Well, I do not have a complete data set; I only have the pictures I borrowed.
It looks to me like metal fatigue in the bracket causes a tear near the bolt which then causes the spot weld to break.
So the main failure mode seems to be metal fatigue.

Welding will support the metal and reduce fatigue but additional support should be added near the bolt holes.
The aftermarket brace will also transfer the load away from the thin metal to prevent fatigue.

Electronics for me.
Semiconductor Test Engineering

 

Well not these days - would not be able to waste time on here if I was still doing that .

 

i wont argue this, but the metal doesnt always tear, mine didnt.

lets pretend that the sheetmetal used is not too thin(just like mazda did) and go back to this question directly...

....

 

Just wondering one thing...

Mazda thinks the problem arises from improper tightening sequence. I've seen enough stuff go bonkers from improper sequence, so that's plausiable.

So...does anyone know what the proper tightening sequence is for the bracket? And would it make sense to loosen the bolts and re-tighten in the right sequence?

Ken

 

I think your original question was better . What would happen if there were NO spot welds ?
You would see the same failure you do now but there would be no damage to the thin plate because there would be no join to it.

 

Pretty good intuitive stress analysis for a non mechanical engineer.

This is what I said a long ways back.

 

Never saw that but well said .

Plus the fact that it has been reported (in this very thread) that some people that just welded the plate to the bkt have had recurring failure should have put this BS to rest ages ago .

 

lol wow i just installed my new pedal last weeek.... fail.

 

ask Mazda to pay you back.

 

Thanks...
School of Reality plus good troubleshooting skills.

Quite right.

Next person to weld a bracket please add reinforcement where it's needed; at the bolt holes as pointed out on the previous page!

 

I got it from Mazdatrix though, what should i do

 

you have to proof that you installed it to your car.

Wait and see what Mazda will say.

 

Mazda or a person that works for mazda? Cause torque sequence only applies to things that require a lot of torque. Pedal brack is not one of them.

You tell the tech how the BEEP does he / she think there was 3 generations of Rx7 with no BEEPing clutch bracket problems and you don't want to hear any stupid talk about sequence. It's cheap materials & design period.

 

Mazda. And your belief is not correct. Problems can happen even with low torque items. When something with more than one screw is assembled, correct practice is generally to first put all the screws in, lightly snug them, then tighten. If you start by making one tight the others might not be aligned...hence distortion when they're tightened.

I can picture assembly line workers taking that kind of shortcut. Especially on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon.

Still Mazda's fault, of course.

Ken

 

if what you said is true. then the biggest issue would be Mazda itself.

Cuz people don't even look at their bracket (or touch them) until the thing snaps. guess who tighten those bolts up in the first place ?

And did I tell you guys that we're not the only one experiencing the same issue. Even people in the far east, RHD, Still getting the same issue. So its not just a LHD thing, its universal.

I agreed with 1/2 of what VashGS said, material is f-ing cheap, design was alright. if they would invest another what, maybe 10 bux extra for each bracket, just to make the metal a little bit thicker. would probably prolong the life of the thing by 2x.

Mazda is just full of **** on this one, they still gotta suck that 8 year/100K warranty up.

 

10cents more like ....

 

No matter what the reason, it's their fault. If it's really improper tightening, then they screwed up on training or assembly procedure. That's as big a part of making a product as the materials they use.

Anyway, I can now relax about the squeak in my clutch pedal...the one that goes away every time it's at the dealer. It has four more years to show that it's benign or to fail.

Ken

 

A clutch pedal should NEVER fail like these. Not in 10 years. Not in 20 years. Certainly not "en masse".
I never had a car in my life where this was an issue. Ever. Haven't even heard about one with any other car, but I may just be lucky (or ignorant).

Provided they will indeed make the announcement about this being covered under warranty. The way they are feeding BS to NHTSA and try to wiggle out of it belittling the issue is anything but reassuring about their stance of real willingness to "suck it up".

 

I think someone should try to report this to some media like Autoblog or edmunds. Just so that Mazda can't just act like "oh, I didn't know anything"

Hell, Im gonna email them right now.

 

Autoblog has reported on it before http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/06/r...da-rx-8-clutc/

 

They've reported on it before, but now it's more or less a recall according to the NHTSA. Big difference. I say more or less because they're just extending the warranty on it so it's not a true recall. That's a pretty cheap **** way to handle it though. It's the same pedal in each car so the chances of a pedal failing are always there. Considering the clutch pedal breaking completely disables the car it's bullshit that they'd just extend the warranty and hope you never come in. Most will only come in after it's too late, and after it's too late is when it becomes a huge safety concern.

My clutch pedal is in the beginning stages of failure as of earlier today. It's moving left and right and making some god awful noises when I push down on the clutch. I planned on just parking the car for a week before I did anything about it anyways so hopefully Mazda acts up while it's just sitting in the garage and I can get this done for free!

One little observation though. I wonder if Mazda isn't announcing anything yet because they don't have a replacement part to install on the car? If they install the same exact one the failure is likely to happen again after all.

 

Thats when they first "notice" that NHTSA opened a case on this issue.

Now they have the conclusion (sort of)

 

...that my snapped clutch pedal was the first one he's seen. Guess everyone in Louisville must drive automatics

 

a lot of people thought "its normal" and replaced it elsewhere (come on, who wants to do it at dealership, they will probably charge you 400 bux for it, its a 10-15 minute job)

Thats why a lot of "service manager/Mazda themselves" said "first time seeing it/effecting 1% users only"

 

The shop I have my RX-8 worked on at actually commented on how he's replaced two broken clutch pedals on RX-8's before mine. He NEVER works on RX-8's. lol