Pretty much everytime I go to drive my 85se(every couple of days) my clutch will just sit on the floor(depressed). I just refill the reservoir, pump the clutch several times and it works again for a day or two. This has been going on for two years since this is not my daily driver. I've had it in the shop a couple of times to fix other things and a mechanic suggested I have a leak somewhere. What should I be looking for? There is no way I can change the clutch myself, but I could grab the smaller parts involved from a junkyard and replace as necessary. Problem is, I don't know much about the clutch/pump system so I have no idea what to search for.

PS: For those of you that remember my problem with the violent shaking of the whole car, it was the drive shaft and I replaced it for $30, all fixed. *WOOT*

 

if u see fluid by the steering colume in the car, its the master thats leaking, mine was leaking from the small hose from the master to the slave, couldnt see it at all because it was so small a pin hole ,8 bucks to replace hose, but i went ahead and put in a slave kit, another 8 bucks and all is fine now, good luck,,,,,,,,

 

Both the master and the slave rely on a piston with a rubber seal to push the fluid that activates the clutch fork. Like Donna says, look for wet areas under the master, near the steering column. the slave is mounted atop the bellhousing. Pull the rubber rubber cover up where the rod pokes out the operate the fork. Is it wet in there?

It's much easier to get reman master and/or slave cylinders then to rebuild 'em. And like Donna says, your hoses may have a small leak, but again there should be some wettness there...

Denny, from the 'ol corncrib....

 

.....Agree with both above and if it is happening that quickly and you can refill and just pump a few times and are going again, it should be pretty easy to spot.

 

I've got the same problem, it turns out to be the slave that's leaking (there's a puddle of clutch fluid on the bellhousing). I bought a 30$ reman'd clutch slave cyl and am going to get the master rebuilt just for good measure.

(I bought a SS clutch hose along with the slave cyl, just for the hell of it, I hear it improves clutch feel, and the rubber hose is starting to show it's age)

--matt

 

You're lucky if the leak is outside the car. Easier to clean up. There's three quarters of a big bottle of DOT3 on my floorboard.

I was stumped cause it never left puddles. Then I looked up under the dash, where the clutch pedal connects to the cylinder...

 

Hey, just my two cents.. I don't know what car part prices are like down where you are, I assume they're cheaper then here in Canada, so it shouldn't be that much money. I recently (before I blew an apex seal and lost the use of my whole car) rebuilt my master and slave cylinders, it cost me $30 CAN to rebuild them both, ($18 for the master and $12 for the slave) and I think it took me longer to get them both out of the car, than to actually rebuild them. Anyway, what I'm saying is, you can rebuild them cheap, the hayes manual tells you how, step by step, and it's fun. Go for it, rebuild them yourself.

 

I read through my Hayes and Mazda Workshop manual and didn't find a parts list for rebuilding the slave or master. Any idea how to get a parts list or is it pretty common knowledge stuff I can just ask the guy down at the local car store for?

 

just go for the hose or and slave rebuild kit, they are pretty straight forward, unbolt it from the bellhousing, has a plunger/spring/cup, hone out the cylinder very gentley to clean out any rust,(pg 117 haynes), reinstall making sure the plunger is making good contact, good time also to remove ALL the old fluid, i used a shop vac ,and refill , have someone in the car to pump up the clutch (will have to pull it up from the floor a few times till it builds up),while you work the bleeder screw , holds about a small can of fluid,,,,,go for it....replacing one or both will make a big difference in how your pedal feels...

 

Hey Jason,
Don't worry about a parts list, just ask for a rebuild kit, everything you need is in there, except for the fluid of course.

 

Yes, but putting the kit in, honing, etc is the fun part!

John.

 

I am leaning towards the fact the cylinders in the hydrolics where it be the master or slave cylinder get worn out. I have rebuilt both in the past, but they start leaking again after a while if much materal is missing in the cylinder. I don't have any measuring equipment for clearances, but you may be better off getting a new master cylinder or slave cylinder depending on whats leaking. I got mine from a junkyard later, and they haven't leaked since.

 

I put kits in both master cylinders and the clutch slave roughly 8 years ago. No problems yet. I'll put new kits in this winter as standard maintenance, as they are overdue, but I don't know why yours leaked. I've read comments like yours quite a bit about rebuild kits, but it's not been my experience.

John.

 

My clutch feels a bit spongy (though not too much) and my gears sometiems mash a bit on shifting. The slave is relatively new but the master looks a bit leaky where the fluid reservoir meets the cylinder. Does the rebuild kit include the reservoir, or seals, or whatever would fix that leak, or do I need to go ahead and get a new master cylinder complete. Just how does that reservoir attach to the cylinder, I am afraid to try and turn it as I am afraid of making the leaky more leaky.

Thanks.

Right on

 

the reservoir justs snaps in, has two rubber seals in the top of cylinder where they meet and it doesnt come with the master cylinder, sold separetly ,unless u pay more for the complete package,, i picked one up at the bone yard for an extra if my original goes bad, but it doesnt leak , yet,,,

 

So can I go to any auto parts store and pick up the reservoir and seals separately...the master doesn't seem to be leaking in the usual spots, it just shows some wetness right under the reservoir, so I'd like to replace only what I need to.

 

i would hit a bone yard and get the whole thing,,but most parts places should habe the part serarately, not sure of the seals thou,,,