Clutch Question(s)
 

Okay - Let me start out by saying that this is my first post here at rx8club and I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask my question, but I figured you'd move me if necessary.

I have had my 8 for about 15 mos now, a used (one previous owner) 2004 red, and as for the common problems you may relate to, I am about to get a third visor and I had my engine replaced about 2500 miles ago...

Now I am noticing a slight hangup when I am changing gears. I have never owned a manual car before, and I learned to drive stick on this one. I don't know how the car was treated before, and I have always had to fight the damn thing to get into reverse.

It seems that whenever I go to shift into fourth (specifically), there is a moment of hesitation, a very slight grinding. I could be imagining it, but I only noticed it about 10 days ago. And then yesterday, when I was downshifting into first coming out of a slowdown roll, I felt the same thing.

I really don't know much about clutches and manual transmissions, and my boyfriend has always driven auto, so he's not sure either.

Is my clutch wearing out? (On my 30k checkup they checked it off as okay, but they also indicated that my windshield had no damage when I know for a fact that huge crack in it was there before the checkup :uhh:...)

Any help?

first, never downshift into first! as long as the car is rolling, you can stay in 2nd and the car will move. are you sure you're pushing down on the knob before you stick it in reverse? if you feel that you're fighting to get it into reverse, shift into any gear then try putting it in reverse again. this technique is used on all manual trans. cars. there have been issues with gears grinding in rx8s. it could be a problem with 3rd to 4th synchros. but then again, if you had to learn how to drive a stick shift with your rx8, there's a good chance that you put a lot of stress in your clutch, especially the throwout bearing. if the problem starts getting worse, get it checked out.

You can try synthetic lube in the transmission (and differential) to smooth things out.
Shifting into first while rolling only requires a tap of the gas to match up the revs. Basic heal 'n' toe techniques work well.
The hang-up for reverse is normal and the solution above works well.

There is a clutch TSB. Search the stickies in Issues and Problems.

yeah, you can downshift all the way down to 1st but with normal driving, you don't need to put extra stress on your transmission when you can go along fine in 2nd gear. unless you're in a hurry to get somewhere or just want to exhibit speed, you shouldn't really do this.