aus rx8

I took my car in for its 30K service this week, only to find that my clutch needed replacing. MA is saying that the wear is classified as normal and not due to any issues with the pressure plate. After spending 2K on tyres this month, I have to say my RX isn't my favourite toy at the moment.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

A clutch should last you more than 30,000 km - especially since they have classified it as "normal" and not due to abuse.

I just spent $1800 on tyres, and it is still my favourite toy. And if I had the chance to put a better clutch in it, it would be an even more favourite toy.

Since you "have" to spend the money on a clutch, I would definatley recommend going for a good quality aftermarket one. It probably wont cost much more than original, and should be much better.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Lock & Load

aus rx8

What happened to your clutch ??

Hymee
Care to tell us type of tyre you choose and what clucth would you recommend ?
you have become very secretive of late .
cheers
michael

aus rx8

Hi Hymee

My thinking was in a similar vein and I already asked my service guy to recommend a better clutch however he replied that if I was to change it I risked jeopardising my warranty of gearbox and driveline etc if I chose not to go with a Mazda part. I asked about mazdspeed and he told me that he could not source one. Given the fact that I was making these decisions with my car up on the hoist after just being told that the problem would be at my cost and not a warranty repair as they first thought top be likely due to pressure plate involvement I opted to just replace with standard. On top of this I was having to return the courtesy car which I had hired for the day as they needed it back. Leaving me without a car until they could source parts and repair and having to rely on taxis. 3 days later I am still waiting for them to finish the original service which included replacing my nearside tail light which filled with water on the recent rains and the rattles in both front doors which at last phonecall it looks like wont be fixed this week.

This is probably why my toy has fallen out of favour and until I can get back into it and take it for a drive it will probably remain so. No doubt after a few revs and a few corners all will be forgiven. Either that or I am going to have top convince my wife that I need someting practical like a Lotus.


Lock and Load

The clutch wore out, down to the rivets on one side and with about a mm to spare on the other.



Hoping to be back in my car soon
Patrick

pepe

Geez, is the 8s clutch made of tinfoil?

Must agree on some of the other stuff... seems the fixes I ask them to do, well, never really get fixed, just WD40'd up a bit and hopefully they go away, but they never do.

takahashi

aus rx8, I heard one person from the US have clutch need to be replaced around the same mileage. The dealer refused to replace it under warranty..

I understand their view point. Hard to replace a part that have wear and tear but a clutch?!

They will insist on you abusing it, or blaming of your left foot. Hey, I will find out why - to the rock bottom.

In terms of aftermarket ones, there is one bland that is popular in Japan and able to source in Australia - EXEDY.

EXEDY clutch priced from 1500-2000+ for a carbon one. MazdaSpeed does not have clutch, yet. And I think because MazdaSpeed Japan is not specting anyone changing clutch as yet?!

Good luck mate - and please still love the 8

aus rx8

Just picked the car up. I'm going to have to take it back next week to have the passenger side door rattle fixed.

As far as the clutch is concerned, the new one feels so completely different to how the old one ever felt. Went straight back into the workshop to tell them this and the service guy came out and took it for a spin. Aside from the fact that he said that he was a bit rusty driving a manual, he told me that it felt fine to him and we will just have to monitor it.

I can't help but think that my original clutch was faulty from the start, hence the excessive wear and the fact that it felt so different to the new one. Having been a pre-order, mine was the only RX-8 that I have driven so there was never anything to compare the feel of the clutch to. Of course there is no way of proving how the clutch felt 15 months ago so Mazda will only say that my recollection must be clouded.

With nothing but the reminder from service advisor that I was paying for the clutch as it was due to wear when I was paying my bill, not even a sorry for the inconvenience or acknowlegement that it was a touch out of the ordinary. I am left with a sour taste in my mouth.

Having said this, on the drive home I adjusted to the feel of the new clutch and gear changes felt far more crisp than ever before. The car managed to bring a smile back and my only frustration is with Mazda themselves.

I just looked over the bill once more and noticed that kindly enough as a no charge item Mazda will be sending me a survey to complete, rating my satisfaction with their service. I think that I will be having a couple of thousand more than my $0.02 worth in that one.

