So my clutch pedal, 93 FD, goes down and returns, but if I hold it down, say when I have it engaged slowly creeping forward so I don’t stall, and then let go, it stays down. To add to the issue…I Wd-40’d the spring, plunger etc…pedal functions normal in neutral. As soon as I go in gear though, it stays down and doesn’t return…like it’s stuck, not dead. Sounding like the master? It goes into gear just fine, just the pedal stays “stuck” down, not dead. If I pull it, it springs back up after a sticking point. Before replacing the master cylinder or pulling the transmission for a possible broken clutch fork, what are the chances it’s just something simple? I’ve read the spring just keeps the pedal “in position” not that it actually helps it return to position, but wanted to ask in case it’s as simple as replacing a spring to fix my problem.
Is it ever that simple with an FD, not likely, but maybe I’ll get lucky.

 

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Yep, bad master cylinder. It will work fine but when loaded (clutch down) the hydraulic pressure slowly bleeds off and the pedal stays on the floor.

Get a new master, new slave, and stainless braided clutch hose. Do them all at the same time. If you do one I guarantee you'll be doing the next part of the system in a few months when the increased pressure from the new healthy master blows the other part out.

Dale

 

Yep, bad Master most likely. I just rebuilt my Master yesterday for the same thing. Unfortunately I had already replaced my master less than 1000 miles ago and it just went out. It was an Exedy which is usually the go-to replacement for these and I couldn't find anything that stuck out that may have failed when I rebuilt, but its working fine now after the rebuild so I'm guessing it was something with the front cup which would cause this issue. I'll be posting a video on it in the next week or two comparing the Mazda rebuild parts with what came out of the Exedy because I used a Mazda rebuild kit to rebuild the Exedy.

 

i figured as much, but was just hoping. From what I understand I think it’s the Miata that has a comparable one, just need to adjust the hose valve 90*. Already asked Ray, hoping he may have one laying around, if not I’ll get a new one. I hear rebuilds fail often.
thanks for the confirmation.

 

New masters are cheap if you get them from Rockauto and get the Exedy, I couldn't find a Master from Mazda anywhere, I believe they are NLA. I bought a Slave from Mazda Japan and saved a few bucks over the price of one here.

 

seriously, what was the shipping time on that! May be worth some extra $ just to get it quicker from Rock.

 

Shipping from Japan is usually quicker than shipping in the states in my experience. I usually get parts from Japan within a day or two of when they are shipped. The longer process of buying the Mazda parts from Japan is it usually takes a day for them to ping Mazda and check stock. Then you order, it takes a day to get the part, then ships out. So whole process usually 3-4 days if Mazda has it in stock from when you make the initial query. If they have it in stock at their warehouse, I usually get the part in one or two days. Rockauto, depending on the warehouse location, I've had next day and I've had 7 days to ship so its hit or miss. Long story short, I only rebuilt mine because I thought I had the stock one I pulled out originally laying around in my boxes of parts but I could not find it, so I just rebuilt the newish exedy that I had already put in the car. Honestly, it was a good experiment but probably better to just get a new Exedy unit since its only like $10 more for a new master vs the rebuild kit if you are going to try to rebuild something old. Mazdatrix is quick to ship parts out as well if they have them in stock, but they are usually a bit more. The Exedy Master through them is like $20 or so more than Rockauto.