I think the underlying thing here is they will not fix a tranny issue if they see the clutch is shot and the owner refuses to fix it - because the car would be comming back in a few days for another tranny

 

this is how my transmission rebuild started. paid for a clutch, then warranty for a synchro, then warranty tranny rebuild.

 

I bought my car used with 49k. When I took it for a test-drive everything seemed fined except the clutch was disengaging weird. I told them if they replaced the clutch and threw in a set of 4 tires I would buy the car.

I bought the car and 7k later, my clutch goes out. They wouldnt cover it under warranty because when they installed the clutch the first time all they replaced was the DISC. So after 7k my pressure plate burned up or something and they had to replace the entire assembly. It was very retarded.

 

what a bastard

 

well I sold my 8, but still lurk here :}

I had my clutch replaced at 30,000kms....and I can tell you it was more than likely from my hard driving !
and my dealer did it all under warranty! He even showed me the parts they took off and said they would not submit them back to Mazda in fear they would not cover it? I guess it totally depends on the dealer.

 

Wear items are pretty much just ignored when brought up in reference to warranty, but it can be replaced if you talk with them. My wife had an Eclipse that burned through 3 clutches in less than 10k miles. She had the first one replaced after talking with them because of the extreme low mileage of the car. Obviously the next two were also replaced and her car was almost returned because of lemon laws. Eventually they stopped being lazy and replaced the faulty clutch mechanics. Sometimes you just have to push the mechanics, doesn't always work, but in most cases they do as little as possible to get a car out the door.

 

who did you speak to there chiz?.....bill or the new guy who is in the revolving seat of death?....or the manager who was replaced 6 times in the last 5 months?.....i know this dealer im sure a little bit better than you do and had to fight them when my trans blew up.....you should bring your car down and let me take a look at it and we can swap cars so you can see what it should feel like.....at ramsey they initially (the new guys) like to mess with you but if they know your aware of the truth they wont even try it......i had a new guy try to deny me at Ramsey on a CEL because of my intake...but i spoke to the general manager and they tested it to find out it was a broken gas cap.....DO NOT TRUST THIER WORD initially.....

 

Funny you said that.... I had a Mazda Mx6 with 240k miles with it's original clutch!

 

You just reminded me...lately my clutch has been squeaking like a ***** as well. Next time I go there I'm gonna have to request that they lube her up like you did. (Even though it is a trip while waiting at stoplights and watching people in adjacent cars put on their faces while I push her in and out. )

 

Im really not gonna take a side on the issue, but I will say that i too have had OEM clutches last over 100K, and that SLIPPING almost always represents misuse that early on. Other problems may be more manufactured fault, but if Mazda senses the slightest bit of misuse, they will turn their back in a hurry. Manuals always draw a lot more skepicism then autos, mostly due to the fact that there is so much more room for human error.

It's because of this fact that AAMCO (NEVER work with them) will cover all components of a auto for life, BUT doesn't cover manuals for at MOST, 36K/3 years...and that warranty runs more than a 7 year/10K mazda warranty.

Anytime a clutch is included, things are bound to get shakey. Just prepare for the worst.

Oh yea, and on my 97 Cobra, the 2nd gear syncros were bad and they tried that same replace-the-clutch-first deals. Then the whole transmission. Ouch.

 

Sorry chris for the late reply, yeah it was Bill and Mike there, They're nice guys I really didn't want to argue but I was in shock when he was like 'the shop manager didn't feel like doing it'. But yeah if you like to set up something anytime soon that'd be fine. (Edit) On top of all that, Ramsey is about a 40min drive from my house, so when I told Bill that he was like 'wow, thats ashame sorry we couldnt do anything for you.' As far as my condensed light goes, he told me to tell the DMV theyre stock. That'll work.

 

how bad is your car?

 

It drives fine, but when i'm in 5th around 4500k rpm and up and I down shift to slow down or anything, it'll grind REALLY loud. In 3rd gear if i'm booking it to high rpm's and shift into 4th it happens. Otherwise, it's fine.

 

I'd like to hear how this works out b/c my 2nd gear has been grinding some at high rpm upshifts. I've been wanting to bring it to the dealer for a possible syncro replacement or something. My car has 36k mi.