Best automotive clutch master cylinders according to redditors

I had the same issue. The clutch pedal was broke and master cylinder was shot. Got a both on Amazon. Judging by the age of you car it is possible it is just the master cylinder. I got the rebuid kit and it was pretty straight forward. https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-CMK116394-Clutch-Master-Cylinder/dp/B001PYG6PS?keywords=rx8+clutch+master&qid=1536430333&sr=8-5&ref=mp_s_a_1_5

Hey there-- I had a 2000 Explorer Sport with a 5-speed. If yours is like mine was (and mine was identical to the 2000 Ranger) this might help. The shifter was stiff moving between gears, and sometimes I had to pump the clutch pedal to get it to move in or out of gear, especially when stopped.

The clutch is hydraulic.

The master cylinder is oriented in such a way that if the seals on the master cylinder piston are starting to fail, it has a tendency to pull air into the master cylinder, which gets trapped at the top of the piston, causing the clutch to get spongy and not fully disengage when you press the pedal all the way to the floor. Sometimes pumping it a few times will help temporarily, but it always comes back. You cannot bleed this bubble out of the system by pumping the clutch and using the bleeder screw.

This video shows the first thing I tried. It lets the air out of the top of the master cylinder without removing the cylinder from the car. It's awkward, difficult and messy. You'll want to cover the driver's side floor with a plastic trash bag and put something absorbent on top, like paper towels, to protect your carpet.

This worked for me... temporarily. IF THIS WORKED, chances are your master cylinder seals are going, which is why there was air in the system in the first place.

The permanent solution, for me, was to replace the master cylinder. It came complete with a fluid reservoir and the hydraulic line that goes all the way down to the quick-disconnect check valve at the slave cylinder on the clutch. It cost something like $65, and looks like this. Double-check to make sure that's the right one for your truck. When it arrived, I filled the system and did a full bench-bleed like this:

Ranger clutch bench bleed.

Hope this helps!

I let the vehicle sit overnight and bled the clutch again the next day, but I definitely did not leave anything in the hydraulic clutch system open overnight.

I have used this master/slave replacement: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0049MFPFA

I think it was advertised "pre-bled" - the one I got had fluid in it but was absolutely not pre-bled. Also, the fluid it shipped with must have been very low-quality, as the clutch felt "creaky" for weeks even after I got it bled properly. I finally flushed all the original fluid out and replaced with regular old DOT3 and the "creakiness" in the pedal stopped.

Hope this helps you out!

Honda part number : 46970-S5A-013
It should be less than $20 from the dealer

Edit: or... here it is on Amazon

You could wait on it. The slave cylinder on the nv3550’s are external, held on with two bolts through the bell housing and can be changed without dropping the transmission. Come to think of it, if you believe your clutch is fine, it might be a good idea to change it first and see if it solves the problem. It’s also an option to get it and the master cylinder as a whole new unit including a new line already connected to them. here’s an amazon link but if the pedal doesn’t seem soft I doubt it’s the problem. They tend to blow the seals and leak and be soft rather than get clogged and get hard/cause shift issues in that manner. Any shop could pull that and bench bleed it as well and know right away if it’s causing any issue. I will say though, those trannys are bullet proof and I’d bet your issue is clutch related rather than the transmission.