Poking at it, I decided the clutch slave cylinder ($45!) appeared to be the problem. I plunked down the $500 and figured I’d have a new daily ride in a weekend or two! Just have to swap the clutch slave…
Of course, if I’m swapping the clutch slave, I might as well do the master, too, right?
Even though it “ran when parked” and Chris remembered seeing it move from one pasture to the other this year, we couldn’t get it to fire up on its own. Ether got it to turn over, but it would just sputter and die immediately. We poured some fresh gas in and that got it to crank on its own and run for ten or fifteen seconds, but that was the best she had to give. No big deal, I just have to “check for crud in the fuel pump and then swap clutch cylinders”
I was trying to get the fuel pump out to bang out whatever crud was in there, but some ambitious mice had built a lovely nest right on top of the tank. All that organic acid corroded the screws, which meant that yours truly managed to strip three trying to open the access panel. Gah! No luck with an extractor, and since the gas smelled really bad, my simple “check for crud in the fuel pump and then swap clutch cylinders” turned into a “drain the gas and drop the tank to get to the fuel pump and deal with the screws and then swap clutch cylinders…”
So I put the Miata on jackstands, and when I crawled under to drain the gas, I rolled right into a puddle of… water? I look up, and the channel under the driver’s door is pouring water. My guess is bad rain rail + clogged drains. I jacked the passenger side up higher than the driver side and about a half gallon of water came pouring out. So now my “drain the gas and drop the tank to get to the fuel pump & deal with the screws and then swap clutch cylinders” has become “drain the gas and drop the tank to get to the fuel pump & deal with the screws, remove the interior completely, assess interior rust/damage & address as necessary, and then swap clutch cylinders”
Only, the bolts on the passenger seats are rusted to the brackets…
Of course, if I have to drop the gas tank, I might as well put in the larger ‘94+ gas tank… and since I have to take apart the subframe and bleed the brakes, could do some new wheel bearings and upgrade the brakes while I’m at it…
In the span of four hours, my “swap out the clutch slave cylinder” went to a total rebuild of the car.
