The_Bean

Here is the update to my previous thread "2600 Miles and no clutch!!!"--just not the one I wanted to hear. Made a new thread since my old one turned into a discussion about driving through Canada.

1. My clutch exploded. And I don't want to here anyone saying this is BS. A couple months ago a new user made a post about an exploding clutch and everyone called him a troll and ran him off.

2. Dealer says Mazda may not cover the claim stating that I abuse the clutch--which I don't. However no decision has been made yet. As stated previously I sometimes drive fast but I don't speed shift or do clutch bombs. Nor do I ride and I rarely slip.

3. Mazda rep is coming out to look at it. If they don't cover it I will be responsible for having the pay total charges including dropping the tranny etc. If this happens I'll speak to Jim O'Sullivan himself to get something resolved.

4. On the bright side of thing's I'm trying to get a light weight flywheel since the everything is pulled from the car.

[EDIT]

It seems the flywheel is on back order. I will pay someone a premium if they sell me one. I have a WTB in the BST forum.

Racer X-8

Follow-up that lead that Freeko gave you. We have threads on failed clutches like yours, one I recall even had pix of the failed parts. Get informed, then, Good luck! Sorry for your misfortune!!!

zoom44

you know the PCM records all sorts of info on driving. they can look at the data and see things like rpm and speed at which shifts were done. if you tracking the car they could use this against you. if you are driving "normally" as you say they should be able to look at the same data to confirm that. there is no reason to deny the warrenty claim if what you say is true. if they try fight em. with the rash of bent shift forks and the like we have seen lately there should not have to be a fight.

The_Bean

The dealer called and said it looks like Mazda is going to replace it. He said that if it goes out again shortly they likely would not cover the item. I'm still trying to get my hands on a MS Light fly wheel, but they are on back order everywhere with an ETA of July 20th. If I cant get the MS I may order the SR Motorsports - flywheel.

Details. He said the rectangular box w/ the springs in the clutch assembly was in pieces. He said there was some minor signs of high heat in clutch it was not overly worn.

He also said the flywheel had cracks in it, but they have yet to determine if they are just surface cracks.

zoom44

so he is saying that if they put a new one in tomorrow and it breaks on saturday they dont think they will cover it? BS! there has got to be some kind of warrenty against defects in the new tranny and how long do they warrenty their workmanship? what if they dont torgue the bolts to the right specs?

The_Bean

OK I don't need the MS Flywheel anymore. I just ordered the SR Motorsports version. I can't leave the car in the shop while waiting for a MS flywheel.

The dealer was cool about the flywheel. He said any compatible brand can be used and the warranty will not be void unless it was directly responsible for the part failure.

Ben

dcfc3s

SR makes good stuff - you won't be disappointed with it.

Glad the clutch deal worked out!

Dale

The_Bean

thx dcfc3s

SR is sending flywheel overnight.

Should have it installed by early next week--can't wait to try it out!

I'll be sure to give feedback.

Ben

RX-8 friend

Just to correct one misconception - the RX-8 PCM doesn't record anything but MIL codes, and they are lost if you disconnect the battery.

zoom44

RX-8 Friend i know you have alot more experience with this pcm than i do but there is a member on this board who's service guy asked him if he had tracked his car. the reason he was asking was because he could tell from info in the PCM that the left front wheel had travelled 13% farther than the right front. this data had to be logged somewhere. also i understand that the car takes information "snapshots" when something goes wrong so that the service people can see what was going on when it happened. sort of like BMW's recorder that we all heard about in the last year or so when they tried to deny warrenty claims due to info from that cars pcm which showed the owners were probably racing.

Gomez

Chapter 01-02 of the Service Highlights Manual gives info on the recorded parameters.....ie, distance travelled with CEL light on, accelerator position, engine rpm, time since engine start....etc. Heaps of stuff.......

Gomez.

bigfatpop

What is a "clutch bomb"?

The_Bean

reving up to high rpms at a launching then poping the clutch out.

zoom44

thanks Gomez