Clutch Pedal Issue - HELP
 

Hey folks,

Last night I was driving home and heard a weird snapping sound coming from my clutch pedal when I shifted. After that, the pedal pretty much sunk to the floor except for a little bit near the friction point. I was able to get the car home (I wasn't far away) and parked her. Shifting required rev matching. I could not get her into reverse.

I checked the site this morning and found the thread on the clutch pedal snapping of. I then checked out the car and found no such damage. Everything in the interior seemed to be in working order. The only thing I found strange is that the cylinder that the pedal pushes hydraulically into has a bit of movement inside of it. I'm not sure if it's normal.

Any suggestions?

One would assume if the snapping sound emanated from the clutch pedal,it would be reasonable to conclude the clutch pedal has failed. If you hold the clutch pedal by the foot/rubber pad section,is there significant sideways movement. Whilst doing this, observe where the spot welds are on the bracket. Yes there is supposed to be free play in the master cylinder push rod. It is adjustable .

Your choices are bracket, master cylinder issue, clutch line issue, slave issue..or shift fork issue..or clutch


That's basically all the parts that can fail.....

From what I can figure out, it may be the slave cylinder.

I can see some oil near the firewall behind the pedal.

That would be the master cylinder.Has the fluid level in the brake master cylinder reservoir dropped ?

Searched and searched, no solution found
 

I am having a hell of a time with the clutch/transmission in my new rx8. Got it about a week ago. 2006 with 98k when I bought it.

Originally, shifted like butter. No issues. no worries. I'd rev it up to 9k, shift, no hesitation. The weather was also above freezing temperatures.

First cold day, (-10c, 14f). Everything seemed normal, but the shifter was a little stiff. Hard to move it from gear to gear. Drove for a bit, became impossible to shift at time. Had to shift out of gear at 4.1k rpm or it would block me, and it would not let me shift into the next one until the rpm's dropped to about 3k.

Stored it in my garage, figured it was the cold. Next day, out of the garage, it was perfect again. Went to school, 2 hours later, heading home, started stiff, got better as I drove. stopped for gas, got back on the highway, it was stiff and doin the "4k to shift out, 3k to shift in" stuff again. Went to get off the highway, stopped at a light. Light green, car will not shift into first. clutch release, press, release, press, rev'd the engine a few times, eventually it went in. Got almost home, stopped at a stop sign, car would not go into first again. Regrettably, I turned the car off, put it in first, put the clutch to the floor and started it. It jumped forward and started. SORRY CAR!!.

Got home, removed the clutch switch. Not the starter switch towards the back, but the switch closest to the seat. Checked it for continuity, it seems fine. Broke the push rod when I tried to re-install it. Went "hmm, im a dumbass". Reconnected the battery ( I had disconnected it before pulling the switch, it was disconnected for a good 20 min at least). Turned on my car, its currently -17c, or 1.4f (ty google). Shifted like butter. went "hmm, maybe it was the switch". parked my car outside.

Nxt day, got up, about -10c again. Car drove fine all the way to the rust shop. Had it rustproofed and cleaned, no issues. drove to the mazda dealership to get my winter matts. This is about 20km of driving. Get to a light, shifter is getting stiff again, its not really letting me in and out of gears easily. Pulled over, disconnected battery for about 5 min. Problem (mostly) gone.

Dealership, home. but now, yet again, it wont let me shift into any gear. did all the resets. (unplug battery 5 min, reconnect, mash break till oil needle moves, also did the smash break pedal 20 times in 8 seconds, which I think is the same one, then I did the "test" reset 3 times. Just in case). Car is still not letting me into gear.

I am leaving the battery unplugged and letting it sit overnight, I gotta leave for school at 6:30 am, so I plan on plugging the battery back in at that time. Assuming my car starts and shifts, I'll go to school, unplug the battery, and go to class. If it works out I'll do this for the next few days, but a permanent solution is needed. I have some theories but I do not know enough to pinpoint the problem. I'll list my theories and some reasons.

