Golden nugget #1
Replace your clutch fork!

If you do a clutch replacement and your fork has some age on it (I have heard some say 80K or so though I will probably do it at 60K next time) replace your fork! I did a new clutch and didnt do the fork and it broke after 3 months. Needless to say pulling the transmission for an $80 part that would have taken 60 seconds to switch out during the clutch install was very frustrating.

Golden nugget #2
Order a wedge collar if you are going to replace your fork!

I forgot about this and even though mine is working fine I would feel alot better if I had put a new one in there.

Golden nugget #3
Dont do rebuilds on clutch master and slave.

I didnt know what the problem was when I started troubleshooting. I started by looking at the fork through the inspection panel and it looked fine. So I thought it was the hydraulics and decided to rebuild both cylinders. I was very skeptical looking at the rebuild kits and when I was done and still had the same problem I couldnt be sure the rebuild was done right so I decided to by new cylinders so that I could rule that out. When I put the new cylinders in the clutch felt alot better but still not exactly right. I thought it might be some air in the lines and took it to a local shop to have them help me bleed it. And the fork finally broke completely off on the lift while bleeding it. Anyway the point is I wish I would have not done the rebuilds. Just wasnt worth it and it didnt rule anything out in the troubleshooting process when I still had the same problem. So buy new ones and be sure that part is working right so you can move on in the process if it is still not working.

Shawn
www.3rdgenrx7.com

 

Shawn,

Good point. Believe it or not, I found out my clutch fork was broken WHILE I was changing the clutch.

At times, the car would get stuck in first, or it wouldn't go into gear, etc...but I could usually get around that by letting out the clutch and doing it again.

Eventually, the clutch was wearing out, so I went to replace it. Pulled out the tranny and the clutch, and lo and behold, the fork was broken lol. Good stuff, eh?

This was at a friend's house, on a Sunday mind you, so it ended up spending the night there, because you don't exactly carry around a clutch fork w/ ya...

Oh and you might wanna add that while the tranny's out, and you have access to the clutch, be smart, save money, and put a lighter flywheel in! No sense in pulling out the tranny to put a lighter flywheel on later!

 

So ah, the symptom of a broken fork is not table to go into gear? is this correct?

 

Here's what others had to say about the symptoms they experienced...
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ht=clutch+fork

 

Yea that thread is good.

I heard/felt something odd on a clutch push. Released it and pushed it back in and found that the point of engagement of the clutch had moved significantly. I also felt the vibration in the pedal - I think that is the definite sign it is the fork and not the hydraulics. I was able to drive the car though it was a bit sticky because I think I just bent mine at first. I actually drove it for about 15 miles in the city on the bent fork and while I knew something was wrong it was still driveable. I replaced the cylinders and it actually got alot better. In fact I thought I had it fixed except there was a bit of air in the line. When I took it to a local shop to get help bleeding it it actually broke on the lift during the bleeding.

How lucky is that? So I was able to order the part overnight/saturday delivery from Malloy (golden nugget #4) and have it up in about 4 hours of work. The guys at the shop were very cool about me leaving my car there on the lift, came in early on saturday to let me use the lift, helped me lift the heavy stuff, let me use their transmission jack, and didnt charge me a dime! I cant tell you how much I appreciated them. If it would have happened at home it would have taken me 3 days to do it on the floor of my garage.

Shawn

 

Oh and I thought of a golden nugget #5.
Just go ahead and pull the pressure plate off the flywheel if you have an alignment tool to put it back on.

I wasted way too much time trying to screw with the wedge collar and thought I had messed it up which would have sucked since I didnt have another on hand. So take a few minutes to pull the pressure plate, that allows you to inspect the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel and that way you can be very gentle with the wedge collar when you remove it. It is way easier to remove out of the car.

Shawn

 

So basically if you have a high mileage car needing a clutch, you might as well replace:

pilot bearing seal
rear main bearing seal
rear stationary gear o-ring
clutch fork
front and rear transmission oil seals
wedge collar
new oem flywheel or light flywheel

anything else?

 

mr.zoom,

I would change "pilot bearing seal,
rear main bearing seal" to "pilot bearing AND seal, rear main bearing AND seal"

After my clutch was installed, about 3 months later, my pilot bearing went bad. Guess what had to happen? Yep..tranny got pulled out. I had my 5th gear synchro rebuilt at that time, and installed the lightweight flywheel too. Might as well, right?

 

thanks,

never thought of the bearings ...

 

neither did i....

Later on, I read in some threads that they recommend changing ALL the bearings & seals whenever you change the clutch...

 

A combination of good salesmanship and good advice from Ray Crowe in recommending fork replacement to me when ordering all the stuff for my synchro and clutch job. At any rate, I took the advice and spent another $65, which is only about 10% more than I'd already spent. It was only later that I started reading theads like shawnk's.

Malloy Mazda

 

Of course if your car is broke as much as mine a clutch fork is not a big deal. I would just like to see mine move. Thank You XS.