New to MX-5 having just bought a very tidy 2008 coupe, 1.8 5spd NC. Mechanically the vehicle appears to me (untrained, knows nothing) very sound and it certainly drives very nicely but the only niggle is that the clutch bite point seems very low, i.e the clutch pedal needs to be buried in the carpet to disengage and comes in too soon on release. This makes gear changes a little notchy and certainly not as slick as I would be led to believe from what I have read. I have not driven another MX-5 for comparison. Yes I really did buy the first one I saw, but I’m not claiming to be particularly smart.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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There isn’t a great deal of adjustment on the pedal, however, you might be lucky and find on yours that there is.
Under the dash behind the clutch pedal is the actuating rod, it’s a bit fiddly to get to but can be adjusted with a few spanners and lots of patience.
The first thing I would suggest through is to get your head under there and see how much slack movement you have on the pedal.
You don’t want to be adjusting it any more than the free play.
It might also be worth having the clutch system checked for leaks and maybe blead through.
Hi
Welcome to the forum.
How much of the cars history did you get when you purchased it? Has it ever had a new clutch?
Although clutch wear can be related to mileage, a previous driver may have been a clutch rider!
Is the clutch pedal rubber worn or new? (if it has a rubber).
Richard.
I had the same problem as the OP, managed to wriggle into the footwell with a pair of spanners & after a bit of adjustment the car was transformed, 5 minutes to do the job & a week to get over the back ache! ![]()
+1 on the back ache ![Laughing]( "Laughing")
I adjusted mine, didn’t like the feel and was worried that I may have over adjusted so adjusted it back.
I got back ache twice.
Had a test drive in 3 cars before I purchased a 2011 NC 3.5 with 23000 on the clock . I found all three cars had a very similar pedal ie you need to depress the cluth all the way down to get a clean gear shift. Talking to others this is a typical of the MX5 as well as it being a heavy clutch compared to moder
n cars.
Hope this helps.
18 months on and you just get used to the operation. Better than a high pedal indicating potential slippage.
Cheers
Keith
Contortionist springs to mind adjusting the clutch at the pedal.
Yes it can be done but don’t over do it, just a slight twiddle of the nuts and go for a drive. Excellent link there in post #2. It’s also worth noting they do take some getting use to, the gear shift/clutch operation. I tend not to rush my changes and all seems smooth enough. When I first had the car I tended rush the change and it seemed to baulk, a twiddle of the pedal adjustment and the change in the way I change gear and all’s good.
Many thanks for the useful replies. I will put on my limbo dancing gear, grease myself up and see if I cannot get into the footwell with a spanner or 2.
