Clutch is Slipping @ 65,000 km... WTF!!!

T

the tortoise

Member
:
2002 Black Mica P5
I was driving on a two lane highway the other day. As I began to pass a car in 5th at about 110 km/h the clutch began to slip. I had to back off of the throttle (made for a dicey pass!) to get the slipping to stop.

I assume that a clutch is most likely to slip under these circumstances. I.e. high engine load in tallest gear.

We drove another 2 hrs on the highway at about 100 km/hr and there was never any signs of slipping. Believe me, I was looking. Also, prior to driving on the two lane road I was cruising at 130 km/h (~80 mph) for a good half-hour with no slipping.

Frustratingly the clutch has only 65,000 km on it. We bought the car used with 50,000 km and the majority of the last 15,000 km have been highway miles. The clutch seemed to be in good shape when we bought the car, this was also confirmed by a mechanic that looked over the car and took it for test drive.

My girlfriend and I share the car, and frankly she's a little hard on the clutch. By "hard" I mean she lets the clutch slip a little more than I do when shifting, but never does any launches above 3000 rpm (most are below 2000). Is it possible that this clutch could have been killed in such a short period of time? (I know the answer is "yes" but what are the odds?)

Is there a chance that something outside of our driving has contributed to the clutch wear? Say, improper clutch/flywheel alignment.. etc.

I have checked out the thread on clutches, does anyone have some advice for a Canadian in the market for (possibly) a new clutch?

Thanks y'all.
 
It seems a little early for the clutch to go, but it's certainly not surprising. The Mazda clutches don't seem to hold up that well.

If it's slipping, it's slipping, and no sense worrying about how it happened really.

I'd look into an MSP or ACT clutch replacement. Don't replace the clutch with an OEM Protege5 clutch if you're going to be down there anyway.

Check www.protegegarage.com for deals on clutches.
 
15,000km really isn't enough for you guys to be the main factors of why the clutch went out, maybe the owner before you wasn't a very good caretaker of the car. My car is at 80,000 miles and it seems to be doing just fine.

The main things (other than just using it) that would cause premature wear on the clutch:
- is launching the vehicle too high, I don't ever launch the vehicle from a stop from higher than around 1,500-1,750RPMs
- pressing the throttle inbetween swifts too early, to a point where the clutch is partly engaged and the driver is giving it gas.
- "riding the clutch", in which the dead pedal never gets used, your foot is always on the clutch pedal.
- using the clutch everytime you need to pull the shifter out of gear, you can pull the shifter out of gear without use of the clutch and it won't hurt the car.

Otherwise, I'd say most to blame is the previous owner. I think its pretty unlikely to burn out a clutch within 15,000kms..in my Talon the clutch is going on 10,000 miles and its my racer so it gets abused..on top of this the clutch is bone stock and it hasn't started slipping yet.
 
paranoidxe said:
15,000km really isn't enough for you guys to be the main factors of why the clutch went out, maybe the owner before you wasn't a very good caretaker of the car. My car is at 80,000 miles and it seems to be doing just fine.

The main things (other than just using it) that would cause premature wear on the clutch:
- is launching the vehicle too high, I don't ever launch the vehicle from a stop from higher than around 1,500-1,750RPMs
- pressing the throttle inbetween swifts too early, to a point where the clutch is partly engaged and the driver is giving it gas.
- "riding the clutch", in which the dead pedal never gets used, your foot is always on the clutch pedal.
- using the clutch everytime you need to pull the shifter out of gear, you can pull the shifter out of gear without use of the clutch and it won't hurt the car.

Otherwise, I'd say most to blame is the previous owner. I think its pretty unlikely to burn out a clutch within 15,000kms..in my Talon the clutch is going on 10,000 miles and its my racer so it gets abused..on top of this the clutch is bone stock and it hasn't started slipping yet.
Click to expand...

I'll agree with most of the points, but it sounds like you've never suffered the cold clutch chatter issue (wind it up to 3k just to launch); using the clutch everytime doesn't affect the longetivity (not all tranny's are the same, so your luck with poppping it out of gear w/o the clutch may not last that long with the Protege).

Just replace it...
 
I am at 40K, and I notice mine slipping every once in a while. When it goes, I am gonna just get the ACT clutch for street use. Street Unit sells them. Let me know if I can get you a price quote.
 
oh crap, I was taught that you don't need to use the clutch to pull it out of gear, is that the case with these cars or not? I probably do it half the time out of habit.

No, I haven't had the cold clutch clatter issue, maybe its a aftermarket clutch. Or the previous owner got it fixed.
 
When you pop the car out of gear w/o using the clutch that is called Granny Shifting. You wait for the revs to hit the certain spot then you can pop it out of gear. You can also do this and pop it into gear.

The whole purpose of the clutch is to act like a break to allow the tranny go go into a neutral stat to be able to shift gears. You could hurt the clutch by granny shifting but I dont believe it would make the clutch only have 1/3rd of it's life. 46K miles I would wonder why it died.... Now doing burnouts or lauching the car in high but low RPM's will kill the clutch.

