I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Clutch
I am having some difficulty finding a clutch that fits my 1991 Eunos Roadster. I have purchased two clutches so far; the first one did not allow me to engage first or reverse. After contacting the supplier and a Mazda specialist, I was informed that it only fits the 1991 UK specification. They then sent me a different clutch, but it is also the wrong size comparing it to the original clutch. At this point, I am considering returning both and purchasing a new one. Do you have any recommendations?
Hmm, strange. Is it down to the fact that the flywheel is different. The Roadster 1.6 has a heavy flywheel, but the US car essentially used the lightened flywheel used by Mazdaspeed, and in the M2-1001 clubman cars, as well as, later on, on all Mk2 1.6s.
I had a 1.6 JDM car that came to me with a horrible Spec2 1.8 clutch and flywheel. I had it swapped out for a new clutch (didn’t specify Roadster of MX5, just a 1.6 clutch) and used UK spec flywheel from Autolinkuk.
I believe this is the one I got to replace the slipping clutch. I wasn’t the one who installed or bought it, but the blueprint company said this would fit. It did fit, but it doesn’t engage in first or reverse. I replaced the master and slave cylinders, so it’s definitely the clutch. I’d prefer to buy a clutch kit from a different company instead of going through them again. Do you have any recommendations is it a na6 1991 eunos
it goes into first and reverse when the car is off since is isn’t spinning, when you turn the car on it just won’t push isn’t first and reverse every other gear works fine though a bit chunky feeling. we have the garage booked for Saturday since they sent me another clutch but since i know the new one is wrong, were going to take the clutch back apart to see if anything was put in wrong if not i’m going to keep the non slipping friction plate in it and put all the old parts in see if that solves it.
i don’t have any pictures of the clutches since they didn’t get delivered to me and i never installed them the first time due to work
there was a lot of play after putting the new clutch in but we fixed it and re-bled everything and pulls away perfectly in 2nd gear only way i could get it home
Forgive me if I’m wrong but I can’t see how a clutch would prohibit you from engaging a specific gear. It is far more likely that there is a fault with the gearbox/linkage itself. There isn’t really a linkage per se in the MX5, but I imagine it is still possible to upset the shifter lever. I would be double checking fitting and alignment of the gearbox and shifter turret before blaming the clutch.
Saying that, you say that the car will shift into the problem gears when the engine is not running. This could again point to linkage, but because you say it will not shift when running, that would make me think that the synchromesh might be at fault. Have you tried pumping the clutch or exploring the pedal travel in neutral and as you are pushing the shifter lever? Sometimes letting the clutch out a bit can help the synchromesh engage and do its job properly; I have had several cars that were reluctant to shift into reverse but letting out the clutch a fraction allowed it to pop in no problem.
Lastly: are you sure you’re bleeding the system correctly? Sometimes it’s easy to overlook very simple things, and I say that from experience!
Lastly lastly: For a riskier but ultimate test: Find a place with sufficient space to perform this test safely, turn car off, put on your seatbelt, release handbrake, select first, brace yourself and attempt to start vehicle. What happens?
i thought it would be the synchromesh but i was told it would make a crunchy screechy noise which it doesn’t it’ll sometimes go into first when your driving if you go slow enough as if the revs have matched for it to slide in. after adjusting the clutch pedal to get rid of the extra play there was a lot of air in it so we bled it all again and it was a bit better feeling for second and the other gears didn’t help with first. for the riskier test you can select first and reverse while the is off turn it on with the clutch down and it works no problem but the moment you take it out of first or reverse you can go back in
i bought the clutch from blueprint its the right part number, i had someone check that works in a parts factory on there system incase it wasn’t
It doesn’t necessarily make a load of noise when the synchros aren’t working, we are no longer in the early days of synchromeshed gearboxes, although if you push the gearstick harder than usual you should be able to get some grinding. It can be very VERY hard to detect the whine or squeak of a worn synchro, especially since we’re dealing with a well lubricated system here.
I meant testing it by keybanging it, IE starting it in gear with the clutch pedal out, but clutch depressed works too I suppose. This test is your answer, I think, especially since you can get into the gear when rev-matching: It’s your synchromesh. Driving with a worn, slipping clutch (or inheriting a car from the sort of person that wears a clutch too much without maintenance) can absolutely pulverise the 1st gear synchros in some gearboxes/clutch arrangements. Remember that the synchros use a clutch system themselves and are thus prone to wear, and it’s 1st and reverse that suffer the most clutch variation.
I would definitely recommend trying to find that point on your clutch pedal that allows the synchro to engage properly. After your clutch is bedded in a bit, you might find that the problem magically fixes itself to some degree. Especially since the clutch is self-adjusting, but a new clutch doesn’t have much room for self-adjustment.