2013 CX-5 MT wearing out.

S

speedtrader

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2013 Mazda CX-5 Sport MT
About 7-8 months ago, I started hearing a squeaky noise when the clutch pedal is depressed. The Mazda dealer applied lube on various parts but it didn't work. Now they tell me the transmission needs to be rebuilt which includes the slave cylinder, clutch, pressure plate, bearings, springs, linkages, etc. Cost estimate about $2300 plus taxes and shop fees. It only has 53K on the clock, daily driver, and driven gently.

Some other annoyances that I've noticed have gotten worse lately:

-Occasionally the transmission takes a great deal of force to move the shifter into gear.
-Occasionally when shifting gears, it would grind and fail to mesh in the way you would expect if the clutch was still engaged. This would occur despite the clutch being fully disengaged. I usually happens when shifting into 2nd or 3rd.
-Rev hang

This is not my first MT car. I'm one of the few nuts and actually prefer MT and most of cars were manual. I've never had one that needed rebuild let alone one at such low miles. Dealer says it's normal wear and tear. I call BS.
 
speedtrader said:
About 7-8 months ago, I started hearing a squeaky noise when the clutch pedal is depressed. The Mazda dealer applied lube on various parts but it didn't work. Now they tell me the transmission needs to be rebuilt which includes the slave cylinder, clutch, pressure plate, bearings, springs, linkages, etc. Cost estimate about $2300 plus taxes and shop fees. It only has 53K on the clock, daily driver, and driven gently.

Some other annoyances that I've noticed have gotten worse lately:

-Occasionally the transmission takes a great deal of force to move the shifter into gear.
-Occasionally when shifting gears, it would grind and fail to mesh in the way you would expect if the clutch was still engaged. This would occur despite the clutch being fully disengaged. I usually happens when shifting into 2nd or 3rd.
-Rev hang

This is not my first MT car. I'm one of the few nuts and actually prefer MT and most of cars were manual. I've never had one that needed rebuild let alone one at such low miles. Dealer says it's normal wear and tear. I call BS.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't that be covered under the 6y/60k Powertrain warranty?
 
This is not rebuilding a transmission but, replacing the clutch and associated pieces. A clutch is wear item I believe and might be covered by the 3y36K warranty. ed
 
Firstly unless you look around a price match (zoomzoomnationparts) or source the parts yourself, your gonna get raped on parts cost. Also a reputable trans shop will probably charge you much less in labor. The other option is LKQ used parts. I got 1000mi engine there for like $1300.
 
I can tell you right of the bat that your dealer is full of s*** and did not diagnose the problem very well.

The slave cylinder is a small ($~60) part external to the transmission that can be replaced in 10 minutes. If the slave cylinder is bad, they should only replace that instead of pulling out the transmission. On the other hand, if the slave cylinder is not faulty, there is no reason to replace it.

They can't have it both ways.

The big question is.. does your clutch squeak like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8enqTZUlHA

Or does it squeak only when the engine is running and you put pressure on the pedal?

If it squeaks like the video, than replacing the slave cylinder might fix it. Mine has been squeaking like that for over 3 years now and it hasn't really caused any problems.

I see three possible options.
1. Faulty slave or master cylinder (could cause clutch not to release fully). Easy to fix. Not covered by warranty.
2. Something with the clutch. Hard and expensive to fix (not covered by warranty)
3. This TSB (covered under powertrain warranty): http://am.mazdaserviceinfo.com/mazdaesi/index?page=detail_pagelet&id=TSB4833&actionPrint=print
 
Have you tried cleaning and lubricating all pivots points yourself? Not sure what the tech did at your Mazda dealer, but sometimes to properly lubricate these points, you have to disassemble the pedal and/or the pivot at the clutch actuator arm on the bellhousing.

In my experience, all manuals I have owned eventually squealed or started to make noise when depressing the clutch. The pivots either at the pedal or the actuating arm on the tranny/bell housing have grease/lubricant on them and overtime and many uses will become dry. If left alone, it might just be a nuisance, but in mild cases, the pivot might be so dry that it starts to affect the smooth release/depress of the clutch pedal and bind, affecting shift quality. Worse case scenario, the binding becomes so bad, it causes extra stress on the parts (ie the pivot shaft behind the pedal) and cause them to break completely.

Here's an example:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clutch-pedal-fail.390774/
 
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Mine had a slight squeak like the video, just not as bad. I flushed the brake and clutch fluid. Now its quiet.
 
Get a second opinion from someone who has a good rep in your area. Perhaps there is a mechanic shop specializing in Japanese cars.
 