The best way to use a clutch is to depress the clutch till you feel the engine start to pull on it's own in 1st gear (or when the engine wants to die) then give it enough gas to allow you to remove your foot from the clutch and go. You dont need to rev it to like 2K or so to make the car move you will just fly the clutch up. It would be like pegging your brakes for a second or two before you start to really break. Your just grinding away the surface of the clutch disc.
 
The person who had it before you couldn't drive a stick. Unless your mechanic actually pulled your tranny, there isn't that much he can tell from a drive other than "yup, it's still working."

If your GF drives the way you say she does, it probably didn't help much.

Get an ACT or Clutchmasters. I have a Clutchmasters IIR and it doesn't feel that much worse than stock.
 
It depends on how the car was driven before you got it , It could be the person before you didnt know how to drive stick . I have 145k on the original clutch and no signs of slipping .
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I'm starting to think the previous owner didn't know how to drive properly. Such are the risks of a used purchase I guess.

I always try to launch the car keeping the revs. just above idle and never get on the gas before the clutch is fully engaged. My GF really isn't that bad at it. It's only on the odd occasion that I cringe when she's driving, but hey we all make some bad shifts from time to time.

The clutch is never ridden.

RAIDERMP5: Thanks, I'll drop you a PM when I'm in the market for a new clutch. How's the shipping going to be to Ontario?
 
the tortoise said:
RAIDERMP5: Thanks, I'll drop you a PM when I'm in the market for a new clutch. How's the shipping going to be to Ontario?
Click to expand...

From experience with Canada, there will be a shipping charge, but it will not be insane. I would not worry too much about it. Being int he market for a clutch is a market I really am not looking forward to for myself. But it is a fact, they do not last forever. I will need to swap mine eventually. :(
 
Thanks Raider.

Right now I'm thinking of going with the exedy clutch. I've found this ebay link:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/EXEDY-01-04-MAZD...itemZ8008164428QQcategoryZ33730QQcmdZViewItem

From what I've read, this is a good option for someone wanting to replace the OEM clutch. I have no intentions of modding my engine, so being able to take lots of power isn't a priority (as we all know).

Does anyone have any comments about Gripforce (the ebay seller) and this Exedy clutch?

Do Exedy make more than 1 clutch for the p5.

Thanks again to everyone who replied. I really appreciate all the insight
 
i've got a stock clutch sitting in my garage if you want something cheaper. its has 30K on it. i just replaced it when i bought my new clutch/flywheel
 
Topher said:
i've got a stock clutch sitting in my garage if you want something cheaper. its has 30K on it. i just replaced it when i bought my new clutch/flywheel
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer. Unfortunately I'll have to pay someone to replace the clutch so I want to go with one that's gonna last a while... Hopefully forever damnit!
 
- using the clutch everytime you need to pull the shifter out of gear, you can pull the shifter out of gear without use of the clutch and it won't hurt the car.


I don't I'd ever pull my car outta gear without using the clutch!
 
Lisakay said:
- using the clutch everytime you need to pull the shifter out of gear, you can pull the shifter out of gear without use of the clutch and it won't hurt the car.


I don't I'd ever pull my car outta gear without using the clutch!
Click to expand...
if you're good at matching the revs, you can go clutchless from first all the way to fifth and back down without drama. *

*note - doing this all day every day will not make any friends with your synchros, you will NOT do t perfect EVERYtime :)
 
the tortoise said:
Thanks Raider.

Right now I'm thinking of going with the exedy clutch. I've found this ebay link:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/EXEDY-01-04-MAZDA-PROTEGE-2-0L-NEW-Clutch-Kit_W0QQitemZ8008164428QQcategoryZ33730QQcmdZViewItem

From what I've read, this is a good option for someone wanting to replace the OEM clutch. I have no intentions of modding my engine, so being able to take lots of power isn't a priority (as we all know).

Does anyone have any comments about Gripforce (the ebay seller) and this Exedy clutch?

Do Exedy make more than 1 clutch for the p5.

Thanks again to everyone who replied. I really appreciate all the insight
Click to expand...


I wouls also like to know if these are any good. Please, if anyone has any experience with these post your opinion. Thanks very much all!!!(thumb)
 
humm almost everytime I've pulled the shifter out of gear w/o the clutch it seems to slide out like butter. The only one I have problems with is 5th gear, in which case I use the clutch.
 
You are not wearing the clutch down by using it to pull out of gear. However, you put more wear on the forks and shifting mechanism by forcing it out of gear without using the clutch. I don't recommend doing it...but it's your car not mine.

Sitting at traffic lights with your foot on the clutch is something that people don't realize wears out the clutch. It's not as bad as launching at 4000RPMs but it's still bad. You should put it into neutral until you are ready to drive.
 
chuyler1 said:
You are not wearing the clutch down by using it to pull out of gear. However, you put more wear on the forks and shifting mechanism by forcing it out of gear without using the clutch. I don't recommend doing it...but it's your car not mine.

Sitting at traffic lights with your foot on the clutch is something that people don't realize wears out the clutch. It's not as bad as launching at 4000RPMs but it's still bad. You should put it into neutral until you are ready to drive.
Click to expand...
Really? How?
 
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