2000-SE Miata, 111,000 miles here. A friend purchased it a few months ago. She noticed some dripping recently on the garage floor. Then yesterday she could no longer shift into gear with the engine running. She found the clutch fluid reservoir empty. We inspected under the car and could not find the source of the leak. We refilled the reservoir, bled the system, and the Miata now shifted fine. We will inspect for leaks underneath again soon. The fellow from whom my friend bought this Miata was meticulous in his maintenance. His records say he replaced the braided steel clutch line and rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder in the first 12k miles.

Any likely sources of this leak?

Also if you have a favorite online Miata parts site, please post the name or a link.

Thanks all

 

My friend and I found blistering of the paint where the master cylinder attaches to the firewall. The seepage is so slow that we think it would take a few months before it emptied the system. I found no traces of fluid in the driver's foot compartment area underneath where the clutch penetrates the firewall. We will be replacing the master cylinder soon. I see from searching the net that the master cylinder is a weak point of the Miata, with leaks occurring especially at the firewall.