Crawled up under the eight today, noticed my bracket looked a little...funny.

If I had to guess this would explain the problems I am partially having.

Looking at the picture, especially near the nut, does that look like someone's attempted to weld it? Or metal fatigue?

Also, the torn metal I'm assuming visible is the typical symptom of the pedal breaking?

 

Yeah it looks like it has been fixed before. That jagged metal is actually normal, it's just Mazdas way of screwing with us more. What issues are you having? Does the pedal move left to right a lot?

 

Been having them for awhile now..pretty weird. The car is more likely to not grind shifting into second and fourth when its cold.

Once it warms up, any aggressive shifting even at low rpm results in a grind into 2nd/4th (up and downshifting) high rpm shifting I wouldn't even dare attempt. Downshifting into fifth is a grind. The pedal itself squeaks if I push it in/out.

Some days it seems to have more dead play in the pedal at times as well. Bled the clutch, no air in the lines.

 

Well the grinding is likely a synchro issue in the trans. Have you changed the fluid? The squeak was a sign on mine that the welds were failing but you need to remove it (not hard) and get a good look at it, it could just be that the grease on the spring has dried up.

The play in the pedal can be adjusted.

 

Changed the fluid to Amsoil, didn't help at all =/.

Well, the reason I mentioned the pedal travel is because the amount of play in it changes randomly. It can have zero play at all, or what feels like 2-4 inches of dead space before I start feeling it.

The jagged metal is normal? Thats mildly annoying, if you look in the bottom photo you can really see it where its peeled itself off...

 

Yeah I always warn people to wear gloves before they start mucking around up there, I learned the hard way the first time I ever removed one another members car.

If it's still grinding then the synchros are goners. I'm not sure on the clutch play, it's the least of your concerns if you are grinding though.

 

A changing free play amount indicates air in the clutch line. I've been fighting the same problem at the moment, with a highly annoying time trying to get it properly bled. (And there IS air in there)

 

I'm hoping that if it is air in the line, that maybe getting that tiny bit of it out will help with the problem of shifting, even if only a little bit.

I guess I'll just have to spend a good hour or so bleeding it until there's no possible way there is any air left.

 

My clutch pedal bracket broke this weekend. The pedal dropped and moved to the right. The part will take a few days to get here but I figured out how to drive anyway. I yanked the pedal up and to the left and it clunked back into place. I can still drive ,barefoot, by using my toes to push the pedal to the left while pushing down. It's not ideal but I'm not stranded.

 

This sounds very unsafe. Please do everyone on the road a favor and don't drive like this. Ugh...