From what I have found, the pressure plate bolts can come loose and cause a "unoiled hamster-wheel" noise when the car is idling in neutral.

This can apparently cause premature clutch failure, hard shifting and god only knows what else.

It looks asthough the pressure plate bolts could be accessed through the opening for the starter but I'm not sure what the best way to go about rotating the engine to get to these would be... Would the plugs need to be removed to reduce compression to get it to turn more freely? And is there a big *** bolt on the front of the "crank" that could be used for rotating it?

I intend to replace the fluid on my transmission and diff this winter and figured if the whole car is going to be on jackstands for that I might as well do this at the same time.

All advice is welcome. I feel like a solid DIY for this is long overdue.

Chris

 

The noise comes from a fubar T/O bearing design. The pressure plate bolts barely have any tq on them.

you need to search. have a nice day.

 

I have searched and I realize that they only require ~20ft/lb. but this is an issue that has been addressed by mazda and is covered under warranty but may be "repaired" at the same time as some regular upkeep procedures. Yes the throughout bearing can crap out but that is just one thing that people on this site have related to the issue I'm trying to address.

here is one thread that almost goes into the entire process but leaves some gaps.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ure+plate+bolt

This is the thread that got me looking into the issue.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=47518

Chris