Clutch shitted on me last night, diagnosis?
 

So then out of nowhere my OEM clutch crapped out on me right as I was pulling out of a parking lot. The clutch pedal just wouldn't depress, and it seems as if something was so loose that the pedal was just hanging there.

Turned the car off and nothing happen. I could still put it into gear and start the car, but I just shift into any gear no matter how hard I tried. I gave up and called a tow truck and got it towed over to my buddie's place.

My clutch has about 59k miles on it. This was replaed under Mazda warranty when the first owner had it done. As far as I know, I'm not sure if the T/O bearing was also replaced, nor do I know how's the condition of the clutch fork.

I called up my friend while I was waiting for the tow truck and explained to him what's going on. He asked me to start the car in 1st gear. The car TRIED to start in gear, but it'll just inch forward a little bit. From that he concluded that my clutch fork is fucked up.

If that is the case, how much does it usually cost to have it replaced? I know the tranny has to be pulled out and everything so yeah. Thanks for any help.

-Dan

BTW, I checked my brake fluid and it doesn't seem to be empty at all, there was nearly just a bit over the half way mark from the bottom and the TOP of the bottle, not to where the FULL mark is.

-Dan

That happened to me a few months ago. It's most likely the fork. I actually broke one of the arms off. I paid 300 bucks in labor for mine but i also had a act clutch and pp put in. The fork itself is around 80$

Thanks for your help. I'll look into it.

-Dan

It could also the T/O bearing pops out of the Pressure plate. Thus the clutch piston is maxed out.
Open the clutch cover and see what happened.

Yeah, if your clutch goes to the floor, but no fluid loss, and the clutch will not disengage, then it is 99% likely it is your clutch fork. Maybe the T/O bearing, but not very common. This is what it looks like broken.


https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...postid=2779641

Notice Mazda intelligently engineered it with a roll pin right on that pivot point, which just so happens to be where it breaks from. Us - :bash: - Mazda

-

sucks to get crapped on.

Now is the time to install a lightweight flywheel, and perhaps upgrade the clutch.

And if the tranny is dropped it is painfree fuel filter changing time :)

Actually, there's one thing I didn't mention. Right around the time before this shit happened, my brake light went on. That just doubled my frustration because I've had my car for nearly a year and a half now and this was the very first time I've ever had any trouble, and they all come at once.

Since the brake and clutch share the same resivor, I went back this morning to check up on the level. Remember last night when I checked it, it was pretty fine, but today when I checked it, the level was noticeably lower than last night. So now I'm HOPING that it's just due to the low fluid level.

ALSO, last night I said that the clutch was flimsy and wouldn't depress unless I used my hand, and also I mentioned that it seems as if the tension/spring was loose/broken. But today I examined it more closely and when I flip the clutch pedal forward, it'll bouce right up to the top. So I guess the tension is still there.

I'll drop by Kragens or something tomorrow morning and get some Dot 4 fluid and pour it into the resivor and see if there's any change. If not then I'll be back.

-Dan

not to pirate, but where is a good place to get a new fork? I am doing my clutch soon and might as well replace it while i am in there.

I'd go with OEM......

-dan

I don't believe they make aftermarket shift forks for the fd.

it could also be a leaking or broken clutch master or slave cylinder.

more chance of the cylinders going out then a broken clutch fork.

yeah i looked for like a month for a upgraded fork. and couldnt find one. lol not to long but still long enough for me. i called ray at malloy mazda and he got me a great price on the fork + free ground shipping!

thanks.

One way to tell if its the fork for sure is You can have pedal pressure. But when you try to put it in gear it won't go if the car is running but if you turn off the car it will go into gear. Hope that helpls.

Alright guys here's an update. I bought some brake fluid and poured it into the resivor. Filled it up to max and then started to pump the clutch by hand. At first for the first few min nothing happened. Bummer. Then I just kept pumping it and soon the pedal started to have pressure. And then finally I could use my leg to pump it like it was normal. Woo hoo problem solved! NOT!!

I was expecting something to leak otherwise why was the level so low in the first place right. So then I started the car and just played around with the clutch and gearing in the driveway and then looked underneath. YUP! There was some leakage. I didn't have my 2.5 ton jack lifts so I couldn't tell where exactly it was coming from. But in the meantime I took it out for a drive and it shifted just fine. No clutch fork problem, no worn out clutch problem. SO, it could be just the cylinder after all. But I can't be sure unless I crawl down there. Or it could just be a line or something that split or got torn.

Sooooooooo I just gave her a quick wash... and since everyone love pics:

btw, I haven't applied any wax to the car yet....



http://www.reaction-image.net/albums...m/IMG_0620.jpg
http://www.reaction-image.net/albums...m/IMG_0621.jpg
http://www.reaction-image.net/albums...m/IMG_0622.jpg

I'm 99% sure it's the line then, get a OEM one from Mazda or get one of these (which is what I would do)

Stainless Clutch Line

Jon

Thanks for the link. I'll look into all possible lines. If it is a clutch line, I'd most likely go with OEM.

-Dan

Hey...if the piston comes out, the fluid will pour out too...
But it will pour out of the bell housing. So maybe you pump so much until it finds a hole to pour out of the bell housing...

stainless steal clutch line foo