Argh! Clutches!

davidturnedge@me.com · Postby **davidturnedge@me.com** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 4:19 pm

After 20 years (I presume it's the original clutch) my NA6 clutch has started slipping and, after consulting the Mazda Workshop Manual and various web sites, and crawling under the car, I assumed that the job is too big for me given how short time is this this close to the holiday period.

So I did what I said I would never do with this car: get someone to do the work for me.

Clutch replacement: $850.

Does this sound reasonable to you given a clutch kit is $250-$300 and it's 4 hours or so of labour (for an expert; was assuming it would take me twice as long without a car lift).

NMX516 · Postby **NMX516** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 9:14 pm

Sounds reasonable to me - not overly expensive or unrealistic. Labour would most likely be $90-$100 an hour, and they probably allowed for the flywheel to be machined as well... If they're not too familiar with MX5's, they might have added a "just in case" charge for if they encounter any unforeseen surprises with a 5 clutch install. Looking at MX5 Mania's website, they charge $400 for a clutch install.

davidturnedge@me.com · Postby **davidturnedge@me.com** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 9:43 pm

Yeah, didn't really have time to chase up Mania. Unfortunately. Oh well, I hope it works out well. The slipping clutch has been getting slowly worse and I know it would come to this sooner or later in a $6,500 car.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:54 pm

the price sounds very reasonable. A lousy diy job / just a pain without a hoist/ and a fitter will give a warranty for workmanship. Go for it.

Hellmun · Postby **Hellmun** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:23 pm

You could do it in 8 hours if you'd done it before and there are no problems... doing it for the first time and if the car hasn't been apart before expect much longer. I wasted time trying to get the top gearbox bolts off from the engine bay before I gave up and used long extensions from under the car. The flywheel bolts are loctited and incredibly hard to get off. Squeezing your hands in to get the slave cylinder off is painful, getting the starter back in place was painful... plus lots of other things that seem small but really add up. There is not much room around the tranmission tunnel for actually using ratchets. I didn't remove the exhaust manifold and the racing beat headers made it incredibly hard to get the gearbox down and back up to the tunnel... I think if you don't enjoy DIY then that's not a bad price for someone who isn't very familiar with MX5's. Mania are MX5 experts so would do it much faster so the $500-600 he charged in labour wouldn't be bad for the time he'll spend on the car. I wouldn't feel ripped if it was needed on short notice and I got warranty on the work.

davidturnedge@me.com · Postby **davidturnedge@me.com** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:35 am

Thank you, thank you. Mech said today that the cheap after market extractors were preventing him getting the job done - which I'd guess already and had an OEM manifold and down pipe for the car... so it's two birds with one stone. Also while he's under there he'll be doing the rear crank case seal. Easy job on a hoist with the gearbox off. Make that three birds.

Cheap after market extractors: just don't do it. The OEM set up is more than adequate for the measly 1.6 litre engine.

davidturnedge@me.com · Postby **davidturnedge@me.com** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:23 pm

After having dríven my car for a day after the extractors to OEM swap I've found that I was harsh on the tinny sounding extractors. They did something, albeit at a high, tinnier sound. I prefer the OEM sound but the car does feel a little less zippy. I think it's the sound and, from what I've read, well designed extractors will only add 1-2hp anyway. If you want to offer something for the after market extractors which are still usable then message me. You can have them for... FREE.

mazdatenfive · Postby **mazdatenfive** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:51 pm

Is a clutch change any easier and quicker when taking the engine and gearbox out through the bonnet?

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:49 pm

mazdatenfive wrote:Is a clutch change any easier and quicker when taking the engine and gearbox out through the bonnet?

if you were taking the engine out for some other reason, then yes. but no, if you were only need to do the clutch.

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:35 pm

The clutch job in the MX5 really isn't that bad IF:

1. You have access to a hoist;
2. You have a decent impact gun;
3. You have a good selection of decent hand tools.

It can be done without a hoist and an impact gun, but boy - with a hoist and impact gun, the job takes 2-3 hours tops. Without them, you can almost triple this.

That said, this morning I just pulled an engine, transmission and crossmember out of a damaged car as one complete unit in just over 4 hours with only hand tools - and that car was only on jack stands. Might have taken even less time but for the damage to the car making some bolts and wires hard to get to. Obviously this presents some issues on the reinstall - having to reconnect the loom, and possibly re-align the car - but it also allows you the opportunity to do many other routine maintenance jobs at the same time. Clutches, engine mounts, timing belts, etc are a doddle with the engine out of the car.