Clutch Slave Cylinder

[Gad-Westy]

It appears that I have a buggered clutch slave cylinder/seal. Biting point of the clutch is slowly dropping towards the floor.

What's involved in replacing it?

Also, I assume there aren't any quick 'get you home' type fixes? The car is possibly going to be p/x'd under the scrappage scheme in the next few weeks so would prefer not to spend any money on it if possible?

[Jonny671]

Gad-Westy said:

It appears that I have a buggered clutch slave cylinder/seal. Biting point of the clutch is slowly dropping towards the floor.

What's involved in replacing it?

Also, I assume there aren't any quick 'get you home' type fixes? The car is possibly going to be p/x'd under the scrappage scheme in the next few weeks so would prefer not to spend any money on it if possible?

Scrappage has finished?

[Gad-Westy]

Jonny671 said:

Gad-Westy said:

It appears that I have a buggered clutch slave cylinder/seal. Biting point of the clutch is slowly dropping towards the floor.

What's involved in replacing it?

Also, I assume there aren't any quick 'get you home' type fixes? The car is possibly going to be p/x'd under the scrappage scheme in the next few weeks so would prefer not to spend any money on it if possible?

Scrappage has finished?

not sure. Some manufacturers are still advertising it. Either way the car will be px'd imminently.

[Salgar]

Here is a guide: http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/p/200/361.aspx...

There is a better one somewhere I'll post the location of later (have it bookmarked at home)

The part is pretty cheap at mx5parts

http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...

I'm going to be replacing mine later this week (and I'm a spanner with a spanner), so I'll let you know once I've done mine.

Depending on how bad it is, you could just make sure your clutch fluid is filled up often.

[Gad-Westy]

Cheers for that. Have ordered slave cylinder from mx5 parts and have some clutch fluid in the garage. Not sure I fully understand the bleeding process yet but I'm sure I'll work it out.

[Salgar]

This is the better guide:

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5...

[Gad-Westy]

Salgar said:

This is the better guide:

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5...

perfect thanks. Looks very doable. Out of interest, how likely is it that I'll lose the clutch altogether if I keep driving until the new cylinder arrives. I would say that the biting point is less than an inch from the floor right now.

[Howard-]

Gad-Westy said:

The car is possibly going to be p/x'd under the scrappage scheme in the next few weeks

Nooooooooooooo

[Gad-Westy]

Howard- said:

Gad-Westy said:

The car is possibly going to be p/x'd under the scrappage scheme in the next few weeks

Nooooooooooooo

don't worry. It's been saved from the crusher by virtue of being an import. It's in Pretty good nick but is looking pretty scruffy externally and I can sera few bills coming our way so looks like it's time for a change.

[Howard-]

Phew. Why on earth would you scrap it unless it was in a serious state of disrepair

Not a dig at you but this scrappage scheme bullst is really getting on my wick, and I'm glad it's (for the most part) finished!

[Gad-Westy]

Howard- said:

Phew. Why on earth would you scrap it unless it was in a serious state of disrepair

Not a dig at you but this scrappage scheme bullst is really getting on my wick, and I'm glad it's (for the most part) finished!

The car is worth less than the scrappage would have been. I don't neccessarily agree with scrappage either but it's hard to argue with the numbers. Anyway, it's academic now as the car doesn't qualify.

[Howard-]

Gad-Westy said:

it's hard to argue with the numbers.

'tisn't. You could sell an MX5 which isn't totally knackered for £500-£1k probably. You could also probably negotiate at least £2k off the inevitable cheap nasty tin box that most people use the 'scrappage scheme' for. If you pay list price for a Corsa, you're a moron. Scrappage = removing most power to negotiate

Anyway not a dig at you, purely hypothetical, a dig at the whole thing, and I'll shut up now.

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 23 March 08:57

[Gad-Westy]

Howard- said:

Gad-Westy said:

it's hard to argue with the numbers.

