I also wonder how many of these clutch pedal failures can be attributed to either..

1. A renewed Clutch Plate and Pressure Plate...to say a Heavy Duty or non OEM??..
2. A high mileage (worn out) Clutch Plate and Pressure Plate??
3. Damage to Clutch Mastercylinder because of misalignment of bracket because of 1 and 2.
4. Possibly a renewed non OEM Flywheel??
5. Plastic Liner on Thrust Bearing wearing out and or dragging with change Fork?

6. Breakage of Clutch Bracket because of 1,2,3,4 and 5.??

Perhaps a POLL might show "some" interesting findings, or it may not.

Right Hand Drive RX-8's are not seeing these Clutch Bracket failures.

 

If the car has never been serviced in such a manner; none.

It seems to me that we have one failure mode with the OEM pedal assembly and it rarely has anything directly involved with what you have listed, Ash.

I can tell you this; I discovered the weakness of the pedal a few years ago after I swapped in a HD clutch system. My pedal assembly pulled itself apart within 12,000 miles. Once we figured out what we thought was the most effective and affordable remedy to the problem, I started posting up about our findings. (This was LONG before BHR was even conceived.)

Since then, many have adopted our approach and have mentioned being satisfied with the results. Others have added external bracketry to it and they also reported being happy. More still have combined both approaches and are also satisfied.

I have been modifying the "C" bracket for quite a while and the OEM units are still weaker than any clutch pedal assembly should be. Pathetic, but I don't run Mazda or you all know what I would have done long ago..........

 

There are many threads and posts here of guys "upgrading" clutches and or flywheels, so this can not be ruled out as part of reason.

As I have mentioned before I sold and have seen RX-7 brackets fail because of aftermarket Clutch Kits.

What I don't get is why have we not seen this as an issue in RHD, the ONLY difference is the Bracket for RHD and Clutch master, one would think it is made/supplied by the same vendor.

 

Got any pics of a RHD bracket?

 

This can be elimninated as a likely cause if, IF, it can be demonstrated that the vast majority of failed clutch pedals happened on cars that have yet to have their transmissions removed. I think from an anecdotal standpoint, based on testimonials from fellow forum members, it can be.

If the vast majority of pedal failures were from those who installed HD pressure plates, don'tcha think Mazda would have accounted for this and argued against their current policy when NHTSA came breathing down their necks? We all already KNOW that Mazda (and other OEMs) scour these forums for just that reason. Mazda could save themselves a LOT of ******* money if they were to be able to demonstrate this.

 

You don't know what was said by Mazda to or NHTSA or anyone else..you are guessing...you are not a Mazda Dealer..again so you guess.

I would like to see these "testimonials"..

 

Neither do you, so are you, neither are you unless you bought your boss out, again so are you.

All over a ******* clutch pedal, Dude? Really? I am just trying to help people. You seem to be wanting to measure something here......

Here is a prediction for you; those beloved "C" pedals Mazda is now using will still fail.

 

No, you are trying to sell something..

NA, I will leave that one up to you....you are very good at it...

So where are all these "testimonials"...

 

Yes, you have made that claim in the past, have avoided responding to my rebuttals, and I no longer give a ****. You win.
I have no idea what you are measuring.
Testimonials are all over this forum and the S2 owners are only a coupla years and a few thousand more miles away from having their own "Broken Clutch Pedal Bracket" thread. If you want to encourage people to ignore what the S1 owners have done when problems have arisen, you can take full responsibility for the outcome, Ash..... it is ALL yours.........

 

Touchy....
You are being a **** now Charles..

No one is Disputing the Numbers of Clutch Bracket Failures...in North America.

As I have said originally, does anyone know if 'any' of these failures could "possibly" be attributed to After Market Clutches??, do a search for Thread Title, "Clutch Flywheel", there are two pages of threads on this subject...

And some interesting comments..

 

Mazda says the failure is from "improper fastener attachment sequence," which distorts the bracket and causes high stress.

Failure of LHD but not RHD brackets makes sense. From which side does an assembly line worker install the bracket? I'll bet that the RHD brackets involve a natural reach, while the LHD brackets involve something awkward, causing the workers to get sloppy. I would love to see some statistics on bracket failure vs right or left handed assembly line workers.

Ken

 

Um, there is More room to work on a LHD drive car than a Right, your drivers side has a HUGE amount of room compared to our Right side..

Perhaps all NA made RX-8's are done on a Monday, hang on they work 7 days..

