Questions and Answers
Mazda Clutch Cable?
Q. I just limped a friend's car home without the aid of its clutch. Having only dealt with "conventional" clutches with either mechanical linkages or hydraulics, this 1987 Mazda's front wheel drive cable clutch leaves me baffled. Someone had told her (the owner) that the cable needed replaced, but the cable seems (to me) to actuate the clutch just fine.
It operates a lever that transfers rotation to a shaft that disappears into what looks like a conventional "bell housing" but having never seen one of these things taken apart, I can only guess at what's inside. The clutch feels right. It fails completely to disengage. I tightened the cable's adjusting nut four turns with no change. Neither the pedal or the cable seem to have any free play.
The story of the failure is as follows: Stopped at a stop sign and shifted into neutral. After cross traffic cleared, car would not go back into gear. Henceforth, the clutch fails to disengage the engine from the transmission. What's in there, where (on the internet) can I get a look at what might be broken?
Thanks!
A. You have me really confused here, I have never seen a Mazda 323 with a clutch cable. And when I checked my books, I see no mention of any Mazda with a clutch cable.
Anyway, all clutch cables work the same. Instead of a manual or hydraulic linkage, the throw out fork is moved by cable. Internally the throw out bearing and fork are the same as the others. I think the mistake you made is you tightened the cable when you should have loosened it. Loosen the adjuster until there is just a tiny bit of free play. If it still won't disengage the transmission, the clutch assembly will need to be replaced.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
