Petscar

A few days ago, I got in the 8 and noticed the clutch felt soft with less resistance. When driving, it would engage gears quicker. In other words, the clutch was closer to the floor when it engaged. After 15 minutes of driving, it went back to normal.

My brake/clutch fluid was changed 10k miles ago and the level is correct. The only thing I did differently the day before was I drove it a little harder than usual and had to downshift a few times from fairly higher speeds. I usually never downshift.

It has been fine ever since. Any thoughts?

Shaozhou Zhang

Clutch pedal bracket tend to break over time and can cause that.
Clutch hydraulics failures can also do that.
Failed clutch disk/pressure plate can also do that.
You may have a failure in either or both, a failed bracket + slightly failed clutch hydraulics can cause it.
My car used to do this a lot, clutch grabs to the floor when cold and eventually it won't go into gear when cold, after driving for sometime it will go back to normal.
My hydraulics ended up failing after I sold the car, the current owner replaced the clutch hydraulics and states that the clutch is hard as rock.
If you have aftermarket stage 2 something clutch, the hydraulics may not be able to supply enough fluid to do the work, especially failed one, even a very slight internal leak.

apex1

Going through something similar now. Odd clutch behavior, grabs low and sometimes ***** hard. I found an old TSB on slave cylinders. Since mine is a late 03 production and have no record of replacement, I will start there. After that a master is cheap enough.

Will let you know...

Petscar

Is it normally constant or intermittent? Mine did it once, but so far it has been fine.

apex1

Mine is constant, seems like there is not enough throw. But sometimes the grab point moves around. Gets higher with heat, but not always.

Petscar

What is your mileage? Mine is 45k. I wasn't expecting clutch problems so soon. I've maintained this vehicle religiously. It's an 05.

apex1

74k, but according to receipts the clutch was replaced about 60k. It has always had this behavior, I mentioned to the previous owner the clutch grabbed too low and he said he liked it that way. Something is not right with the hydraulics or the replacement clutch. I will start with the hydraulics.

Petscar

It did it again this morning. Only this time, it only lasted a few minutes and went back to normal. A friend said it's probably the master or slave cylinder because I don't think the clutch pedal bracket is the problem. I priced both cylinders at mazmart. The OEM master is $115. They also have an Exedy master for about $35. Big difference in price. Does anyone have experience with Exedy? Does anyone one know the labor hours involved with replacing the master or the slave cylinders? I can't do it myself so I have to take it somewhere. I'm guessing any good mechanic should be able to do it unless there is something unusual where it should be done by someone who works on rotaries.

Shaozhou Zhang

The labor for replacing the master+slave is around 400-450 bucks, that’s the quote I got. price may vary.

Petscar

Ouch! 😟 Any thoughts on Exedy parts? Also my friend said there is a possibility of air in the line and you can bleed the system. It is probably a long shot, but worth at least trying first.

Petscar

I found out Exedy is the company that makes Mazda parts so I would think they are equivalent to OEM parts.

apex1

I think you would be fine with aftermarket. Both pieces are pretty simple in design. I bought an oem slave to because I wasted to make sure I had the upgraded one compared to the tsb. I just replace the slave and master today. Not too bad of a job, but I am not sure much changed. Will let you know.

Petscar

How long did it take you?