1998 Mazda b3000 Free play in my clutch

1998 MAZDA B3000
185,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 4WD • MANUAL
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CINCYBNGLS
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Hey guys, I was wondering why my clutch has free play in it. It comes and goes very sporadically. It might be nice and tight for a couple of days then all of a sudden, I have like 8 inches of free play in the clutch. I fill they hydraulic fluid reservoir about once a week or so. It really doesn't seem to matter if it is full or not. I don't notice any leaks and a friend of mine who is a mechanic said that the doesn't see any fluid in the tranny. (Never actually took it apart) When the clutch is tight the truck seems to run a lot better. Not as much lifter noise, etc. It just seems like a tighter truck. When the clutch has the free play in it, I have a heck of a time getting it into gear. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Nov 1, 2008 at 6:30 PM
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JAMES W.
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Your fluid has to be going somewhere. If it's not a the slave cylinder on the transmission, then it has to be master cylinder leaking under the dash on the fire wall. My first suspect would be the master is bypassing.
Nov 1, 2008 at 9:42 PM
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CINCYBNGLS
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Is that a pretty big job? What actually does that consist of? And also, why would it keep coming and going like it does?
Nov 2, 2008 at 1:13 PM
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JAMES W.
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No, to change the clutch cylinder is not a big job. Why does it come and go you ask. Sometimes the clutch cylinder will catch a full stroke and sometimes it will bypass. You need to find out where your fluid is going. If you look under the dash there should be a rod coming through the firewall and attaching to the clutch pedal lever. I'm guessing you will see fluid around where the rod comes through the firewall.
Nov 2, 2008 at 6:09 PM