CLutch Issues

[Hoosteen]

Okay, so i've been having clutch problems like a lot of you on the board. I have taken it in to the dealer before, they "could not reproduce it." Problem is, it happens most of the time in the cold... now that it is SUMMER it does not happen very often, but i know it will return in the winter. So, I need some help to prove my case.

So, if you are an Mazda 6 owner with a manual transmission... and a clutch problem with shuddering. PLease state your case and also your results with the dealers... part numbers for replacements would be appreciated also.

Hopefully, this list will help me and countless other owners experiencing this problem. I hope this thread can be a reference used to print up and show dealers the extent of this problem. Please reply soon, as I need to take my car in ASAP.


1) Mazda 6i 2003, manual transmission. Encountered the shuddering problem around 8,000 miles especially in cold weather. Shifting between 1st and 2nd created MAJOR shudder and sounds like its tearing apart the car. The shudder goes away after the car warms up, but is still annoying, unsettling, dangerous, and unacceptable.

Took it into the dealership, they experienced some shudder, but said they had no other 6i manuals to compare it to. Left untouched and not fixed.


Please no discussion, unless you are experiencing clutch shutter, this thread is for the purpose of bringing it to a dealer. Something nice and clean. thank you.

[GiZiM]

Same here 6S 5sp (duh)
Same thing happens the dealer cant get it to do it and wont touch it.

[thejoyof6]

Ours shudders usually on starts and sometimes on the 1st to 2nd shift but it only does it for 2-4 starts and then it works fine mostly. Ive noticed that when crawling along in traffic in 1st gear and i push in the clutch the whole car will jerk like the tranny fell off. Also every time i get out of the car after its been running for awhile you can smell the clutch burning very bad. So its going in monday and i seriously doubt they will find any faults with it. We are currentyly at 17.8k and it started around 16k miles. FUN TIMES! woo hoo. :(

[fly757]

I experience a very light shudder from time to time when I creep uphill in first gear. Nothing like what everyone else here describes. My car has less than 10k right now. I figured that my clutch is still breaking in because the vast majority of my driving is highway, and I rarely use the clutch anyway. It is definitely a problem if it shakes the entire vehicle.

[00000]

i am not sure if i had the same problems as your..
but dealer fixed mine:

http://www.mazda6club.com/forums/read.php?TID=20451

[bencarnut]

Well, mine started around 11,000 miles if i remember correctly. At the time, it would only happen when I let out the clutch between 1,000-1500RPM. I took it to a Mazda dealer in Ypsilante, MI in November of 2003 for this issue along with a rattle coming from the rear parcel shelf. The technician diagnosed it as clutch glaze and recommended that I release the clutch between 1500 and 2000 RPM, which i have been doing ever since.

As I understand it, clutch glaze occurs when the clutch overheats. I know that I am not an expert stickshift driver, BUT i do know that I let the clutch out faster than most people I've ever seen drive stick. I can get off the clutch within half a car length, even in traffic. I do not drag race and dump the clutch at high revs, and about 3/4 of all shifts (whether up or down) i match revs perfectly so that there's no driveline jerkiness.

Now, 11,000 miles later, the shudder is consistent in the morning when i first start the car and drive off. Anytime there's a lot of humidity, or when it is cool in the morning, the car will shudder terribly, shaking the entire car when i release the clutch at a regular speed. The only way to avoid it is to ride the clutch. After about five minutes when the engine is totally warm, the shudder goes away, but is still able to be replicated at 1,000-1,500 RPM for a little while. Likewise, if i start in second gear, the car will shudder when cold, even worse than in first gear. The shudder i experience is NOT anything like me letting the clutch out too fast, the car doesn't bunny hop, just shake.

When i went in for my 20,000 mile service at Wellesley Mazda in MA, i told the service advisor about the problem. A technician once again drove my car, with me in it describing the problem. He took it out on a steep hill and let the clutch slip slowly and alas, no shudder! He did tell me about a cooing problem with the clutch on the 6 he had seen. He also described a cold shudder problem that Mazda had with the Miata. He said he would call the Mazda help hotline to see if the problem was known, but i don't know if he actually did. I've had nothing but good experiences at Wellesley Mazda, and i don't blame them for not being able to replicate the condition. Right now, I'm waiting for it to get bad enough so that the dealer can diagnose it and fix it, but it is definitely ANNOYING THE HELL OUT OF ME!:rant

[redss]

I have a 6s, it shudders every morning so hard that the rear of the car makes knocking noise. I thought it was the muffler banging on the floor of the rear trunk but it is not. It is something else and I can't seem to figure out what it is.

One thing is certain though, this has been a characteristic of the car since it had about 1500 miles.

[got_rice64]

yeup.. sounds like my car.. 6i..

well..i jus dropped it off at the dealer.. they gonna try to reproduce the shudder tmr morning.. so wish me luk that it throws them around a couple times.. lol hopefully they won't bitch about mmy intake and exhaust... haha..

wish me luk.. i want a new clutch/flywheel

[The Chemist]

I've noticed the clutch shudder too, especially from 1 to 2 on a cold morning, but I haven't noticed any burning smell from the clutch. And the shudder is quite sporadic, so I'm not going to worry too much yet. If it gets worse, I may have to take it in to be looked at, though.

[M6xy]

The clutch on my 6i shudders also mostly from 1st to 2nd, happens even in the summer time before the car is warmed up. It's very annoying and my dealer also said "Couldn't reproduce it"