Recheck for sure. It still sounds like air bubbles to me due to the inconsistency.

 

Alright new developments. I know this has to be a "Oh this it definitely it." symptom. If I apply light constant pressure to the clutch pedal it will slowly fall to the floor. I don't have to ever apply more pressure, just the weight of my foot and it will gradually fall.

If I press it in quickly it will build enough pressure to get into and out of gear easily. If I do it any slower it doesn't build enough pressure.

Also I *think* that it maintains the pressure it builds. So if I press it in quick enough to get it into gear, I can put it in and out of gear all day no problem. But if I start to disengage the clutch and only get half way(say stop and go traffic) and then go to press it back in there is not enough pressure built to get it out of gear. So I then have to let it all the way back out and press it in.

So with this information do you think it is:

A. Bad slave cylinder, leaking internally. (there is no fluid loss)
B. Bubbles in system. (not sure how/why it would cause the above symptoms)
C. Clutch adjustment off, maybe with the rod, allowing fluid to flow past the master cylinder slowly?

I'm thoroughly confused. This has to make sense to someone.

 

You just replaced the slave, so I doubt thats the issue.

The great news is that this is not something in the bell housing.

Air bubbles could explain this. When you have a very compressible gas in a line thats meant to have a pretty much incompresible liquid, you get crap for pressure to disengage the clutch. My bet is bubbles. It could be a blown master, but in my experience those do tend to leak when they wear out where slaves usually dont. I dont know why that is.

When you bleed the system, are you doing the following:

Have a buddy in the car, put a wrench on the bleeder.
Have the buddy put light pressure on the pedal, and as soon as he confirms that he is putting pressure on you crack open the bleeder.
Your buddy lets you know when his foot is close to the floor, and you close the bleeder BEFORE the pedal is all the way down.
Your buddy pulls the pedal back up. When he does this you should see the level of the fluid in the reservoir go down a bit, as the system is puling new fluid in from it to the master cylinder.
Rinse and repeat about a dozen times. Be sure to have the reservoir open and some fluid ready to go, you dont want to have it go empty and suck air in.

The key is to ONLY open the bleeder when there is pressure in the system from the pedal being pushed down, and to close it BEFORE thi pressure ceases due to the pedal hitting the floor.

 

rod adjustments at the extreme ends of travel can affect the master cylinder.

you could also have a bad master cylinder.... and they aren't terribly hard to replace.

 

I meant master, whoops.

Okay well the goal is to do some bleeding today if I can get someone to help me. It's cold and wet so friends are not exactly jumping at the chance lol.

 

Whatever, I was there, you were not. It was a 4 puck un-sprung act disc and PP. The set up was in a spec miata, myself and two other buddies did the swap on a new years eve about 8 years ago. I did not install the disk or plate but did perform the final torque and the PP torqued up fine, the transmission went on with no issue as well.

Now I know from your name "Braineack" I also know that you are well respected on this web site (I value your opinions too). You are viewed as all powerful and knowing, but you don't know everything about everything period. That being said, I am telling you that you are wrong. I saw it with my own two eyes when we pulled everything back apart. Are you going to tell me that I didn't see what I saw??? Once I took the clutch assembly apart I asked the guy that assembled it what he was thinking, his response was I guess i didn't think it mattered on this type of disk. If.....you have had this particular disk in your hand, from a manufacture date of 8 years ago you would know that it is possible for it to be put in backward and have the symptoms stated by the OP......That is why I asked him for more specifics about the clutch that he was using.

respectfully

 

shnizzap!

i'll vouch for the nearly invisible asymmetry of an unsprung disk. only clue is the splined center hub sticks out further one way than the other.

 

blah to you! needs more sarcasm in your response.

 

I think it's safe to say it is not that, since I clearly have a pressure issue. It will engage/disengage just fine if I press it in quick enough. Now just to find time, not happening today.

 

My bet is worn slave. They are typically cheap and easy to replace, and I would just do that before bleeding.

 

Not going to get into a dick measuring contest with you. I was not being sarcastic, I do value your opinion, you have a ton of experience with these cars. But I know what I saw, remember, never say never, and only a fool thinks he has all the answers.

I know better than that and Im sure you do too. So lets just agree to disagree and have a

 

Already replaced the slave.

 

All I was suggesting is, if you're going to put me in my place, at least have fun with it so I can laugh in shame.

 

Beergate.... ;')

 

So any progress with the problem ?

 

I am progressively trying to motivate myself enough to bleed my system. If still no improvement I will be replacing the master cylinder. Hoping to bleed this weekend as the weather has turned nice. Will update.

 

I am having a similar problem with my 04 Mazdaspeed w/ the factory clutch. Sometimes it won't disengage bad enough to kill the engine and shifting is rough most all the time. No clutch slipping yet. I have changed the slave and bleed the system, but I still have problems. When I bleed the slave I noticed a thin layer of grey sludge in the bottom of my master cylinder reservoir. Is that normal or a sign of wear in the clutch hydraulic system? I cleaned the reservior out and put in fresh dot 4 fluid. I am planning to replace the master before pulling the transmission and inspecting/replacing the clutch components. Good luck with your repair and keep us updated. I hope the things you find help me fix my problem.

 

For the record I also had quite a bit of gray sludge in my reservoir. Is this a sign of a failed component somewhere?