I've had vibration in my clutch and brake pedals when decelerating from any gear under load from 3k to 2500 RPM plus lately it's been getting hard to engage into 1st or reverse. 5k miles total.
I wish there was a clutch pedal adjustment but the CX-5 doesn't have it
 
I will be following the outcome of this one. Although I haven't had any problem with my CX-5, it only has about 10,000 miles on it. I do recall that Mazda lightened the manual transmission, part of the SkyActiv philosophy of efficiency.
I also have a 2006 Escape with Mazda-sourced manual transmission with ~226,000 miles on the original clutch. I hope the SkyActiv Mazda manual holds up as well as their previous units.
 
It's not under warranty anymore. The squeak is similar to the video from piotrek91. I'm going to change the brake fluid per timberstx and see if it helps. It's time to do it anyway. If that doesn't work, I may have to take a stab at changing the slave cylinder (never done one before) or take it to a tranny shop. Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
fvansan said:
Get a second opinion from someone who has a good rep in your area. Perhaps there is a mechanic shop specializing in Japanese cars.
Click to expand...

Yea, I had my engine swapped at a Japanese shop specializing in Japanese cars run by an old Japanese native and his son. s*** was done in like 2 days with AWD. And it was like 1/2 the $ the dealer was going to charge, which let me spend more and get a 1000mi motor.
 
I had the manual transmission in my CX5 blow up last year.

Never a squeak in the clutch but it developed a significant whirring sound whenever the clutch was engaged. It developed symptoms similar to your description at the top. Since I was out of warranty around 90,000 miles, I didn't do anything other that add new gear oil which helped but I think only masked the problem. I planned to address it but kept driving it for 3-4 months.

The transmission s*** out as I was wrapping up a 200 mile drive for work on a Sunday. Came off the highway and the gearbox was grinding like it was filled with gravel. I was planning to stay overnight and brought it to a transmission shop in the morning. They didn't even open it up. Drained the oil and chucks were coming out. I didn't get anywhere with Mazda due to miles. They ended up finding a salvage 2014 20k mile transmission which offered a warranty, was cheaper and faster to get than a Mazda sourced transmission. I paid about $1200 and had 3 days out of town. It was only 1 day of work for the shop. Rented a car so I could still get work done.

I contemplated having it towed back home and dealing with my local dealer but that would've cost even more time, money and stress. I'm at 108k miles now and will keep a much closer eye and ear on this transmission.

You need to press the dealer with regard to the TSB. If Mazda installed s*** parts they should be extending the warranty. 50,000 miles isn't that much and Mazda should step up. I've had cars hit 150k before even needing a clutch. The internals should be much more durable. I'd be curious what's happening with the early Mazda3s and 6s. I assume the manual purchase rate was much higher than the CX5.
 
Oh and my clutch was in decent shape and stayed in. Correction happened at 82784 miles.
IMG_20151020_151849575.jpg

IMG_20151020_152632847.jpg
 
Bleeding clutch fluid.
If you are going to do it yourself, keep in mind that when the clutch/brake fluid reservoir gets a little low that is when you clutch master cylinder runs dry. I think you can see where the hose is on the back of it. In other words when your reservoir runs low, you will loose your clutch before the brakes. I removed the Air cleaner box to gain easy access to the bleed valve. Just remove the two bolts at the front of the car on each side of the air inlet tube. Disconnect the harness to the air flow sensor, and the large hose leading out from the air box to engine. Then it simply lifts out. There are some rubber bushings on the back side. But they just pop off and back on when finished. I also removed the bottom engine cover just in case i spilled. I used a one man bleeder kit, which worked fine. The clutch bleeder does not need a tool. It has a plastic cover that you turn about 1/4.
And since the brakes use the same reservoir, you need to do each wheel also. And as you probably already know, never let the fluid spill on your paint.
 
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Yes it helped mine, but still waiting on the original poster for this one. I replaced the fluid at 40,000 miles. So it was time and should be kept clean. The fluid will absorb water and make things squeak. Especially with the humidity and downpours we have here. If he is on the sw side of houston i could help him out.
 
Quick update...I haven't had a chance to do anything yet. I was rear ended shortly after I posted. It's nothing serious but took forever to settle the claim since the lady that hit me decided to dodge the insurance company. The car should be out of the shop today or tomorrow. I've bleed/flushed brakes on other cars but never on a slave cylinder. I have both a Mityvac and one man bleeder w/ check valve. Thanks for the tips timberstx. I'll have to try it this weekend but no promises. The weather is too nice!
 
I've bleed/flushed the brakes and slave cylinder using Prestone Synthetic Dot 3. The old fluid was cloudy amber color. My brake pedal feels firmer and the clutch pedal feels smoother. The clutch still squeaks but it's definitely not as loud as before. I cut it down by 75%. Furthermore, it only squeaks after it's driven to operating temperature now. It used to squeak whether it is cold or hot. I'm not sure if this means it needs a clutch replacement the dealer suggested.

Thanks timberstx for the tips. The airbox was easy to remove and I cleaned the throttle body while I was at it.
 
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