KIRK

Bought a new slave cylinder for my 84 gsl, and I was looking through the Haynes manual on how to replace it. I'll be honest I'm not not much of a mechanic and to me it seemed quite complicated to replace. Can someone let me know if its really that hard?

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Slave cylinder the one on the transmission can be a booger to get to, especially with that damn oil cooler in the way. But it only has 2 - 12 mm bolts and the hydraulic line. What I did is disconnect the hydraulic line from the one at the top. The one on the cylinder is too hard to get to. Removed the 2 -- 12 mm bolts with a long wobble extension and a swivel rachet (i know my spelling is probally wrong, I just woke up LOL) Then just lift it up outta there, and place the new one down there. Making sure the thing lines up with the bolts and the other thing goes in the hole on the shift fork. Be sure to not to strip the bolts cuz they are in at somewhat of an angle. What I did was use masking tape to hold the bolt in the socket while lowering it down there, as to not to keep dropping itr on the floor. Good luck...

Pele

iTrader: (28)

An alternative to the masking tape is to light a candle and dip the bolt head in hot wax to stick it in the socket.

You will need to bleed the clutch hydraulics, and that bleeding nipple on the slave can be a PITA to get to as well. The process is the same as bleeding your brakes.

You may want to flush your entire clutch hydraulic system or replace the master cylinder at the same time as they wear out at the same rate and pieces from one could mess up the other.

When I replaced my set, the master was the pain to get to. Probalby take me under an hour to get everything in and out now that I've done it once. Learning is fun.

KIRK

I thought about replacing the master too. When I called the parts store and told them I've got a stock 12A, they gave me two types. Any idea why they would have two types?


Pele,

Call me stupid again, but how do you flush the system, mine probally needs it. My fluid is really dirty!

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Have no clue why the have 2 types. When I did mine I got all my parts from mazdatrix, I also replaced the hose too But im a stickler for detail. It had a few small cracks in it. So I replaced it as a matter of course. Only thing you'll have to clean out if you replace the master cyc, and slave cyc., would be the metal line. I didnt do mine, i should have but. But I assume you could soak it brakes part cleaner, and blow it out with compressed air?

Pele

iTrader: (28)

I ran compressed air through my hose and pipe because I replaced both cylinders. If you're just gonna flush the master, drain all the old crap out and pour in fresh. Bleed till you see fresh come out.

DONNA

I replaced my slave too, and the pedal still went to the floor, it ended up being a small leak in the hose instead, about 10.00 at parts store, so my slave was probably ok. but, now i have a new one. the leak in the hose was pretty small to detect, but it was loosing pressure at stop signs and releasing the clutch by itself. wasnt a big job to replace the slave, but the hose was much easier so i would replace it first if u have lots of miles on car...good luck..........

KIRK

Well, went ahead and bought the master cylinder too!
I appreciate all the advise, I do have one more question. Since I'm replacing both the slave and the master, do I fill the resavoir up and pump the clutch until fluid comes out of the bleed valve on the slave cylinder?

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Yelp, loosen the nut, and have someone push and hold the clutch pedal to the floor. Then tighten the nut, let go of the pedal, and keep repeating this process untill, no air comes out...

Pele

iTrader: (28)

If ya have to do it solo, just loosten the bleeder nipple, attach a piece of hose (Windshield sprayer size works nicely.) and put the other end in a glass jar with some brake fluid in it. Then, push the pedal down, and let it up S-L-O-W-L-Y... Repeat till the process till there are no bubbles.

Felix Wankel

Get a stainless clutch line, it'll improve the feel of the pedal.

KIRK

Well not a good weekend, I was able to get the slave cylinder off. But noticed the hose that's on the top was alittle on the hard side, can I get this at any auto store? And once I do get it all back together is the only thing I left to do is put the slave cylinder back into the hole were I pulled the other one out on the bell housing? Ok now I move on to the master cylinder. Boy this one was no fun, first of all I guess with this being the first time this has been worked on in 15 years the nut holding the metal line on top of top of the master cylinder would not turn. I ended up stripping the nut can I pick the metal line up at the local auto store too? Well getting alittle frustrated I figured I'd move to the inside of the car to remove the nuts, Nope! to much stuff in the way, anyone know of a easier way to get those off. Any help on this would be appreciated, I haven't drove my baby in a week!

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Yelp the little nipple thingy, goes back in the hole on the trans. Do this with the hydraulic line disconnected, or else you want be able to push it in place for the bolts...Connect the hydraulic line to the slave cyc. then leave it disconnected from the metal line until you get it in place.

You might be able to get a metal line at local auto parts store, but you have to bend it probally and i doubt the threads are the same . They come in bulk around here.

And the rubber line, I doubt you will find locally, unless you get lucky and a mazda dealer has it..

rotorhead

when i changed my master cyl, i found it easiest to use a small(1/4"drive) rachet, a 1 foot extension, and a u'joint. makes a world of difference!

Pele

iTrader: (28)

Do like "Felix Wankel" said and get a stainless steel covered hose. It makes the clutch feel stiffer, looks nice, and will probably last longer. The hard metal line is a bit tougher to get a hold of. Check at the auto parts store.

For removing the master cylinder, it helps to remove the push rod from the clutch pedal. Its a rod with a threaded tip and a nut. Unscrew it from the pedal. The nut is for adjusting it.

Good luck.

KIRK

Wanted to say thanks for all the advice Shes running again!!

However I do have on more question, the clutch doesn't seem as hard as it was before. Will making an adjustment to the pushrod on the clutch help?

Pele

iTrader: (28)

Might still have a bit of air in there. Bleed again. Sometimes it takes a few tries of bleeding to get it all out. This is especially true if you bled the clutch system yourself.

Use a high quality DOT 3 fluid. The crappy "Joe Blow's brake juice" is no good and DOT 4 has a higher boiling point which is un necessary in a clutch application.

If you've tried bleeding many times with no avail, then the stainless steel clutch line is your answer. US$35 from www.rx7.com (Rotary Performance in Texas.)