Shinka-Rick

I know there are other "Clutch" related postings but I wanted to add this one because mine has a slightly different twist.

I bought my 2005 Shinka brand-new about 5 years ago, and have 48,750 happy miles on it.
About a month ago I started noticing my clutch pedal starting to feel a little soft. It slowly got worse until this week I started to feel tension when shifting. At the same time I was having to bury my foot on the floor to shift.

I've been driving manual transmissions for over 25 years, and have had several clutch/throw-out bearing issues on different vehicles. This felt exactly the same as when the throw-out bearing went out on my old Jeep.

I figured I was looking at a clutch/throw-out bearing replacement and began dreading the work, or worse; paying someone else to do it.

I started doing the research into replacing the clutch, and how hard it is to complete. I came across the posts related to the clutch bracket failure and didn't figure it applied to my case because mine developed over a long period of time, and most of the clutch bracket failure posts mentioned a moment when the bracket "popped" and the clutch was no longer functional at all.

I figured it couldn't hurt to thoroughly inspect bracket just to be safe before buying the clutch replacement kit. It took me a couple of different trys, with good lighting, but I finally noticed the crack in my bracket!

I called my local dealership to see if the bracket was covered under any kind of recall or TSB. He ran my VIN number and said that there were no TSBs or recalls related to the clutch pedal or bracket for my car. I told him about the NTSB investigation, and he said he had not heard anything about it. He also told me that this was the first he had ever heard of anyone having a clutch bracket problem. I told him he should do a little research because it seems to be a pretty common problem. He told me I should be careful reading stuff on the internet because the only thing people do is complain and post negative comments. Right after that he said "I would love to work on your car for you; I have an opening in the morning, what time is good for you?" I laughed and told him "No thanks. I think I know more about what is going on with my car than you do."

I just removed the bracket and it is a duplicate of several photos of broken brackets listed in other posts. What is different in my case, is that I NEVER had any kind of pop, or sudden feeling that something broke. It just slowly tore without any indication other than the pedal was feeling softer and softer.

I gave the bracket to my neighbor to have it welded at his shop. I also ordered the reinforcement bracket from Race-Roots. After seeing how cheaply the bracket is made (very thin sheet metal); I want to be sure it doesn't happen again.

There is not a doubt in my mind that if I had taken my car to the dealer, or a transmission shop, they would have started by replacing my clutch, and I would have been out a pile of cash.

Thank you RX8CLUB!!!!!
Shinka-Rick