RX7_Fanatic

i searched the threads and couldnt find anyone with the same exact symptoms that i have.

first the clutch doesnt stick to the ground it comes right back up, but the damn thing engages literally a centimeter off the floor, im assuming its just barely disengaging the pressure plate.

this happened out of nowhere on the freeway shifting into 4th gear cruising, shifted kinda hard and was weird since then.

this is the other weird part...it pedal feels sticky near the floor...not stickING, but like its rubbing on something. I read that it could be the fork, but i have no way of checking that myself and dont want to risk damage to my clutch by driving it somewhere (my tranny failed almost identically to this except more violently not too long ago)

i think they rebuilt my slave cylinder and when the new clutch was put in i do not know of they used a new fork...

could a partially failed slave cause the throw to drop so dramatically? or would this have to be the fork??? i'm just about ready to replace all the things i just listed cause its pissing me off...i dont wanna have to replace another busted *** clutch because of something i could have prevented/fixed myself

thx in advance,
brian

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

This sounds like the fork, but I would not rule out the slave.

A new slave cylinder is pretty cheap, and many people have had bad experiences with rebuilding them.

Take it to a rotary or good transmission shop and they should be able to sort it out pretty easily.

Dave

RX7_Fanatic

that violent failure scared the **** outta me, i dont wanna drive it like this cause of last time =/

yeah slave from montgomery mazda is like 80 bucks, fork is like 80 bucks and master is like 105...so its not too bad, beats getting raped by shops for hopped up parts prices and labor

RX7_Fanatic

well i guess this no drive period will give me time to get my ignition amp up and running =//// didnt think it would be like this tho

DaveW

Try Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda - they seem to have the best prices and he really knows his stuff. 1-888-533-3400

website: http://mazda.malloyautomall.com/Department-Parts.aspx

Ray email: hmkparts@aol.com

RX7_Fanatic

i have some more information, about 8000 miles ago the slave cylinder was replaced or rebuilt the reciept doesnt say, but its 100$ so im assuming rebuilt...new clutch and flywheel were put in at the same time...i ran a 4-puck clutch for about maybe 500-1000 miles before it pissed me off and i went with the S/S clutch...maybe that has some role in the failure.

when i got home from work tonight and tried to pull the car into the garage, it was engaging extremely low like before but it was shuddering hard...what would cause this...

i checked the resevoir and it was full, didnt see any fluid that may have leaked out and the pedal has plenty of pressure and springs right back up so i think the cylinders are okay...correct me if im wrong

my dad said that it couldnt be the clutch fork cause if it was broken it wouldnt be able to disengage or engage the clutch at all, but mine can...

is my pressure plate damaged? someone chime in on this and what symptoms it would cause.

8000 miles is shitty on an ACT S/S clutch and 9.5lb flywheel...maybe the flywheel has a reason to do with the short life? how much would it cost to replace jsut the pressure plate and can you even replace the plate without resurfacing/replacing the flywheel/friction plate?

ArcWelder

It does sound like the fork. It is a common failure point. There is an upgraded fork used on later models. The ACT pressure plate has stronger clamping force which also means it takes more force to disengage. This puts even more stress on the fork. The good thing is that you should be able to see what's going on by removing the inspection plate on the passenger side trans housing and shining a light in. It would help for someone to be in the car and operating the clutch. At least that would confirm or eliminate this as being the cause.

I suspect the shuddering is because the clutch isn't disengaging completely when the pedal is on the floor.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

It's cracked and bent, not completely broken.

Dave

RX7_Fanatic

wurd...how hard is that to replace...do you have to drop the tranny?...i feel the shop labor rape coming...

Mr3plus1

iTrader: (5)

Only way to replace the fork is drop the tranny. Its not too hard to do it yourself. My friend had the exact same thing happen to him. If you looked in there with the clutch pedal out it looked fine. The second he pushed the clutch pedal in it flexed the fork and exposed the crack. Only one of the prongs had broken, and not in half. When it was out they actually argued with me that it wasnt broken. It seriously looked perfect until you put stress on it, then it flexed and exposed its crack.

