I have a question if you guys would oblige me. Yesterday I was driving my rx7 on the interstate going 65mph and the clutch went out. The engine spun but the driveline didnt. at the time this happened I had owned the car for 1 week to the day. I was wondering if there are any clutch parts I could put in from maybe a mustang or something more readily available and a bit more durable? The reason i say mustang and not rx7 clutch parts is because of price mainly. Even if i got a cheap deal, shipping it here is another matter. Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations. Again, im looking for the whole clutch kit. Heres what car i have. Everything is stock on it.

1989 Rx7 Turbo II
Stock engine, stock transmission, (used to be) stock clutch, stock everything.

If you could help me out I'd really appreciate it.
Matt

 

A 21 year old car will have things like this wear out. Get used to it. Expect it. Check, maintain and replace parts pre-emptively if you don't want to get stuck on the road somewhere.

To answer your question, no a clutch from another car will not work w/o major, expensive modification. Clutches on the RX7 are not that expensive if you know where to shop. Mazdatrix is an easy source:
http://mazdatrix.com/f86-92tb.htm

Clutch Kit for $228.


did the clutch ever slip? I find it odd that you wouldn't notice a slipping clutch. Might want to bleed the hydraulics for the clutch as well.

 

I appreciate the quick answer. Thanks.

Believe it or not, that clutch showed no signs of slipping until it did it on the highway. Im guessing it was just the straw that broke the camels back.

 

Along the lines of preventative things, consider installing it with a new throw-out bearing. A great time to change the transmission gear oil as well. A rear transmission seal usually is just a few bucks and takes all of 5 minutes to install. None of these are particularly expensive by themselves but are the things that sort of go with owning an older car.
Mazda clutch designs aren't junk. Installing something from a Mustang wouldn't gain you anything. A two-decade old Mustang will have a clutch go out too.
BTW, your in central Missouri which not all that far from me. Do you have snow on the ground? Spinning wheels? Slipping the (old) clutch?

 

The snow is pretty well gone. It only lasted a couple days and it was about 55 degrees and clear roads when I took the car out and had this problem. I havent ran it in the cold yet. When I got the car, I changed all the fluids when I got the car: oil, tranny fluid, coolant, as well as spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter, oil filter and I figured that would cover me for a while. I dont spin the wheels on the car because I just got new tires and they had better last a while. Thanks for the advice. Now I just have to see if the ol checkbook can handle a new clutch kit and find a lift I can borrow.

 

You shouldnt need a lift to change a clutch. Its a relatively simple matter if you are in good enough shape. Jack up the front of the car about a foot or two (or a comfortable height that you can work under the car)drain the trans, remove drive shaft and shifter, unbolt starter and clutch slave, remove transmission (you may also need to pull some of the exhaust to drop the trans effectively).

Ive done a clutch on my old rx7 as well as replaced a transmission in it, its not that hard, and really the transmissions are fairly light (comparatively to the weaker gearbox in my starion/conquest, my turbo FC transmission feels 20lbs lighter and is a stronger unit). The only 'hard' part of replacing the clutch will be reinstalling the trans so that you line up the splines properly without fuggig up the pilot bearing. Speaking of the pilot bearing, I HIGHLY recommend buying the mazdatrix (or oem mazda) pilot bearing removal tool, as a parts store tool WILL NOT work in pulling the bearing (which should also be replaced at clutch replacements, a 10 dollar part). The tool works effortlessly in removing the bearing without chewing up its hole, unlike having to carefully grind the race of the old one out when a jury rigged tool fails.

Just take it easy and things should work out, even if you think a clutch kit is expensive, just remember that there are cars onn the road with even more expensive clutch's (my starion/conquest clutch is almost 300 for a cheapy IIRC).

 

If you look around on Ebay there are also pretty cheap clutch kits on there for all model Rx-7s just make sure you know what your buying because some ebay companies don't know anything about cars but sell car parts.

 

Yeah bro. I bought my FC ( i think that what it is) and the engine be bad. It need to get it rebuild so I can drive that FAST car. Thats my motivation right there. hmmm thats a good idea using mustang part though. those stangs have a 5.0 right? The rx7 only has a 1.3 so you should be ok for lots more power if you put one of those in.

 

Sticking a Mustang transmission into an FC makes absolutely no sense to me....bro. Alot of trouble, alot of expense. And I have no idea if the gearing is correct for the engine's power curve. And all because you THINK the Mustang clutch would last longer? It would not.

