clutch problems?

[deathuntofoes]

Hey-
Whenever my car is cold, and I drive the clutch normally (ie. engaging at around 2500rpm) the entire chassis seems to make a shuttering noise. I am not sure if the clutch is slipping, or if it is just my clutch breaking in. Any insight into this phenomenon would be appreciated.

 

[cbcbd]

There's a TSB on it

http://web2.airmail.net/theman/protegefaq/tsb/

Go to 3rd Generations and look for Clutch Chatter.

Print that out,show it to your dealer and they have to fix it for you, no charge. (They won't be so fast to accept that, so persuasion will have to be used to their asses moving)

 

[Installshield 2]

I have been unclear on the TSB for that problem...on the site it says to remove the M-25M-R transaxle according to the shop manual...I don't know what a M-25M-R transaxle is...None of us have it...2.0L's have the G-15M-R, and 1.8L's have the F-25M-R...Maybe I am just reading it wrong, but becuase of that I thought it applied to a different transaxle than what I have. (I encountered the same problem)...


FWIW it won't hurt anything if you are careful when the engine is cold, the strain is taken up by the engine mounts...The Chatter is caused by the clutch disc material heating up the flywheel unevenly at first when cold. The hot parts of the flywheel grab the clutch and the cold parts don't as much...It is similar to racing brake pads that need to be heated significantly before operating properly...Once the flywheel is heated (which is normally after driving for about 1 minute) the problem should go away...It is not good to just live with it all together, but slipping the clutch a little more when everything is cold should heat cycle everything perfectly on the first launch...And yes it is more of a problem when your car is new...I had the same thing when my P5 was new and by 5,000 miles the problem never happens anymore.


If you have a clutch chatter problem even when the car is warm or that is more severe, definately get it looked at...

 

[deathuntofoes]

this "clutch chatter" is a recent occurance, and my car has 18000 miles on it. Should I take a trip to the local mazda dealership to have them check it out under the warranty?

 

[Installshield 2]

yes, if it is under warranty it won't hurt...You may get a new clutch...

I would have drove mine in too, but the problem seemed to go away after a couple thousand miles...

 

[cbcbd]

this "clutch chatter" is a recent occurance, and my car has 18000 miles on it. Should I take a trip to the local mazda dealership to have them check it out under the warranty?

You can, but good luck getting them to reproduce the chatter and convincing them that it exists (and that there's a TSB on it).

But hey, maybe they're nice so it's worth a try

 

[Coqui258]

Question on this chatter... I hear that it's only on the 2002 models, since the 2003 supposedly has the updated clutch kit? Is this true? My car does shake sometimes when I try to drive it normally upon starting it cold.

 

[Installshield 2]

That is the other thing that confuses me...You are correct that the TSB refers to the 02 models and in 03 all the manual cars recieved the revised "plate" and disc or whatever...but almost every 03 owner I have talked to said that there is noticable clutch chatter during cold starts...So I guess the TSB is sort of useless in that it most likely doesn't cure a problem that every car I have ever owned experiences...

 

[prote5]

For me it happens more offen when car is warm/hot..... say when I go on long drives and i'm taking off from a red light it shudders.... I am bringing my car in tomorrow at 7:30AM ..... they didn't ask me any questions.... I gander they're just going to fix it..... I figure it just depends on the climate when it decides to do it.... I live in Arkansas (hot) and it did it back in March when cold, but now it does it after taking long rides..... I told the dealership about the TSB blah blah blah and they said bring it in 7:30 and we'll take care of it..... can't wait to see the after result....

 

[deathuntofoes]

my dealer told me to bring it in one afternoon and leave it overnight, so they could start it cold.

 

[prote5]

APPARENTLY it's not in Mazda's computers..... it took those fuckers at the dealership a day and a half to tell me that..... I even printed out the TSB and one guy on here scanned his service receipt and I showed that to him as well and he said he can't do anything... Well of course when he drove it, it didn't do anything..... He also said the only clutch TSB is for Miata's..... Besides the point, they also wouldn't do a thing with my engine knock due to the intake..... What do intakes have to do with engine knock????? I can't figure that one out..........

 

[thackl]

I got turned down for the cold start fix because I have a K&N filter and 4 holes drilled in my air box. :wtf: I went postal on the service advisor and his manager. If I had brought it in for a ******* noisy intake, then I could see their problem......

Another service advisor (the one I like to work with) called me the next day and said they had the new valve on order and would do it Thanks for keeping my car for 3 days and doing nothing.....

 

[clownphish]

deathuntofoes - Any luck w/your dealer on this problem? I'm taking mine in tomorrow. Just curious as to how it worked out. Thanks!

 

[chuyler1]

I've got a 2003 P5 with 12,000 miles on it...

Maybe once or twice when it was cold and damp I noticed this obvious chatter. However it only happens maybe the first two times I shift and by the time I am out of my neighborhood it is gone completely.

 

[clownphish]

Mine's been doing it off and on since I got it April '02. It's fine as long as it's hotter 'n Hades out, but anything under 80 and it's ch-chattering away. It's just gotten to be f'ing annoying lately, the entire front end literally chatters when it happens. I have to slip the clutch (terminology?) so much in 1st I feel like I'm going to burn it up within the next 2k miles. I'll let you guys know what my dealer says. Just wondering if anyone's had it "fixed" yet. I've seen many posts about it but none about a successful repair.

 

[deathuntofoes]

i havent had any time, the dealer is requiring me to turn my car in ovenight, and into the next morning, because they have to be able to "duplicate" the problem. The biggest annoyance with mine is that I live in a hilly part of Florida, and if it is acting up, I start stalling like a b****.