psbjames1970

Since I first got the car, my clutch pedal has felt a bit different at different times. First of all here is the run down of this...

1. Never really had problems finding or putting the car in gear except 6th gear. It would take a bit of a trick to get it in sixth but never had any grinding or other issues with any of the gears. All the gears seem to work just fine. Reverse was a bit tricky at first as well but got the hang of it very soon.

2. Had the dynamic damper replaced via recall. After that was done, the clutch pedal felt less stiff and the gears felt very easy to change. 6th was no longer a problem at all to find.

3. After driving it for another 1000 miles after the recall fix, the clutch has stiffen back up a bit and seem to be more stiff in cooler weather. Gears are still easy to find but don't exaclty feel silky anymore, just feel normal (like all of my previous vehicles).

Not sure whether this was a slow degeneration of the transmission or what, I had a friend who also drives an RX-8 drive my car (she has a 2005 model and I have an early 2004 model). Her comments were the following:

"Shifting is EASIER in my car than in hers. Clutch is not as stiff and gears easy to find. Engine is also quieter."

Drove hers and did notice her clutch (nearly new) was actually a bit stiffer than mine and gears were not as easy to find (although still relatively easy).

Could the small differences I am noticing in my clutch due to breakin of my vehicle (got the vehicle with only 2750 miles and I am now at 6600 miles) or weather related (only seen other transmisison act more stiff in much COLDER weather) or what?

Does anybody else notice any small differences in their tranny? Not major items like I have seen for most of the transmission posts.

Not even sure if I should take the time to talk to the service dept (they might laugh me out of the building)

Any input appreciated...

msrecant

I have noticed two things associated with what you mention.

1. My car is an early 2004 (pre-order). Shifting was very good and very smooth. At 3K miles I had the dealer change the transmission and differential oil and when I got it back, the shifting quality had clearly degraded. The dealer's transmission oil was definitely different from what went in at the factory. I immediately installed Redline MTL and the shifting is now outstanding. Bottom line ... the shifting quality on the RX-8 is very sensitive to the type of transmission oil (IMHO).

2. Initially I was not happy with the clutch on the RX-8 as it was hard not grinding gears when doing fast shifts. Ultimately I found that the problem went away if I made an effort to get the clutch pedal to the floor-stop (being short, I was not doing this routinely). I have now changed my seat position and clutch operation is fine. I am also considering switching to a Mazdaspeed clutch-line to see if that helps.

FWIW

psbjames1970

5'4" myself. I checked to make sure before I ever drove the car where it catches the clutch and its seems normal to most clutches (about a 1/4 way up from the floor board). Never had a grinding issue but I am just not "comfortable" with the differences I've felt. However, I was a bit releaved by my friend's comments and driving another RX-8.

Seems that perhaps because of the short shift, you notice more (since you are inherently "closer" to the working parts of the transmission).

Wonder what other will post...

psbjames1970

BTY, test drove a mini cooper S for fun...

Even more sensitive clutch than the RX-8. Couldn't help stall it out a couple of times when getting the car moving in first. It goes from nothing to fully engaged in less than 1/8 movement of the clutch pedal.

msrecant

Your friend should definitely upgrade to the Redline transmission oil. Big difference.

KYLiquid

the clutch shares the brake fluid, i have noticed after a long drive with heavy braking (hot fluid) the clutch gets much softer, similar to the brake pedal. I would say this is normal. since they share fluid

downshift

My car's clutch pedal feel has good and bad days and I can't find a trend yet. Car is almost 15k miles, July 03 build. I've switched to the Red Line trans and diff oil and it makes a difference. It helped with shifting but I still get an occassional grind or two. On some days, the pedal felt smooth. On some other days, there is more vibration than normal coming from the pedal.