1) some electronic sensor has malfunctioned and is telling my car the clutch has not been pressed, so the transmission is not letting go of the shifter

2) some sensor has detected danger due to cold trans fluid or something not moving smoothly and is stopping me from shifting to protect the car

3) air in the system? how does unplugging the battery cause air in the system to go away for a bit?

4) hydraulic issues? master/slave cylinder? but again, why does unplugging the battery help this?

5)clutch/fork/release mechanism not working? but yet again, why would losing electricity make these metal/fluid systems act normally again?


Anyways, im new here, this is my first post, ever. I searched for hours, neglecting my homework to do so : (. Can't start my own thread so I'm hijacking this one. I am doing a double major so I don't really have time to spare, and I just need my car going. I basically just spent my life savings on it, and thus am tight for cash, so I really need some advice before I start replacing labour intensive/expensive mechanical parts to fix a possibly electronic related issue.

Update:

So unplugging the battery only solved the issue twice. Third time it did nothing. It is therefore a mechanical issue and I'm following the steps in other posts. Changing fluids first, moving forward from there.

Changed the clutch fluid, it was good for 2 trips, 3rd trip, I got locked into 2nd gear for the last stretch of my journey. Thankfully I didn't need more than 2nd. Woulda liked 3rd so I wasn't sitting at 4k all day. The trip home that day was colder tho, and it shifted smoother. First few times I went for 6th, it would be difficult, and even grinded once with the clutch on the floor. Now no issues. I'm thinking I should change the transmission fluid anyways.

Hello,
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm also having clutch issues:

Very cold day, drove car for 5 mins all fine. after 3-4 gear changes clutch would not disengage to go into gear from neutral. tried following day, 1-2 gear changes ok, then again - wont go into gear unless I force/grind it (once in gear seems fine)- needless to say I parked it to save the tranny. pedal may be soft, (but im not sure if its just me being ultra sensitive now).

Thanks for any help.

FYI: brought it to the mechanic today (dealer) who test drove and called me to say it needs a new clutch and master cylinder. Doesn't really make sense to me, but I agreed to the master cylinder as that would mean they would replace the fluid.... If it needs a clutch then it needs a clutch.. just doesn't make sense to me with these symptoms.

2007 rx8 gt manual 90000 mi.

You either have a hydraulic problem or a burst clutch disc.

Pull the starter (easy to get to, 2 bolts and 2 wire connectors, under the car next to the transmission, nothing else to remove) and look in the hole that it mounts to to see the clutch. If there is shredded clutch material everywhere, you need a new clutch. If it's clean, it's a hydraulic problem.

The only way it's both is if you had a hydraulic problem that then burst your clutch disc, but clutch hydraulic failures on the RX-8 are exceedingly rare. The worst it gets is simply needing to bleed the clutch line.

Thank you.

Unfortunately the past few days up here have been in the -30s, and no garage. My hands go numb trying to touch any metal.

I confirmed that the pedal recall was done on this car, and I told them to go ahead with the master cylinder (but hold on the $1500 clutch job).. want to see if the master and flush will fix it first. (im assuming a master swap would require at least a bleed if not a flush?)

Just cant get over that there is no whine, grind, slipping out of gear, and the clutch works for 2-3 times when you first start it.

It was in the 30s laying in snow when I was trying to replace my clutch after it burst. I know your pain.

No you didn't, since there was never a pedal recall. It is just an extended warranty. If yours breaks in 8yr100k from first purchase, the dealer will replace it with another faulty one for free.

Sounds like quite a deal doesn't it?



$380 clutch kit from BHR + $350-400 in labor for any reputable shop = ~$800 + taxes. $1,300 is overpaying by far. I paid $900 in labor to have a quality race shop pull the transmission, diff, install a new clutch, install a new rear gear, and reinstall it all.

Get a better quote.

Yes, you can't replace them without emptying all of the fluid.

Could be temperature related, which would indeed point to hydraulics. Neither problem would cause the whine, grind, or slipping, since the problem is excess engagement.

Thanks.

Quote is Canadian (maybe 1300 usd?), but I get the point. I rarely go to the dealer, but if the master swap doesn't work, ill take it to a proper rotary shop.

btw: that was -30s (went to -35F with wind chill over the weekend).

