time for a New clutch - dealer or indie shop - NYC shops?
 

No one responded in the NE forums - so Im reposting here.

After 50K of mostly Manhattan miles, it's finally time to replace my clutch - I was hoping to get a bit more, but unfortunately I wasn't the only one to drive my 8. I figure I have at least 3 times the wear that a highway driver sees due to stop and go traffic. parallel parking, etc.

My choice is to bring to Wayne Mazda (which is a pain for me, but I wouldn't trust the Manhattan dealer) or to an independent shop. One local shop gave me a quote of $1200 including all parts.

Any suggestions? If I do go the dealer route - I wonder if there will be any TSB's I can get done - recently It seems sometimes the clutch peddle sinks to the floor till the car warms up - can the slipping be connected to that?

Thanks

I cannot even imagine having mostly 50K "Manhattan" miles. Traffic doesn't move there:eek: If the carbon build up theories due to not revving the engine enough are true...your engine must be suffering too!!

I would not take the car to Manhattan Mazda. Way too many negative reviews. Wayne Mazda in NJ has better reviews in their service department.

However, for a clutch job you don't really need to go to a dealer. That's not a rotary engine specific thing. Any competent mechanic can replace that clutch easily. I would try a shop elsewhere and save the $$$. Buy the parts here from a vendor and take them with you. That would save you even more $$$.

I have a place next to the Bronx where I take my truck for service. Highly recommended in all respects. They work on many high end cars too. I have not taken my 8 there yet because I got an extended warrant from Mazda in my car. So i always take the car back to the dealer. But once the extended warranty runs out I'll take the car to this place I'm telling you. I would certainly trust them to replace the clutch in my 8 if I had too.

PM if you are interested in more info.

+1 with what "pistoneater" said. you can find a few good shops in the NY area. there is a spot in Brooklyn called Cosmo auto Performance and they have done a few none Rotary specific things for me and they have not had any issues and they are pretty good with pricing. but def order your parts online and take them with you. It will save you money. Contact Charles at Black Halo Racingcause they have a good price on the Exedy Clutch kit and they send you all the necesarry things that should be replaced when installing a new clutch.

Hey man sup, how is everything going? I havent heard from you in a while i thought u sold ur 8

Anyway, they are right, nothing special about replacing the clutch on the 8. Buy the set from CRH and he will send u everything u need. After that just bring it to a good shop and they will take care of the rest.

Only problem is the pilot bearing, most shops dont have a puller that small for the job, and dont ever let them try tocut the old one out with dremel tool, 90% chance they will mess the e shaft up in the process.

I had a shop to do my clutch 3-4 years ago and it cost 300. Now probably 400? Dunno. Personally i know how to replace a clutxh already cuz i just did it to my rx7.

Ih yes one more thing, if you are replacing ur flywheel do it at the same time. If not make sure thr shop you go to can resurface it. I had a place in long islanf to resurface my rx7 flywheel for 40 bux.