Well.....

I just wanted to let you guys know about my experience with a local dealership (Clippingers Mazda in West Covina, CA). I brought the car in for a TPMS light that was illuminated and the tech was quickly keen on the fact that my clutch pedal was making a sound and not feeling quite right.

He then checked the bracket and low and behold - my welds were coming undone in the same location that others have reported.

I was pretty happy that this happened with my car still being under the full bumper-to-bumper warranty. The dealer has ordered the entire clutch pedal assembly and I should receive it on Thursday.

 

That's amazing. Make sure you ask for that tech whenever you take your car in for service.

 

was your tpms broken??? when that light goes off you need to check your air pressure...also are they replacing the pedal for free?

 

Was your clutch pedal sound localized in the car? I have had some odd noises when releasing my clutch pedal lately, but it sounds like's coming from the front or under the car, not inside the car.

 

^ Throwout bearing?

 

Hmm, keep an eye on the new clutch pedal too. While getting one replaced will start you from scratch, the pedal itself is a poor design and it will probably happen again.

My guess is you have 3 year bumper to bumper, so at year 6, it'll be worn out again.

Lastly, keep the broken clutch pedal if you can, I may want to purchase it off of you for an experiment.

Its cool that the tech knew about the problem.

And this sound would come from inside the car, not the underside.

 

We recently had received one from a customer that had attempted to have it welded themselves or locally and as you can see the welds ended up failing....






This is why we like the fact of our bracket system, no concerns of failing

 

^ +1

OP - Even the new clutch bracket you get under warranty will be ultimately prone to the same failure, as the thin material and spot weld design has not changed. Take the opportunity to install the reinforcement bracket now and preclude any potential future failure.

 

Depending on how quickly you can get the reinforced bracket, see if the mechanic will install that instead of the OEM. That would save you from having to do it and hopefully you wouldn't have to pay for labor since it is still warranty work. Just a thought.

 

I just installed the reinforcement bracket (well, still in the process... I think I cross threaded one of the nuts and have to get it off before I can complete the process). Mine was still nice and shiny (ok, kind of dull, but all silver)... the one above looks ridiculously rusted though. Did that contribute to it failing?

 

You mean of course see if the mechanic will install the reinforcement bracket onto the new OEM clutch pedal assembly while he's at it. It's not an either/or proposition. Good suggestion otherwise.

 

^ haha, yea that's what I meant. my thought went faster than my typing.

 

mines getting sooooo bad. i need to weld it up this weekend

 

Hurry up before the next Laguna mudslide, when you need to put it in gear and get outta there!

 

laguna mudslide? never had one haha

 

^ Yet.....

 

If its possible to spot weld it... thats the way to go as the metal is too thin.

As you can see even if an expert welds it... it can break.

 

Dozer,

They are replacing everything under warranty. It's funny because I used to go to Puente Hills Mazda since it was so close by to my work, but they are now closed because they lost their licenses from Mazda.

Anyways, I searched for the next closest dealership which was Clippingers Mazda in West Covina. I told them the following:

- The clutch pedal has become increasingly difficult to depress
- The clutch pedal is making a side-to-side movement
- The clutch pedal makes noises directly associated with the pedal bracket
- Last, but not least, I told them that the welds were breaking - which they were.


For some of the other guys, I'll see if I can get them to give me my old unit back so we can analyze it or someone can use it for their little project.

 

nice, i just welded mine...you might wanna do the same, cus theyre just gonna give you a new one of the exact thing and the same things gonna happen to that one, the weld spots are small and arent that strong