'tisn't. You could sell an MX5 which isn't totally knackered for £500-£1k probably. You could also probably negotiate at least £2k off the inevitable cheap nasty tin box that most people use the 'scrappage scheme' for. If you pay list price for a Corsa, you're a moron. Scrappage = removing most power to negotiate

Anyway not a dig at you, purely hypothetical, a dig at the whole thing, and I'll shut up now.

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 23 March 08:57

I'll try not to take offence

i'm not sure if £2k discounts are realistic or not. They're certainly not on the smart were looking at. We have been offered a reasonable px price but it's still a lot less than scrappage would have been.

[Howard-]

You'll get a decent discount if you don't buy a brand new one

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 23 March 11:50

[snotrag]

The typical 2k scrappage discount didnt all come from the government. The government put in one thousand, thedealer put in the other.

So on a car with Rrp of 8k of you should be able to get to 7k piss easy. and STILL have your other car to sell/fix/keep/rally round a field.

But as howard points out - buying brand new cars is lunacy IMO!

[Jonny671]

snotrag said:

The typical 2k scrappage discount didnt all come from the government. The government put in one thousand, thedealer put in the other.

So on a car with Rrp of 8k of you should be able to get to 7k piss easy. and STILL have your other car to sell/fix/keep/rally round a field.

But as howard points out - buying brand new cars is lunacy IMO!

The Manufacturer put up the other thousand, but yes, haggling should be done on any car sale

[yellowbentines]

Gad-Westy said:

It appears that I have a buggered clutch slave cylinder/seal. Biting point of the clutch is slowly dropping towards the floor.

What's involved in replacing it?

Also, I assume there aren't any quick 'get you home' type fixes? The car is possibly going to be p/x'd under the scrappage scheme in the next few weeks so would prefer not to spend any money on it if possible?

Good luck! It's fairly straightforward if the bolts aren't seized up, my car is currently sitting on axle stands in the drive due to the fact the bottom slave mounting bolt is a stubborn bugger that's refusing to budge and there's little access to get good leverage on it (see my other thread!)

The part wasn't expensive but I'd maybe get your car up and try those bolts first, if they're not seized the job is a 30 minute cheap replacement, if not then it'll cost you a few quid to get a garage to do it.

[Gad-Westy]

snotrag said:

The typical 2k scrappage discount didnt all come from the government. The government put in one thousand, thedealer put in the other.

So on a car with Rrp of 8k of you should be able to get to 7k piss easy. and STILL have your other car to sell/fix/keep/rally round a field.

But as howard points out - buying brand new cars is lunacy IMO!

I feel this topic is straying slightly away from the question I asked but....

I've never considered buying a new car until now. Call it lunacy if you like but a brand new Smart will cost us less over two years (all in) than the MX5 will (the Mx5 needs some potentially expensive work) and after that I'll likely just hand it back. Will dig out the figures if you're genuinely interested. They're suprising to say the least. Since the MX5 is only being used to go to work and back through traffic, I don't feel I'll be missing out on fun (have something else on the way for that ).

If you're interested, the Smart finance example (not exactly what we'll be using but similar) is here:

http://uk.smart.com/smart-fortwo-diesel-offers-q1-...

[Howard-]

I Think paying ten thousand pounds and only getting a tiny little plastic city car in return isn't a very good deal personally, and spending half as much on something like a Focus will be far wiser, but it's your money, and this is an MX5 forum

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 23 March 13:13

[Gad-Westy]

Howard- said:

I Think paying ten thousand pounds and only getting a tiny little plastic city car in return isn't a very good deal personally, and spending half as much on something like a Focus will be far wiser, but it's your money, and this is an MX5 forum

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 23 March 13:13

A focus doesn't interest me in the slightest I'm afraid. It's not all about the money. I like quirky cars. In this case it's suprising that it appears to be cheaper to get a new smart than keep our mx5 going. It would probaby be cheaper again to replace it with a better mx5 but I fancy a change.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Tuesday 23 March 13:33