LittleJohn

can I ask ahow much the clutch was and how much they charge you for labour??

takahashi

Do I read right? They charge nothing for parts and labour???

aus rx8

Including GST it looks to be about 800 in labour and about a grand for parts and machining of the flywheel


Strangely enough, they have also replaced by sump and oil level sensor as a warranty repair. Sounds very much like the warranty repair I had done by them last year after having the problem of the light coming on when sitting at a constant spped on the freeway . Has there been another design change in the sump or has my car just been done twice?

aus rx8

Takahashi

The no cost item listed was a survey form to be sent, not the clutch repair

sco

Ouch... hope mine lasts longer than that.

timbo

aus

This all smells a bit fishy. Clutch replacement at 30,000?? C'mon -- have you been doing daily burnouts (thinks not).

I agree with your suspicion; something may have been wrong from the start.

How did the dealer detect the problem? And do you have the old clutch plate? Pics would be handy if you can get them. Don't forget, they are obliged to give you the replaced parts if you request them.

But the one that gets me is that they have said they also changed the sump and oil sensor -- what, again??!!. There's been no further recall as far as I know.

IMHO, worth documenting everyhting and passing on to MA. And please tell, who is this dealer??

Tim

mikeyr

Sound like a job for Ray Martin..... 30k???, unless you live at the bottom of a hill, in hilly town, with lots of traffic lights and shed load of hill starts, with a boot full of conrete and a trailer full of rocks............come on must be a fault? And a sump!!! Damn!!! Definitely a friday arvo car!!

Gomez

Mate, that's bloody unbelievable ! $1800 for a clutch install!! I'm obviously out of touch, having driven autos for the last ten years .
This is the first we've heard of another sump problem. I'd be pretty sure they've stuffed you around twice.....

Gomez.

AMG

$1000 for a standard clutch!!!!!!!!you can get a 4 puck carbon clutch for less than that, it'll last youalmost a lifetime. $800 install is also a bit rich. Did you authorise the sump replacement? Should have asked for a discount for the convenience that they saved by doing the sump and clutch at the same time. Either that or you should have told them to do the sump at a later date....at their cost for labour (obviously!)

Clutches after 30,000kms and rotors after 11,000km's...........what next

aus rx8

As far as the sump replacement the first I heard of it was when they ran through the bill and mentioned that some of the items were at no charge. I'm going back into the service centre if I can get away from work on Monday and will have a chat with the service manager then. I managed to find my old receipt from the first sump replace which was done at about 8K kms.

I've just come back from taking the car for a spin and the difference is astounding. It has never felt this good. Next they are going to tell me that it is due to the PCM upgrade that was done.

Thanks for the advice timbo, regarding asking for the replaced part, I will call them first thing in the morning and make sure they keep it for me. It wasn't the dealer that detected the problem , I booked the car in for a service the week before and then a couple of days before the service I noticed the clutch slipping when in 3rd or 4th. I mentioned this to the advisor and it was added to the worksheet. On the day of the service I received a call mid afternoon saying that the mechanics agreed that the clutch was slipping and they thought that it was a pressure plate problem and this would be covered under warranty. There was also a small possibility that the slipping was due to clutch wear due to my driving style and if this was the case I would have to pay for the repair, this of course was very unlikely as they had not heard of an RX8 needing a new clutch at 30K. They wouldn't be able to diagnose the problem without removing the clutch and did I want them to go ahead. Either way the car would not be ready that afternoon, however they needed me to bring back the courtesy car as it had been booked out the following day and they couldn't arrange an alternative.

I would say which dealership this is however I am still holding onto the hope that they will show me some respect especially given the fact that I was their first RX 8 sale and it was my car that gave them their first practice at oil changes. If they choose not to however, I will have no problem passing on their name as I will happily forfeit the bonus warranty that came with the purchase based on maintaining service through them and find a dealership closer to home.

adrian-1

Mazdaspeed clutch coming soon....
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...451#post589451

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

aus rx8,

I have a very strong opinion on this. It is totally unacceptable that this situation has been developed.