Thanks again, very helpful.

Update:

A couple of hours after I called to ask them if the pedal recall was done, the dealer found that the pedal linkage was broken (conveniently they didn't discover that until they suggested I replace the clutch).

Luckily I didn't listen to the dealer, kept my $1300 and with the new pedal linkage (and new fluid) it feels like I have a new clutch.

Thanks to all.

Same problems here. Clutch problems when the car is warm enough. Cant change gears, 1st and R are worst. And sometimes when standing on 1st it tries to go forward.

Doesn't happen every time, outside temperature makes no difference. Rx is -04 and done about 75k. Dont know has it something to do about it, but needs brake fluid filling every month or so. Could just be the brakes.

Whats the first place to look?

Check for leaks around the master and slave cylinders.

sigh. I'm still trying to figure out my clutch. I had it replaced, the release bearing had gone while it was at a shop. The guy charged me about $400 labour and did the job in a little over an hour. I'm assuming he did a rushed job. My car sat at his shop for a few weeks waiting for a clutch to come in, he then left it for a week after the clutch arrived. When he finally did it, I was starting to get on his case. Anyways, had it back for about a week now, sounded rough when I picked it up. I thought it was the belts (because my car did spend about 2-3 weeks sitting still in the coldest weeks of winter). I get a whine whenever I accelerate moderately, somewhere between feathering the pedal and pushing it. If I press the clutch pedal and rev the engine there is no whine, it sounds perfectly healthy, like the day I got it. Sometimes I can hear the release bearing making noise when I do that tho (sounds almost like grinding). Sometimes I get vibrations from the clutch when I pull off the line slowly without touching the gas, and once when releasing the clutch slowly I got a bit of a 'skip' where the clutch seemed to be engaging and disengaging. If I was going to relate it, I would say its like rolling in an automatic car, under 10km, and stomping then releasing the brake quickly multiple times. Unfortunately these symptoms come and go, but i'm assuming he misaligned the clutch. Going to see what he has to say today.....

Is there anything besides a misalignment that might cause this? I've done less than 1,000km on the clutch. If he wants to just 're-align' the clutch, is that a good idea? or should I demand a new clutch as this one has been 'abused'?

What clutch is it?

Mine ended up being the old 'clutch pedal snapped off' issue.
Which is apparently a reoccurring problem with the 8.

Some terrible welding issue within the mechanism...

I had them put in an exedy oem kit: EXEDY Globalparts Corporation | High Performance and OEM Clutches and Flywheels

Strangely enough, it feels very different from the clutch it had before. I need to give it a little gas if I want to start gently. If I need to replace the clutch again, I'm thinking I might just go for a stage 2. Assuming what I had before gripped better because maybe it was a stage 1? The clutch I bought the car with was ok, but a little light on the grab imo. I would like something that allows me to roll the car easily without touching the gas or releasing the clutch super slow. Clutch that came out looks the same as the one I put in tho, so iuno ^_^ it might have been oem or stage 1. Nvr had to deal with clutch issues till now.

I think this was the reason for the problems. Will find out when the new assembly arrives from BHR.

Worst thing is the waiting, sun is waking up after winter. 8) No parts available here in Finland.

Hi all! So, today while going into a car wash, felt and heard a snap from clutch pedal. Got it home somehow. Had to force it into gears a little bit. Now it doesn't go into gears when the car is on. When it's off, it goes into gears perfectly. Slave cylinder?

Did you check your clutch pedal assembly to see if the welds broke? If the assembly is still good. Chances are its the slave or master cylinder. Its recommended to replace them together.

I replaced them both along with upgrading to a SS clutch line when my slave cylinder failed. The slave can fail internally (internal seal rupture) and you will not see any fluid leaks, happened to me.

Yep, it's the clutch bracket. Mechanic will try to weld it tomorrow. If it doesn't work, will have to get a new one....

Does anyone have a pic (or link to a pic) that shows this clutch bracket? I had the same issue happen today, pulling up to a traffic light, pressed the clutch pedal, heard and felt a pop from the pedal and it would not go into gear. Had to force it into second and limp home with hazards flashing.