Don't bother having the dealership check it out just by driving it alone unless you have identified a consistent way of reproducing it. Of course, unless your dealership has a good mechanic that is very familiar with how a MT RX-8 is supposed to feel like (har har). I'm seriously considering asking them (and pay if I have to) to remove the alternator and check if the pressure plate bolts are torqued correctly after reading Abbid's Horror Story.

psbjames1970

Yeah, I am thinking the same thing. Wonder though when they did the recall if part of the recall for the transmission damper included checking the pressure plates.

What worries me too is my build date is the same month/year as abbid.

msrecant

Mine is a May 03 build and I used to get the occasional grind, usually related to a quick shift. When doing leisurley shifting it was always smooth as silk.

I found that if I made a point of always pushing the clutch pedal to the floor stop, the occasional grinds disappeared, even with quick shifts. My theory is that this is the same issue that is addressed by a reinforced clutch hose (external stainless mesh). That is when you punch the clutch pedal for a quick shift, the hydraulic pressure causes the normal clutch hose to momentarily balloon, rather than pushing on the slave cylinder to engage the clutch. By going all the way to the floor there is enough additional hydraulic pressure to make the momentary ballooning irrelevant.

On the other hand, I too have felt different levels of vibration randomly coming through the clutch pedal and I have no idea why.

psbjames1970

Interesting, I wonder if the speed I am pressing the clutch when trying to shift makes a difference.

I have noticed some other things but afraid to post, researching it first before deciding if its a problem... don't want to jinx myself.

psbjames1970

Well here is my other observations...(may make a separate post to see what's up...)

Sometimes when going in reverse fast, I get a burning rubber smell (very slight but there... I do have very sensitive nose).

Also got it a one time when poping into first at higher RPMs when I was going from a stop at the top of hill.

I think that the clutch is probably designed for a lower RPM handling (2-5K RPM) than the engine can dish (up to 9K) and that lower gears and higher RPMs put extra wear on the clutch.

I am being much more careful with reverse from now on in this car.

It is in fact the same tranny (almost) used in a Miata.

I also think that some of it is in my head (esp reading some of the posts here). No offense to other tranny problems posted, but I do notice a slight pattern with the age and/or description of handing the vehicle on the posts with tranny problems.

My experience with manual tranny problems have been minimal (driving trannys since I was 16 and I am now in my 30s... ) and only really screwed up one because I wasn't familiar with the clutch smell and was rolling the car back and forth (my ford escort) to get it out of the snow .

Also, in my previous vehicle - Ford 2002 Mustang. My tranny did feel slightly different when there were weather changes and only a few times I have had that burnt smell but usually at very high RPMs (relatively speaking ... it was only at 5.5K) in the MOOTANG... :p

I just don't like "waiting" for something but I don't want to go the dealer and look foolish :o . I am one of the few that actually likes my dealer and respects the work already done so far with warranty repairs (1 - air condition control button cracked) and three recalls (air bag, tranny damper, and thermal insulation) plus a free oil change :D .

Ahh, the joy of owning the first model year... :D

msrecant

You are correct, reasonably matching engine-to-drivetrain speed is as important to a clean shift as fully engaging the clutch. The synchronizers can only take up but so much slack.

downshift

psbjames1970, msrecant:

I get smoother shift gate transitions if I slightly slow down the speed at which I press the clutch pedal. But that has to be coupled with staying at maybe 5% throttle (or just delay lifting off the throttle) while doing it so that your RPMs won't drop too far down.

I've also read about the good results with the steel-braided hoses that msrecant talked about but the problem is you'll risk voiding your tranny warranty if you still got pending tranny problems that you haven't resolved yet.

The rubber hoses might ultimately account for the inconsistencies in the shifting and pedal feel. If I could verify that the pressure plate bolts are torqued correctly and that the 1-2 shift forks are good (without spending the amount of money that could amount to a new pair of tyres), I will install those stiffer hoses and put this issue to rest.

psbjames1970

I seem to get the oppisote effect sometimes. It will stiffen up a bit on my way to work?

Go figure

psbjames1970

Sound like it may be a hose issue.

I have noticed the following patterns now...

