Miata Clutch Hydraulics Overhaul

[The Critic]

Friend's 94 Miata has been leaking fluid from the clutch hydraulic system, and a search of the boards revealed that a leaking slave cylinder could be the cause. Due to the age/mileage, I went ahead and ordered both a new clutch master cylinder and a new slave cylinder, Beck/Arnley branded (but supposedly OEM sourced).

Does anyone have any experience on doing a the master/slave on these cars? Or any tips in general? I will be using my Motive with the Euro adapter to get the bleeding process started. The Miata guides online seem to have good instructions and present this job to be fairly beginner proof, with the exception of the bleeding.

Thanks!

 

[The_Eric]

I did one once, it was pretty straight forward. You shouldn't have any issues.

 

[bdcardinal]

While you are in there, check the flex hose on the clutch line. There are aftermarket braided stainless lines that make the clutch pedal feel a ton better.

 

[mechtech2]

Like bdc said, might as well get a new flex line and any washers/seals.
The pressure in a street car hydraulic clutch is very light. I can't see how a braided line would help. It may well feel better with a normal line - if there is a little flex , the flex would be forgiving and smoother.

Might be smart to get a speed bleeder . Clutch slave cyls are often in tight hot places. Whatever, perform a a good bleed.

 

[The Critic]

Installed both today. The clutch master cyl would not bench bleed; it just kept putting out dribbles.

After install, pushing down the clutch pedal would not drop the fluid level at all. I did not even bother manually bleeding, though I am curious how it would have fared.

I hooked up the Motive bleeder (Euro adapter) and pressurized to 10psi and the system was bled within 5 min. The clutch feels no better than before, but hey it's working so that's all that matters.

 

[George7941]

I had a tough time bleeding the clutch hydraulics on my truck recently and had the same experience as you, the pedal kept going to the floor with no resistance. I eventually figured out that if the pedal was pumped vigorously, some resistance could be felt and was able to eventually bleed the system. I did the bleeding manually, by myself, with a piece of 1x2 to hold the pedal down while I went back under the truck to close the bleeder.

 

[mechtech2]

No need to 'pump up' the system to bleed it.
Open bleeder, push pedal down. Close bleeder, release pedal.
Or use a Mityvac or pressure bleeder!

 

[artificialist]

I did have to do this to a Miata, and bleeding the clutch the usually way took way too long. I am glad you had a tool to do the job.

I can't remember who made the slave cylinder, but the master cylinder for that Miata was ordered from Raybestos. It turned out to be the OEM clutch master cylinder.