- My model of MX-5 is: 2005 NB 1.8i manual.
My NB appears to be developing a clutch problem which has manifested itself three times in the last month.
On each occasion I have been pulling away from a standstill and the clutch bite point, which is normally fine, drops right down on the floor. The gearbox seizes completely and I can’t move the gearlever. At this point I’m coasting at 5 or 10 mph. If I wrestle with the gear lever it clears after a few seconds, the clutch bite point returns to normal and the car is fine again.
This happens after 10 minutes or so of normal driving, while the car is warming up. I’ve owned the car for a year, drive it most days, and it has been perfect up to now. The car has only done 33k miles (2.5k in the last year) but it is of course 17 years old so something is showing its age.
The clutch fluid level is fine.
The car is booked in for a service and MOT next week with a guy I’ve used for 25+ years who I trust. He’s done a few MX-5s in the past but they’re not his main line of business. I’d be very grateful for any pointers or ideas I could pass on.
Thanks in advance.
I had a similar issue last year with my MK2 (NB) Icon 1.8 {2000}, I was losing my clutch pedal, experiencing difficulty changing gears. Remembering years ago, I had a similar issue with a Triumph Dolomite 1850 which I resolved by topping up the Clutch Reservoir with fluid and all was fine it had an air lock!
My NB had a similar issue a leak from the Clutch Slave Cylinder. Once this was replaced everything, all has been great.
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I was watching Wheeler Dealers last night because they were doing up a breathed-on 3.8 Mk2 Jag, and one of the problems was an occasional odd crunch gear change. It turned out the slave was leaking, and sometimes drawing in air making it intermittently spongy.
Seeing that program brought back vivid messy memories of helping to do almost exactly the same thing on a much more rusty 3.4 Mk2, while freezing in the snow in 1968.
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Thanks for your reply. The car did very little mileage and was SORN’ed a couple of times over the last decade. I’m wondering how old the clutch fluid is.
It was ‘theoretically’ given a full service by the (not Mazda) dealer I bought it from but who knows. My guy will give it a proper once-over at the service next week. He will change the clutch fluid.
Sometimes low mileage usn’t the magic bullet it’s cracked up to be.
Edit: clutch fluid not brake fluid - d’oh!
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Thanks. I have that episode to watch on my Tivo.
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Your right about low mileage NB’s, I have had to renew Brake Calipers, Discs and Pads on Two low mileage Cars, bodywise and otherwise great. Lack of use I expect!
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I had a look inside the clutch fluid reservoir and although there’s plenty of fluid in there its a nasty dark brown colour. As I said before, it may well be past its sell by date.
I spoke to my mechanic today and described the problem. Fortunately the car is booked in for a service next week anyway. As per Retriever1164’s post, he suspects that the contaminated fluid is intermittently getting past the slave cylinder seals causing the clutch problem. The seals are likely to have hardened in their 17 years of life. He’s going to flush out the system and see if that fixes the issue. If not it’s new parts time. No open top driving for me in the meantime 
Car is back from service and MOT. Passed the MOT with no advisories (woohoo!). No faults found with the clutch hydraulics after flushing and no evidence of leaking seals. Fingers crossed it was just old fluid. Slave cylinders are inexpensive so if the fault reoccurs it’s not the end of the world. It’s good to know it’s had a proper service now and ‘the precious’ (as my daughter calls it) has all new fluids. Looking forward to getting back behind the wheel and getting the top down, it’s been nearly a week!
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Three month update:
The clutch failed again a couple of days after posting the above. I had the clutch master and slave cylinder replaced and it has been faultless ever since.
I was reluctant to post as I didn’t want to tempt fate! 
A big bonus is that the clutch bite point is exactly the same every time now. Since I’d owned the car it was always a little variable which meant the occasional bogging down or over-revving at traffic lights. Now all is calm and predictable and I’m loving the Precious even more.
Many posts across forums on the net point to duff clutch slave cylinders in older cars regardless of mileage (mine’s only done 33k) so I’m posting this for info for noobs like me.
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