After a drive on the interstate w/o shifting, when I need to shift again, the clutch is stiffer. However, it becomes looser again if I rest the car or drive through town again. By stiffer, I don't mean that you have to smash the pedal down (I know that would be a problem), just feels a bit firmer (perhaps that is the best word).

I find that shifting down is easier than shifting up (relatively speaking, all shifting is easy on this vehicle). I do "heel toe" or modified reving when downshifting and you can't notice I switched gears.

Up shifting seems to be the problem for me and I think its because the engine doesn't hold RPMs w/o throttle. I will see if modified reving or double clutching would do the trick for smoother engagement of the gears.

Is it true that you are supposed to redline this vehicle from time to time? I've had many other sports cars and drove them quite spirited (with several speeding tickets to prove it) w/o ever reving the engine up to redline.

At the most I get to 6000 RPM (which is barely noticeable with this car).

If you understand how to work the gears and use gravity/accerleration to your benefit, the car shouldn't need to go to redline (unless you are going 180 MPH... I am not nuts or ever race my car).

I think the burning smell in reverse is the brakes engaging. Notice this smell more in humid/rainy weather or slippery conditions (maybe its kicking in the ABS)

Glyphon

try completing your shifts a little quicker. if done right, you can go up through the gears without having to play with the throttle.

and it is true that you are supposed to redline the vehicle from time to time. this has nothing to do with acceleration (although peak horsepower is at 8500rpm), it has to do with cleaning out carbon deposits that build up over time. general consensus is at least once per day and others say once per startup is better.

redline a day, keeps the carbon lock away.

zoom44

at 6k you ar ejust geting into the power curve. there is alot of power left from 6k to 9k

alcimedes

Weird, my car has power from about 4k to 6k. After that it dies off. I'll have to have it looked at while they're doing the recall work.

zoom44

tertiary ports

psbjames1970

Wanna hear what my service manager at my dealership told me...

I explained the symptoms....

In regards to the inconsistent feel of the clutch and gears, switch to redline dff fluid or another high performance fluid. I will see if I can find some DIYs on this...

In regards to redlining the car... Yes but not every day. Just once a week.

In regards to the burning clutch smell. He feels that it might not be normal. Could be to breaking in the powertrain but it could be something else. Too new to burn out the clutch unless you are pretty stupid about driving a MT. If I notice the smell again, he would like me to bring it in for a full inspection of the tranny. He also said that if I continue feel uncomfortable about the tranny or it gets worse, to have them inspect it as well.

Thanks for all the input. I will see about changing to redline dff fluid or something else for high performance.

And I realize that there are no diff lines (bad joke from another thread)

msrecant

There is a DYI thread on changing the transmission oil or you can have the dealer do it. You can order the Redline MTL from Rosenthal Mazda's website (http://www.finishlineperformance.com...nce_index.html).

mkl22

sorry for digging up an old post. But i seem to have the same problem as psbjames1970. The pedal feels kinda soft after some city driving. when the car is cold and after a highway run its fine. I also discovered, that stomping on the clutch pedal and releasing it quickly while in neutral restores the pedal feel to firm again. Wondering if it is the fluid or pressure plate.

thanks

Winfree

When I went shopping for my RX-8, the sales person had me try a used '04 Stick, very nice fully equipt only 1200 miles - Really evil clutch system. I drive stick - and have for over 40 years - made me think of an old Ford truck. Hard to get the clutch to the floor (I'm 5' 5" 1/2) seemed to have a 'notch' when shifting gears, made me feel like I didn't know how to drive anymore - really hated it - scared me so bad I went to a new 05 with that odd automatic/stick system. Much much better behaved, but torque seems a little less, but very controlable - since then it seems just to be a rough clutch for 04s - try a newer model and check out the difference.

staticlag

Maybe you need to bleed the clutch line?

mkl22

i have bled it twice using manual method and twice using mityvac, it still happens after frequent use of the clutch. maybe it is inherent. or there is something wrong with the pressure plate.