd have to float the gears (shift without the clutch). Actually, those are the same symptoms as a pilot bearing seizing on the input shaft.

Your symptoms definitely sound like a leaking master cylinder or a cylinder that's on the verge of failing. Make sure the clutch is properly bled and that the fluid is at a sufficient level. You should have barely any pedal play. If you still do have play, you probably should order that new cylinder, as well as a new clutch hose. (might as well) For the hose, a lot of people get the SS braided line. (myself included) However, after reading about it more, you find out that, because the SS line has less expansion than the stock OEM line, you punish your hydraulics more. I think the best line to get is just the stock OEM replacement.

2gTURBOrx45

When you said the car feels slower and slower does it seem like your rpm's are going up and you are hardly accelerating then there is a possibility that your clutch is slipping causing the car to accelerate slower(I have the same issue on my 300zx) so you would need a new clutch. What is your cars mileage, what mods have you done and how much boost are you running. If your making enough power the engine is more powerful than the clutch can hold causing it to spin slower than the engine (hence the word slipping). The only way to fix this is to buy a stronger clutch.

jerd_hambone

valves?

what valves?

when the clutch is depressed (IE when you are going in gear and all) is the car revving but not going faster? or is it just like the car has no power?

clutch could be slipping and thats not good

jerd_hambone

whoa i read this entire post and when i posted, there was a post almost identical to mine

haha

sorry about that

Roen

iTrader: (2)

clutch depressed usually means clutch disengaged from the tranny.......

jerd_hambone

my bad haha

i coulda swore that depressed was the opposite of pressed

Roen

iTrader: (2)

no prob,

FWIW, you know those sticks that look like popsicle sticks, that the doctor uses to hold down your tongue? Those are called tongue depressers.

jerd_hambone

i always call them "keep that thing away from my mouth" haha

2gTURBOrx45

its cool dont worry about it it just backs what I said

jerd_hambone

yeah backing up always helps

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Fire your friend...

erik550c

I had this problem and I did have to shift without the clutch and slam the shifter into gear. when i replaced the slave everything was fine again. do i need to rebuild my tranny or is my pilot bearing seized? every shop i take it to, will not let me order parts and put them on (so they can make more $$). these three shops located in the same u-shaped parking lot all worked to together to "test" my car and do basically nothing and tell me that "they could never make me happy", etc.. basically they made me BEG them to work on my car and then he told me i need to rebuild my tranny. then the tranny shop there wouldn't even rebuild mine. he tried to send me to this guy to just by a rebuilt one. anyway, they got me good till later that night. i'm first going to do the bushings and other stuff and hope that works.