DVDfever

Hi, this is my first post on here even though I first registered ages ago after buying it in May last year, and I mainly use my RX8 once a week for a run which includes going on the motorway (I have an aged Punto for little runs around town, which I bought at the start of the year as I didn't really like using the RX8 for little journeys as I feel it doesn't really like them), but on Jan 29th this year I experienced a problem and sent Mazda an email. I should've copied it here, too, at the time, but here it is:

"Today I have experienced what I can only describe as an overheating clutch on my Mazda RX8 and I would like to ask for your thoughts on the matter.

I was stuck in traffic that was constantly stop-starting, which turned out to be due to an accident up ahead, and after 50 minutes of this for a journey that would normally take less than 10, I could feel the gearbox seizing up as I went into first gear. Eventually, it refused to come out of gear and I could feel it getting tighter and tighter to the point where the car just stalled. It then refused to go into any gear at all. I phoned the AA, but before they came to me, about 20 minutes later I found it would go into gear again but only enough to get me a short distance ahead at which point, since the traffic hadn't improved, it stalled again after refusing to come out of first gear. I was able to move ahead a few metres and into a nearby pub car park where we were heading for lunch. At this point, it would go into 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear (which I tried while it was off) but not reverse.

I arranged for the AA to come about an hour later, by which time we would have eaten, and the car was now working normally and has been fine on a couple of brief journeys since, where the traffic was flowing normally.

My question is - is this normal? Or what exactly is the issue with it, please? The car is now three years old (it's a 57 plate) and prior to this I have never driven any kind of performance car so would appreciate your advice on the matter."

Their reply, which didn't come until March 11th and a prod from me, was:

"After reading your e-mail we have not experianced this fault before on RX8, 5 or 6 speed. I have also checked Mazda's technical bullitins there are none relating to this type of fault.

I would recomend you contact one of the RRG Mazda sites to arrange inspection of your vehicle."

I should've then taken it in, but while it's been fine I haven't, and then today after a 30-min local round trip to get it washed, I came to reverse it back into my drive and it was sticking a little. I had to move it forward and back again and then it wouldn't go into reverse at all. I turned it off for a few mins, then back on and it still wouldn't go into reverse. A couple of mins later, while it was still on, it then would go into reverse. I've parked up and with the bank holiday weekend coming up I'll take it into Mazda next week, but I thought I'd post here first and ask for advice on what might be wrong with it. It feels expensive, but then the car has only done around 13k miles (when I bought it, it was on around 11,300).

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Dom Robinson

Ajax

What year is it?
I realize you say it's 3 years old, but does that mean it's a 2008?

The reason I ask is because I recently had this problem and it was actually the slave cylinder.
There was a TSB a few years back for 2004-2006 and this problem.
Here's the TSB: http://www.finishlineperformance.com...4-06-1641a.pdf

Anyway, my car would basically do exactly what yours is doing on hot days after about 30 minutes of driving.

I had both the master and slave replaced at the same time for about $200.

jasonrxeight

sounds like two things could be possible
one the pedal is broken.
two the hydraulic system has some problem.

DVDfever

Thanks to both you and Jason for your replies.

Looking at the above PDF file, I don't understand much about cars, but surely if this is a known fault, they should've replaced it free of charge?

My car was registered in January 2008 and came with a 57 plate. Even though they appear to have stamped out the problem listed above, could something similar be happening?

Thanks again.

DVDfever

Just a quick post to canvas further opinions on this, please, since as it hasn't been driven for that many miles, I feel it's an inherent problem and that Mazda should fix it at their cost and not mine.

Thanks in advance.

Ajax

It's low mileage, still under warranty, they should fix it. Yes, that issue has been fixed, but it depends on the build date of your car. You might want to take that TSB to the dealer and have them look into it.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Guys, he is in the UK. While it is the same car, warranty issues will be different.

DVDfever

Thanks again for additional replies. I've sent an email to Mazda to see if I can get them to fix it at their expense - worth a try. Thanks to Ajax for all that info. I've sent the link to the bulletin in the email. Will let you know how it goes.

And yep, I'm in the UK. Here's hoping I can get some joy out of them. I'm not sure if it's still within warranty, but I've told them I believe the problem is inherent given the low mileage of the car (just checked and it's only at 13,192).

jvrrn

Hi DVDFever,

I am having the same problem today, it's diabolical

Have you found what the problem was/is?

DVDfever

Ah, I meant to follow this up during the week. I spoke to them on Monday and took my car in. The engineer reckoned it's the clutch which is not covered by any warranty other than, I think, the first 12 months or 9,000 miles (whichever comes sooner).

For a minute, I thought it might come under the 3-year warranty which ran out on Jan 29th this year, but coincidentally, that is the day the problem first occurred and I made them aware of it at the same time.

However, they said that as they nor I have no idea how the previous driver might've driven it (even though it had only done 11,300 miles in 2 years), he could still be to blame and just absolved themselves of any responsibility. Typical bloody garages! Never want to know when there's a problem.

A new one from Mazda would cost £600.12 fitted, and even if my own garage bought one to fit, it would cost them £318+VAT (for a 6-speed car) so even with labour on top of that (and my garage hasn't fitted one before), if I did get it done then it would be better to go to Mazda, since if that wasn't the problem then I'd have the redress of getting a refund from Mazda for a clutch I didn't need.

The engineer said I could go for 3 or 4 years with this clutch & it could still work perfectly fine. So, on the advice of a mate who's been a car dealer all his life, I'm going to run it until it dies. Also, the one difference since January is that I haven't run it as often as I did before then, as I bought a cheap old Punto for quick trips around town and used the RX8 for weekends and trips where I could give it a run on the motorway. My mate suggested that the build-up of moisture of it doing less mileage could possibly be a factor in the problem? I'll use it more in the meantime to see how I go.

Today, I've done a few trips in it but they've been no more than 15-20 mins each time.

wsu_s2k

I had a similar problem on my 2005. I had it towed to the dealer to have them diagnose it, and they said the clutch went out. The dealer wanted a bunch of money to install a clutch kit, so I bought one online and installed it myself. On disassembly everything looked great, except the release bearing was disintegrated. It looked like behind the release bearing was a composite spacer that had got way too hot and melted taking the release bearing out of place causing damage to the release bearing. The kit I ordered didn't have a separate spacer, but rather a metal piece integrated into the new release bearing that acted as the spacer. So far the new clutch kit works great. The kit I bought was a couple hundred dollars and took a day and a half for a buddy and I to install.