Stay away from sketchy ebay clutches, especially if the description looks like it was translated into English. Bite the bullet and get a stock replacement at the local parts store. That way if something's not right, you won't have more issues shipping it back and trying to get a refund. And one bought locally should come with a pilot shaft...or they'd loan you one. If you really feel flush, go aftermarket. Can't speak for FCs, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an FD owner unhappy with the ACT Street-Strip. IIRC, good to ~400 hp. I've been running one for years.
Fix it right, fix it once. Probably be a good idea to turn the flywheel, and while it's off you could even re-torque engine tension bolts (free) and put in a new rear main seal (~$12). New throw-out bearing (~ $50). If you don't have the tool for the pilot bearing (Harbor Frieght sells a blind bearing puller that will work for ~$40), at least re-pack the old pilot bearing. Rear transmission seal often will leak once disturbed. I think they cost ~$6.

 

If no stang clutch then what be good clutch to repace 'n upgrade exisiting clutch? I dun wanna spend a fortune here.

 

bump

 

Did you read my last post? If your on a budget, and your car is stock or near stock, replace it with a stock clutch. Here is a link to Advance Auto for a replacement clutch kit http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web..._1251243727___ .....about $150. Limited lifetime warranty. AutoZone, O'Reilly's and the others probably have similar deals.
You plan on adding ALOT of hp to your car? Want to upgrade? Check rx7store out for the ACT... http://www.rx7store.net/product_p/z65-hdss.htm
These links are based on the OP's car. There are other choices out there too. But your going to have to figure out for sure what your driving ("FC...I think that what it is"} and search yourself.

 

ACT and Excedy clutches are par for the course when 'upgrading' from a stock clutch. I ran with a centerforce II dual friction clutch in my last NA and it held up fine for the abuse it saw and had a decent pedal feel to it.

SlammedRX7: What part of TN are you in? Transplanting ANY motor that is not a rotary engine into the FC (86~91 model years) will generally take money and skill to install. 5.0's do not readily fit into the bay, IIRC there has been a few individuals to try it and most of the time the hood would not clear the intake manifolds. If you want to have the engine rebuilt you can either attempt it yourself (lots of time and cleaning involved, and prepare to cut yourself on every little thing) or if you PM me I can tell you who is close by that can rebuild your engine for as low as 1300 if everything internal is in reusable condition (housings, irons, rotors, and Eshaft namely).

Also to note: Most transmissions swaps (while retaining a 13B) require an adapter, these generally run about $400+ in my experience (judging from a guy on another forum that makes adapters to run all sorts of transmissions for Starion/Conquest guys). Then you have to source a clutch for the transmission you are running, that FITS on the flywheel you are using. In the longrun, its 'cheaper' to just buy the right performance clutch for the 13B (the S4/S5 Turbo transmissions are not known to be weak and can hold plenty of power, only reason to swap would be for road racing purposes that require differant gear ratio's that the particular driver wants).

professionalpyroman: Were you able to continue driving the car normally or was it a sudden occurance of no more forward momentum? If the clutch was 'stock' as you say, then it may have just broke apart in the bellhousing. IF the clutch is still there though, you have another driveline issue that needs to be attended to. S4 parts will fit on your S5 if you find you have a broken transmission or rear end (my suspects if its not the clutch). You can generally pick up transmissions and rear ends for a couple hundred plus shipping usually (picked up an entire s4/5 T2 driveline the other week for 500 for a project of mine. Trans, rear end, halfshafts, driveshaft, clutch, flywheel, and starter). You can find these on ebay and these forums almost at any time as people part cars out often.

Again, its not to my understanding that ANY mustang parts (aside from wheels) will fit a 86~91 rx7. Rx7 flywheels come in 225mm(non turbo) and 240 mm(turbo), a mustang clutch IIRC is 9.5 inches which is 1.3 mm LARGER than the turbo clutch, making it unusable.

If you can find a 240mm clutch that has the same spline pattern (buy a clutch alignment tool for a Turbo rx7) you may be able to find a 'cheaper' solution for the clutch disc, but then the pressure plate may not fit the mazda flywheel (there was talk over on the starion forums that the turbo rx7 clutch disc would work in the starion, as the clutch disc is CHEAPER than the starion disc.)

Good luck with finding an alternate choice to the standard RX7 clutch's, though many will simply refer you to get an act or excedy clutch (excedy has sales on them from time to time, especially as DGRR is coming up).

 

Only reason I mentioned ebay is because I got an OEM clutch kit off of there for $80, you just need to know what you are looking for.