importrx7

I was on my way back from a buddies house in columbus and i just stoped to get gas at a station where gas is always cheapest in the area on I-71. I'm leaving the ramp and when i go to shift into 5th the clutch feels heavy as hell. I got it into 5th and wondered what was going on so i took it of fifth and tried to go to forth and it wouldn't go into any gear at all.

It must be my clutch that went out, when i push in the clutch with the engine on i get some nasty sounding noises and it won't go into any gear. This clutch doesn't have a lot of miles on it so i'm kinda pissed off it was a ACT.

How hard of a project do i have a head of me? I've never done a clutch replacement or let alone take out the tranny. Does the service manual give good info on how to remove and reinstall the tranny and to do the clutch job?

Would this clutch support my power levels i don't want to spend a fortune on fixing the car.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

jono20

Im a second gen guy doddling in the 3rd gen forum, but that doesnt sound like the clutch. sounds like a leak in the clutch hydraulics. the exact same thing happened to me in my FC, I'd blown a seal in my clutrch salve cylinder. id checl that first before tearing apart the tranny.

ps. my symptoms were exactly the same as what happened to you.
can you change the gears with the engine OFF!?

88t2romad

replacing a clutch is a lengthy but fairly easy job, youll have to remove starter, tranny, exhaust...maybe, flywheel, shifter, p-plate. Over all the biggest pain is either the flywheel nut or geting the tranny off, and on. Oh and just a little tip: use rope to support the tranny through the shifter hole while removing and bolting up stuff. When i replaced mine i used a haynes manuel, it did just fine for me.

hotrodrx7

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/clutch_install.html

importrx7

Yah it will go into gears with the engine off but not when engine is on, i get nasty noises when i push in the clutch with the motor on.

Where is the clutch salve cylinder?

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

happened to me before

gears wont go in with the car on but it will go in with the car off..

turned out to be a bad clutch plate only..

good luck man

alberto_mg

sounds like the clutch fork broke. search for clutch fork.

don't try and force the gears in. what you are actually doing is grinding the synchros. i wouldn't doubt it if you just fucked up your 5th gear synchro. that is how it happened to me. it was right after i installed an clutch too.

importrx7

I doubt i fucked up the syncro i just had the tranny rebuilt not long ago and i didn't try to force it into gears really at all. Also i was talking with my uncle today about it and he was telling me it was more than likely the throw out bearing since the clutch is making noises when its pushed in with engine on.

2FAST7S

go ahead and check hydraulics first, its the cheapest and easiest part(s) to fix. I've replaced 2 cmc on my FC and last week did both cmc and slave cyl. If theyre both ok, then move onto the $$ stuff.
A buddy of mine had the bearing that goes on the shaft weld itself onto the eccentric shaft(i might be off on the names, i have to have the fsm in front of me - lol). Man that was a bitch to fix. He ordered a clutch kit which would have been a waste of money had it not been for the fact that his centerforce DF was starting to stink/slip a bit on wot.

2FAST7S

easy to check just remove the inspection plate and take a peek...should be able to check for the fork and the pilot bearing. Just have someone help you depressing the clutch.

importrx7

What am i looking for when i look in the inspection area of the tranny??

alberto_mg

actually, it might not be that easy at all. the cracks are generally hair line cracks that you can't see from looking through the peep hole.

considering the clutch was just done, i would suspect that the throw-out bearing was replaced. i bet he can put it in gear while the car is off but can not when the car is running. as far as i know, a shot throwout bearing will have different symptoms (i could be wrong about this, but i doubt it).

jaj1

What does the clutch pedal feel like?
Is there more free play at the top of the pedal?
If you do have it in gear does the clutch start to engaged right away very near the floor?
If the answer is yes to these questions it is probably your clutch fork.
Have someone push the clutch pedal while you are looking through the inspection hole
on the trans. Use a flash light and look for a crack in the fork. if it is really bad when
you take off the inspection plate part of it might even fall out.

DigDug

I'd put money on that...

DigDug

Very true. I had this problem not long ago, and couldn't see it until I got the trans out.


Also true.

importrx7

The pedal gets harder to push the closer to the floor i get. Its strange because when pushing in the clutch it feels nothing like what a clutch should be feel like.

How much am i looking at for a clutch fork?

It goes into gear when the engine is off yes but when the engine is on and you push in on the clutch the noise sounds so horrible it also bogs the engine down a lil bit when clutch is pushed in now along with the noise.

jaj1

The fork itself is about $80.00 and you should be able to find someone
to drop the trans and put it in for around $300.00.
When my clutch fork broke it was just a hairline crack and I could still shift.
I had more free play at the top of the pedal than normal. If I was you I would
take off the inspection cover and have a look while someone is pushing in the clutch.
I have heard of the clutch fork being completely broken and from what you are describing
there is a good chance yours is broken and you will be able to see it. Mine being just a hairline
crack it was difficult to see through the inspection hole but I still saw it.

alberto_mg

yep. that is a clutch fork. don't try and stick it in gear or you'll **** up your synchros. happened to me when i broke down and didn't know what was going on. clutch forks are cheap maybe ~30 from malloy mazda (see faq). labor is expensive.

importrx7

I know the labor is expensive thats why i want to do it myself even though i've never done anything like this before. The thing i've been wondering is how to support the motor with the tranny out i doubt my torque brace will be enough.

Speed of light

iTrader: (8)

Yep, I agree that it sounds like the clutch fork. I've had this happen--and I think you can follow alberto_mg's advice. I repaired and reinforced my clutch fork and wrote about it in another thread a few months ago. Here is the link:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...5&page=1&pp=15

Good luck!

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

I wouldn't assume you changed out all the bearings. Make sure you check 'em all, any rings, etc. Even if they look good, don't reuse them.

BUT, given the circumstances and your symptoms, my money's on the clutch fork. The stock fork is fragile, and when you put a heavy duty clutch on, it calls it quits.

The upgraded (stronger) clutch fork runs $65 from Ray @ Malloy. Prob is, you HAVE to pull out the tranny to get to it.

DigDug

When I recently dropped the trans to fix my broken clutch fork (among other things), I used a ratchet strap to support the engine.

Wrap it around the front of the engine, underneath the water pump housing (below and behind the pulley), and back up to the strut tower brace. The strap had hooks that I simply attached to the bar - it's going to depend on what kind of bar you have, but worse case, just wrap the strap around the bar a few times and hook one end of the strap to the other. Then use the ratchet to get the proper tension on the strap, and the motor will stay in place.

Be careful how you route the strap around the front of the engine. The under-side of the water pump housing can take the stress, but pulleys, wiring, and hoses cannot.

DigDug

And I reused the wedge collar and wire ring, despite advice to the contrary. They were in good shape, and are holding up fine.

The TO bearing definitely needs to be replaced - the broken fork has presumably damaged it by pushing on only one side of the bearing when you pushed the pedal in (numerous times, I'm sure).

You should replace the pilot bearing while you're in there, but I'll tell you now, it can be a bitch! Even with the SST, it'll either pop right out, or you'll have to cut it out (ask me how I know).

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

While you CAN re-use it...why bother? I think it's a small price to pay than having to deal w/ a failure from cutting corners. But that's just my opinion.

But, I was referring primarily to the TO and Pilot bearings.

importrx7

Let me get this straight i'm going to need the upgraded clutch fork, a new throw out bearing, and a new piolt bearing? All because of the damn fork breaking damn.

I agree though i don't want to cut corners because it comes back to bite you in the *** later if you do. Do it right once and it seems like i got a lot of work ahead of me.

I've never done any of this so this should be interesting!!!

I don't even know if i'm going to need any special tools at all.