Perhaps it is to do with Feng Shui!

Really..

 

I am not "touchy", Ash, I am tired of you acting as if I am just another douchbag parts-flipper vendor around here whose sole concern is lining my own fiduciary pocket with feigned concerns/issues with this car. You ask for my help/input on issues from time to time, then treat me like I am a ******* idiot. I discovered the problematic clutch pedal after I installed an ACT clutch in my own car..... long before BHR was even thought of. If you think a slightly higher pedal pressure makes pedal failure within 12K miles acceptable, that is your opinion. Most here do not.

The only thing of distinction here is RHD versus LHD.

 

Japan is not a unionized labor force, is it?

 

That would fly in the face of theories offered by the engineer-types around here who think that the backplate bears no load. Apparently, Mazda are at least implying that the backplate-to-mainframe welds are important in the structural integrity of the entire pedal assembly.

Nothing is/feels natural on the assembly line, especially under the dashboard. THAT is something I can tell you from first-hand experience.

 

Engineer-types as opposed to actual engineers?

Ken

 

The ONLY RHD Clutch Bracket which has been known to fail was that of Brettus (New Zealand), he acknowledges that he renewed his clutch with a heavy duty one early on in cars life, and also acknowledges this as being the "cause" of his Pedal failure, so I am not the "only" one who believes it may have "something" to do with failures.

As I have also stated when working at a Mazda Dealer for just a few decades, Clutch Pedal failures occurred when clutches were worn out 'and or' replaced with units Not made to Mazda's specifications.

 

Apologies if I didn't read all the posts on this topic:

I received this warrantee notice with the car I bought two weeks ago:

"On certain 2004-09 RX-8 Vehicles, it is possible that the clutch pedal bracket may have a crack, causing an abnormal noise."---- blah blah

Free inspection, reimbursement if you fixed it all ready...etc.

www.MazdaUSA.com

Bottom line is we now have an 8 year/100,000 mile warrantee on 04-09 cars from the original warrantee start date. They will replace it free if need be. If no noise, issues don't worry about it. Stop in and let them inspect it.

 

So does this mean the 2010s have this fixed from the factory? I still cant get an answer.

 

As posted before..

The C Bracket came into production from Sept 15 2008.
So those 2008, 2009, 2010 cars HAVE the Latest Bracket.

Mazda USA are NOT warrantying RX-8's made after that date or those who have the C bracket already installed.

Is it fixed??, who REALLY KNOWS??, but I will believe the Factory before all the other guesses on here.

Time will tell I guess.

 

If we bought the Race Roots Reinforcement clutch bracket but still makes that noise kind of is it still covered or no since I already tried to fix the clutch?

 

If you have the Race Roots bracket then the squeaking would be either from the spring, the limit switches or possibly you installed the bracket incorrectly.
With the reinforcement properly installed the bracket is way stronger than a stock Mazda assembly.

The direct answer is probably no but I'm not sure that anyone has tried to claim a bracket with holes drilled in it....

 

I helped install Scott's BHR pedal and fuel pump today
Those are some pretty welds on the pedal! I'd give the work an A+

There was one spot I saw on the assembly and I was wondering why you guys don't weld it... I had Scott take a picture... Maybe he'll post it



BTW, his OEM pedal looked good with no cracks.
The new pedal went in super easy.
And
The fuel pump install was pretty easy with the tool you provided.

 

Just want to throw my $0.02 since I can speak from firsthand experience.

My 2004 was driven relatively carefully and the clutch pedal broke at around 35,000 miles. It made a low-pitched squeaking sound when depressed for a while before that time - that is the warning sign that something is wrong.

When I brought it in to the dealer (~18 months ago) they refused to acknowledge that it was a known problem, despite BHR selling a reinforced product and having a clutch pedal aftermarket bracket available.

They fixed my clutch pedal assembly on a "good will" warranty after I made a huge stink. I then promptly had the reinforcement bracket installed, but it was a big pain.

I just picked up my new Series II today - the clutch pedal feels completely different than the old one - much easier to depress and feels much more solid. At least subjectively, it feels like they've improved it. I just hope it will last...

 

Even with this new warranty on the bracket I plan on getting mine welded and most likely getting the reinforcement kit for it as well. Its nice and all that they will fix it when it does break but I dont wanna be getting on the highway and suddenly have the pedal die on me.

Seems pretty stupid to me that they will just take a failing part and replace it with the same part and you just have to wait for it to happen again.