1. The clutch should not wear out after only 30,000 km. It is a frigging sports car for crying out loud. It is not like it has a big torque engine in front of it. Even if you had been doing heeaps of "doughies", that doesn't wear the clutch out - once it is fully engaged no wear can be taking place - the only wear is on the tyres. BTW - My car has done 38500 km, and the clutch is still OK. Slightly doughy-er than when it was new, but still fully functional and acceptable.
2. You advised them of the fault, and they advised you that it would be covered under warranty.
3. They did not find any signs of abuse (i.e. o'heated, or collapsed pressure plate/diaphram.)
4. $800 Labour ??? WTF. How long does it take? 16 man hours??? Even if it took a rediculously long 3 hours at an absurd $100/hour it would only be $300. But I can not see it taking more than 2 hours with an appropriatley skilled professionals.
5. Loose your extended warranty? Did you get the MA extended warranty?? That is Aus wide I believe. If they gave you one of those stupid "dealer only" ones - do you expect them ti come to the party anyway, after the wat they have treated you?
6. And it is not as though they don't get any money for a warranty job. Mazda pays for the part, and Mazda pays them for the labour. The problem in this situation, IMHO, is that they decided they could get more cream by fleecing you for the clutch (and the retail profit), as well as the "market" rate for the labour.
7. That is enough. My blood is boiling.

Hou have been treated appallingly. NAME THE BASTARDS! Who would want to buy an RX-8 after reading this story? I'm sure MA would like to be made aware of this.

Cheers,
Hymee.

PS - you can see why I posted my original comments about a better aftermarket clutch that would last forever - and I didn't even know how much they charged you. But I had a good feeling!! My personal stance on this is (I have had it happen on the Commodore) to get the first clutch replaced under warranty, if it has gone doughy in a unreasonably length of time. Then if and when that one goes, pay for a decent one yourself. And if you get a good quality one, how the frig can it cause downstream driveline problems? "Sorry Sir, the wheel nuts fell off because the clucth was not standard, causing your vehicle to plough into the Rolls Royce dealership...." If the quality clucth was really at fault, then there should be some product warranty on from the manufacturers.

Calm down Hymee!!

dbb

I've done 35000k in mine, and I do engage in active spirited driving, and have been know to lose a bit of traction here and there. The clutch is still good. No overt signs of imminent failure.

takahashi

Hymee Chill mate.... have you check your 02 sat this morning.

I have to agree with Hymee though since he is always right. $800 labour I can relate to. They probably had to take 5 hours to read up teh chapter "how to install a new clutch" :p

Mazda Australia does care. Remember dracoMJB and lexic on the RX-8 track day, that fat short Asian dude called Greg was so concern about someone's suspecious misfire that he is going to the dealership IN PERSON with his customer. He is very high in the MA and AMG... you have met him in our SA RX-8 launch and drive day at Mallala. If anyone need to file a complaint, I think it should address to him.

aus rx8

Thanks for the support guys. I will let you know what happens on Monday

Gomez

Hymee, the most reasonable explanation for a clutch to wear down to the rivets in 30000km's is abuse, is it not? We shouldn't jump down Mazda's throat everytime something unusual happens. It could be a dodgy batch of friction material, but that would be pretty unlikely. Some guys in the States have had premature clutch failure, but they have reported fractured plates and broken springs....not excessive wear. And we know how cheap the car is over there, these failures are mostly reported by teenage owners....

I don't know, maybe aus rx8 lives at the bottom of a very steep driveway and he slips the daylights out of the thing everyday backing it up the drive....maybe his wife has never driven a manual before, maybe his son takes it out and impresses his mates. Or maybe it the dealership practised more than oil changes prior to delivery.....something isn't right.

Can you shed any light on your driving habits aus rx8? You haven't told us anything about how the car has been treated. You did say you thought a Lotus was "practical" :D. Well, an Elise is practical for a race car....

Gomez.

tonym

Mine lasted 39500KM and it was still OK, before ..... :-O

Tony

Wildcard

Great car, bad company IMO. There are some lemon dealerships out there.

My clutch still seems fine after 25000km, not that I remember what it felt like to begin with...