Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Ghost has hook-ups on clutches? hmm, might have to remember that.
Hopefully Erica can replicate the issue and you can diagnose it quickly. Are you driving it now or did you drop the clutch out again? (if clutch is out, might as well get that flywheel resurfaced)

kwescott

Ghost and Golden_Triangle_United both have great hookups.....they both have access to "cash accepting vendors"...

Driving car, yes, trying to get the hang of the new clutch, as well as figure out ways of driving the damn thing.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

is that the same Clutch Cesar has? I remember he dared me to try and drive his car without stalling it. Damn car almost got me taking off in 1st... trickly little guy.

Still grinding through the gears?

kwescott

Same clutch/pressure plate as Cesar, yes.

Don't grind when driving like a grandma.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

So "Driving slow enough to Drive Ms. Daisy" mode is still operational. Hmm....
Is the clutch just not engaging fast enough when you mash the pedal and quick shift?

kwescott

Yeah, it is almost like things are going to fast for the clutch to catch up....there is plenty of clamping force, so that can't be the issue....and there is no more slippage. It definately engages, or grinds....nothing in the middle.

I'm hoping that some more people chime in here...I have no idea what "syncros" are. I'm wondering if there may be something more serious going on, actually inside the transmission with the "hard" parts. I wouldn't think that my problems would be "soft" part issues inside the transmission....or maybe the clutch fork isn't working...

Oh, I don't know enough about cars yet to be able to diagnose problems.....

kwescott

oh, lordy...doing a search for "Grinding Gears" turned up about a years worth of reading. I think this may be a bit more than I can chew. Looks like 2nd gear in the 04's is notorious for being bad...and the exploded diagram of the parts involved looks like one of those advanced Lego sets....

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...36&postcount=6

kwescott

taken from another thread.....

I had problems with second gear, even had the service department make a note of it on one of my service tickets. They suggested synthetic oil would help. I have since gone to Redline, and it does help, but the most help so far was from installing the Mazdaspeed Stainless Steel Clutch line. It seems that the old rubber line was swelling under pressure and not fully releasing the clutch when shiting out of 1st and into 2nd. Now, the whole operation of the clutch feels and sounds better, but I am still concerned as is everyone else.

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...6&postcount=10

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

I find it hard to believe that your trans decided to take a crap right after you did the clutch. Sounds more like an issue of something not fitting right. Could be the new clutch is not as thick so when the throwout bearing presses on the fingers you do not get full engagement. I do not know how the slave cylinder works on the 8, never seen one out of the car, but maybe it is not lined up right. Could be air in the system. Maybe the flywheel is to thin, that could have also contributed to your stock clutch failure.

Did you get these parts from the same ebay auction as your grounding kit?

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

The gold colored gears on top of the gear are the syncro, they line the gears up when you shift. No way they all went bad at once.

lesper4

iTrader: (3)

keith is 50,00 about how long the clutches last or does autox go through them faster. do you know what casey's clutch condition is like?

kwescott

2nd gear has always been touchy, ever since I bought the car new. Casey has the same idea, about air being in the system...and this would tend to make sense, since my clutch engagement has alwasy been "stomp on the floor" engagement since I bought the car. There is probably some air in the system, and I may upgrade to SS lines. I hope it is an easy fix.....

...but the problems in 3rd and 4th have never occured...so it may be what you're referring to, with the thickness of the new parts.


As for the slave cylinder, there really is no way to have it misaligned. It fits through the clutch fork and has two mounting bolts which limit where you mount the slave cylinder.

Thanks for pointing out the gold bits in the picture...those are the synchros. I was looking at the exploded diagram a bit, there sure are a lot of bits. I also looked at Team RX8's thread about his blown transmission...I'm sure if I had problems similar to his, I would have seen bits of metal when I drained the transmission oil.

kwescott

My clutch has always been different from everyone's....everyone who has driven my car has told me this. I, also, am not good with the clutch...so that probably contributed to it's shorter life span.

Racing puts more stress on parts, but i highly doubt the autocross was the reason for the failure.

Casey's car has like 14,ooo miles....so there is no way to make a comparison. I do know though, that I should have replaced my clutch when we did the flywheel...it was showing signs of wear at that time.

Cesar's car would be more of a fair comparison, given that we have similar driving habits and mileage....his clutch was not in as bad of shape as mine.

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

We are at 26k miles on ours. Two years of autox with two drivers. One trip to the drag strip, one track day, no problems.

kwescott

Speed's dad is thinking that it sounds like air is in the system, or that the slave cylinder may be bad (along the same lines as Ulllose was suggesting).

(EDIT)...Ok, so, here is more info to help diagnose the clutch/transmission/grinding issue. I can "hard" shift in all gears without any grind. By "hard" shift, I mean shifting without using the clutch pedal. Also, when driving in "autocross" mode...double clutching works in all gears except 2nd...it still grinds in 2nd.

speeddemon32

your hard shift is called a "scynchro shift" (or how ever it is spelled.) and thats a good thing. it shouldent grind when doing a scynchro shift. sounding more and more like air in the system (or a failing master or slave)

Keith so that I dont have to re type everything again, do you have the e-mail I sent you last week on what i thought could be the causes?

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

speed: go to your 'sent' and just copy and paste.

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

So it has been a week and you have not done the one easy nearly free thing, bleed the system?



btw this is an autox thread, stop taking it off topic with your problems.

speeddemon32

he he he.

speeddemon32

Jedi, It was sent via hotmail..... no sent items int hat folder.

kwescott

here you go-removed

speeddemon32

nooo not that one... I ment the one I sent from last week... the one where I talked about what I thought it could have been. it was a nice long e-mail told you what I thought and why.... no big deal.

I just didnt want to retype what I thought could be the problem.

in short, I think it could be air in the system, failing master, failin slave, or schynchos going bad.... I am really starting to think it is NOT th scynchos.... There is the shot version.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

you need a gmail account.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I guess I should get back to the subject at hand: The odds of the master or slave failing right as you're doing a simple clutch replacement just doesn't make sense to me. (unless installed wrong, which is also unlikely)

Time to bleed the system.

speeddemon32

yeah I doooo........ hmmmmm........ maybe I will set that up soon.