Clutch wont disengage
 

couple weeks ago I was stopped at a light for not more than a minute and when the light decided to turn green i couldnt get my car into gear. crap... so i turn the car off put it in gear start the car in gear and am able to pull off the road into a parking lot. this were it gets wierd... after checking everything i possible can with no tools i decide to try to limp my car to my parents house which is only a 5 minute drive from where i am at..lol much closer than the 30 minutes to my place. during that 5 minute drive my clutch will let me go into first gear about 60% of the times i try(20). then once i am rolling i can change gears perfectly and it feels fine. but sometimes i just cant get it to go into a gear when i am stopped.

I recently replaced the following because of a broken fork. the Clutch master cyclinder with a new oem part. the clutch line with a stainless one from k2rd. the slave cyclinder with the FEED big slave. the clutch fork with a new oem part. and the throw out bearing with a new oem part also. i have been driving for about 3 weeks since i have installed all these parts. before the car decide to be a baaaaaad boy.

the clutch just doesnt seem to seperate sometimes....almost like a bad fork again..but it changes gears after i am rolling and doesnt make any strange nosies.

so i got a motive powerbleeder kit. it works awesome. i bleed the hell out of that line and i adjusted the clutch pedal but it still doesnt work. this time the very first try it worked and then after the 6th try it stopped working again. soooo i lifting the whole car up again and checked the fork/bearing assemble. which end up being in perfect condition. i have already ordered a second master cyclinder and in stalled it which didnt help at all. there are no leaks that i can find. the slave seems to be operating normally.

the t/o bearing seems to pull the pressure plate out about a 1/4 of an inch maybe a little more. but basically the car even in nuetral will spin the tires very slightly. anyone have any ideas?????

thanks,
john

things i already did:
2 new oem master cyclinder
new stainless clutch line k2rd
new Feed big slave cyclinder
bleed clutch line again!
new oem clutch fork
new oem throw out bearing
adjusted clutch pedal

clutch is an act unsprung 6 puck with the extreme pressure plate.

Did you replace the pilot bearing as well?

i had the same problem with my TII. i broke a tranny and installed my spare "JDM" tranny. was fine for a while. i went for some spirited driving and apparently got the tranny real hot or something. on the way home at stop lights, in gear with clutch in, i could feel my car trying to roll forwards. didn't think anything of it and went on home. my car sat for only a few minutes and when i went to leave, i couldn't get it in any gear when the motor was running. so, i started it while it was in gear, with the clutch in, and the car rocked forward when it started and sat still until the RPM's came down and then tried to roll forwards again. i bled the clutch and adjusted the pedal but only helped for a few seconds and was back to not working again. being frustrated, i went back inside. few hours later, went back out, started the car, and everything worked fine. i haven't had the problem since. i did order a master cylinder when it was messing up but i haven't installed it yet because the problem "went away".

please, someone help us with our problem.
i have an exedy organic clutch with decently new TOB and pilot bearing.

oops

in order to go from neutral (clutch pedal in) to a drive gear the trans must disengage from the motor. the pilot bearing in the crank, er eccentric shaft, has roller bearings so that when you push the clutch in even though the crank is turning as the motor runs, the input shaft and with it the clutch disc stops turning allowing you to change gears. when the pilot bearing goes bad the input shaft keeps turning and you have to crunch to get into gear.
if your slave and clutch cylinders are good it is your pilot bearing.
howard coleman

i wouldnt' imagine the pilot bearing making so much of a bind to actually make the car jolt. but i'm not saying you're wrong. i may have messed mine up when i swapped the transmissions.

so howard what you are saying is that its probable that the pilot bearing wont allow the clutch to disengage. so if i was to change it out with the new part sitting next to me right now.. it would give me the extra clearance i need to disengage?

I think what he is trying to say is that the pilot bearing is dragging on the input shaft causing it to rotate enough to lock out the gear shift mech.

I guess it could be possable, but I have to see it...

Adam

wut would happen if you took the pilot bearing out?

maybe if the needle bearing go wedged in there i could see it possible happening. but it just doesnt seem likely

The fact that it shifts fine at speed but not at a stop is the key. Given everything you've ruled out by replacing parts I would go with the pilot bearing or possibly a slightly sticking clutch disk. Unfortunately both of them require removal of the tranny again.

yes, Damon, it could also be a dragging disc which would keep the input shaft rotating even w the clutch pedal depressed. pilot bearings malfunction in mazdas often BTW. the bearings get fried from a lack of grease or when you put your trans in and out if it hangs up it can damage the bearing race.
howard coleman

well that was what i was thinking it might be so might as well go ahead and replace that also. thanks guys for the input so far. after i try this i will post back and let you know what happens. i was really hoping to not drop the tranny again but oh well another weekend project!!

fwiw, similar thing happened to me on my old 7. A few of the pins/rollers broke off the unit. Those Mazda pilot bearings are not that great.

Re: Clutch wont disengage
 

Did you grease the shaft the the T/O bearing slides on and did you grease the ears of the forks? Your clutch plate may be working it's way out, did you tighten the PP bolts to spec and use lock tite?

yeah i greased the shaft the inside of the to bearing, the outside of the to bearing that the release collar sits on. the fork tips and the splines on the input shaft that contacts the pilot bearing. didnt use lock tite but bbolts are tightened corrcetly. checked the bolts yesterday also just because i thought it might be happening and they are all still tight.

Damon,
you were right it was the pilot bearing. it was completely ground into dust. i got a pilot bearing removal tool but that thing is so locked up inside that its giving me a real hard time to get out whats left of it. infact i have given up on using the tool as it seems to do nothing. the outside sleeve of the bearing is all thats left of it. and its almost flush with the shaft. anyone have anytips for this...
thanks
john

Sounds terrible! Several people have mentioned in the past of carefully cutting through the race with a Dremel and then hammering a screwdriver between the e-shaft and the race to crush it. Then you can grab it with pliers and yank it out.

If you don't have a Dremel a nice chisel and some heavy blows may work too.

damon,
thats my current plan. i have already gotten though whats left of the outer rings of the bearing...and now its just the outside sleeve to go. kind of scary though as i dont want to really want to break anything besides the few mm thick bearing. some people have told me that porting tools work well for this also...anyways its really hard to to get through the hardend steel

Yeah, I don't envy you trying to work inside that small hole.