RX7_Fanatic

i've never actually seen one but is there a way to reinforce the area where they are prone to crack...im pissed that this is probably the second time this has happened to me in a year.

i know how to weld and can reinforce with some metal but i dont know how much clearance i have...

thx in advance

HotWheel

I"ve had some issues with the clutch in the past I too have a ACT street strip
clutch , Pressure plate and the 9.5 lb flywheel !

If you remove the service plate and check the bolts on the pressure plate
to the flywheel They may be loose !

When I installed mine I put them at the spec with correct lbs'inch

when I checked the bolts after having problems some of the bolts were loose
too loose

Hope this helps

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

It's cast iron. If you have the high-nickel rod and sand pit for slow-cooling, I think you can reinforce it by simply building up some metal. I think others have done this before.

Dave

Rotary4tw

iTrader: (3)

I am having an issue with my clutch as well, and I wanted to add some information to see if anybody suspected the Slave cylinder, as opposed to the fork itself.

Description:

1) If I depress my clutch to the floor, I am able to get one good shift in, with no issue or grinding, and a totally normal feel.

2) If however, I depress the clutch, put the car in say first gear, and then instead of fully engage the clutch, I release the pedal back 20%, and then depress it to the floor again... the clutch acts as though it's still released 20%, and trying to slightly engage. (Imagine you are on a hill and feathering the clutch at about 50% to try to balance speed with incline.)

3) If I press the clutch and keep it held down for over 5 seconds, it also seems to be loosing its pressure, and will not allow me to shift between gears. For example, if I rolled up to a stoplight in neutral with my clutch down, then sat for 10 seconds, when I tried to put it into first, it will not go in, because even though the clutch is depressed, the car is acting like it's fully released. It just sits on the floor with no pressure to bring it back up. So then I take my foot, pull it up... pump it down, and then I have full pressure for a few moments to put the car into the proper gear.

So in summary, it appears:

Car makes clutch pressure when first depressed, but slowly loses it after 5-10 seconds, and re-pumping does not create more pressure unless I give it a full release, and full depress.

Here is an image that I have created that will help explain the problem:



Things I have done:

1) Checked for any leaks in the system. There are none, no brake fluid is leaking from any of the lines/parts.

2) Bled the system of any air. This made no difference.

3) Adjusted the play in the clutch pedal in an attempt to increase the amount of pressure it made. This made no difference.

Conclusions:

I'm hoping it's just the slave cylinder failing to hold pressure and causing the fluid to leak back into the reservoir after a few moments.

Any thoughts on my next steps would be appreciated.

-Ben

Rotary4tw

iTrader: (3)

Update:

Clutch depression now results in almost no pressure in the system. It's nearly impossible to put the car into first, or reverse from a stop.

It is still possible to shift while moving, but it's basically like you are dropping the clutch as soon as you get the pedal to the floor.

Pedal is extremely spongy and practically moves itself to the floor once you touch it.

So this is either:

1) A slave that has lost the ability to hold any pressure at all

2) A fork issue? I guess I don't understand how a bad fork would make the pedal feel spongy at first. [Edit: I will try to inspect the fork from below the car]

Any ideas?

-Ben

Rotary4tw

iTrader: (3)

There is quite a wealth of information out there on this subject. It's amazing what you can learn when you just start reading instead of trying to post your issues.

Update:

The issue was narrowed down to two potential failures.

1) Clutch fork was broken, damaged, and causing the pressure plate to not disengage.

2) Master clutch cylinder was failing. "This is typical, especially when installing a heavier pressure plate. It puts more load on the hydraulics, and if you have weak hydraulics, they'll fail in short order." -DaleClark


Solution:

We attempted to bleed the master cylinder tonight. There was absolutely no pressure at all created in the clutch line. We opened the bleeder, and with each pump, no fluid left the system.

This leads us to believe that the clutch master cylinder has completely failed. (6) We even bled the top line to make sure there was not just so much air in the cylinder, that no pressure was being created. (2).



The next step is to remove the clutch master cylinder, and rebuild it. We have put off inspecting the fork at this point, because there is an obvious problem with the cylinder.



I will post my progress when that phase is complete.