QBallz

I'm just curious if something is wrong with my Clutch/Throwout Bearing. Occasionally when I am at idel in neutral with the clutch enguaged I hear a rattling. When I push the clutch in the rattle goes away.

I'm guessing it's the throwout bearing, but sometimes it's loud and sometimes it cannot be heard. I only have ~4000 miles on the car, so is this normal breaking stuff or could there be something going wrong with the clutch/bearing?

The car still drives fine though. Just curious if anyone else has had this issue.

Gomez

This option comes standard on every second manual RX-8.

R Exotic 8

My car does the same thing, it's normal... I hope.

army_rx8

mine does it...but only after i replaced my flywheel throwout bearing...cluth/pressure plate...but it's all coming out soon b/c somethign is wrong with the clutch ...ah well

Herkypilot

It's normal for this car - do a search - many posts on this.

army_rx8

^yes...the tranny is from a miata (some one correct me if i'm worng)...adn they've always had some noisy ones.

missinmahseven

See, in the Miata, you can't hear it over the din of the camshafts and the lifters and valves :D

(Seriously, yeah, at times, you could hear it over the din of the valvetrain! In the 8 it's more apparent because she's ssssso quiet at idle..)

I love that idle.. what is it... a chirrrup?

army_rx8

^hehe true true..mine makes all kinds'a lill sounds at idle..hehe dealership says it's normal...granted when she is moving the purr of the 13b covers everythign up....especially when he screams at the top of her lungs :D

xabjw4

Been discussed, Gear rollover. Normal. Bad throwout bearings make noise when you depress the clutch(i.e. holding it to the floor)

Drive on!!!

Jeff B.

jenkins-crew

Mine does it too, will replacing the troughout bearing fix this?

zoom44

no it wont read the post before yours. it is not the throw out bearing.. the noise that you hear with the pedal out and it goes away witht eh pedal depresed is gear rollover. throw out bearings make the sound under reverse conditions- push the pedal in and you hear the noise.

jenkins-crew

so will better tranny fluid fix that? What will reduce or get rid of the noise?

Preacher

Buying a different car. :D

salituro64

So what is gear rollover?

Chrisbert

I had a bad throwout bearing in a Honda once, and I, well, threw it out.

zoom44

Gear Rollover is the sound that the gears make when the tranny
is sitting in neutral. All sorts of gears are spinning around in there.
If you've ever have a chance to see a manual tranny opened up on a bench and spin
the shafts, then you'll understand better what Gear Rollover Noise is. Its just more easily heard in newer generation cars because they isolate you from the noises of the engine and traffic. Its more noticable in cars like the RX and Miata where you are sitting only a couple inches fromt he tranny.

caribbean_spice_boy_73

you sooo wrong.. ha ha

Preacher

When the new 350+hp Supra hits the market,my 8 will most likely hit the trade-in bin SO fast it'll break necks.
The new Mitsu Eclipse is bringing out a 260+HP v6,and Mazda,with its' 238 hp (truly 210+rwhp) anemic 1.3L rotary,is just one step too far behind in the horsepower wars.
Hell,if I have to add $6000 bucks worth of warranty-voiding forced-air induction to keep up with a piece of **** Eclipse,why did I bother dropping $35,000 into this 8?
No good answer,is there?
My first Mazda was a 1980 RX-7 GS,which I ADORED.
Actually,it was the reason I bought this 8....
However,Ford's "ship it before you test it" philosophy is CLEARLY in play in this car,and to be honest,I have three years and 41,000 miles left on my warranty,and it's unlikely I'll have the car that long.
Lotsa' nice cars out there,and I need dealership aggro that I've had with this car,like I need a hole in my head.
I'll run this 8 for another year,IF the car doesn't **** me off, then it's next stop:
Nissan's 350z/ Infiniti's G35 coupe,or the Supra,if Toyota gets with the program.
Between idiot techs at the dealership,
despicable a/c,
an ECU that's been (poorly) reprogrammed more times than Oprah's TiVo,
and the inability to get enough FACTORY horsepower to compete with cheesey,entry-level 'sportscars' like the Eclipse is reason enough to take my business elsewhere.

As to the tranny tunnel noise,well,my 1980 RX-7 did the same thing,it's no big deal.

chrism

tell us how you really feel now

subduedracer

The Mitzu may have more power, but it is slower. That thing is a porker!

khoney

I was just told by the dealership that the rattling noise I hear with the clutch out could be a bad pilot bearing or something in the transmission. He said clutch items are only covered under warranty for 12K miles, and it will cost $375 just to take a look. Is it really that labor-intensive to inspect a clutch?

I'm angry once again, because he said certain items are considered 'wear and tear' items, and are not covered. I drove an '87 2nd gen TII for 17 years, and I got well over 100K miles on the clutch - I don't abuse clutches! I reported this problem a long time ago, but got the 'could not duplicate customer concern' story. There is no way this clutch should be failing after 40K miles.

khoney

Well, they said I needed some clutch work, including replacing the flywheel. Total cost = $935. Not covered under warranty. I'm so pissed at Mazda right now I can't see straight. This is such BS - my RX-7 Turbo clutch lasted me well over 100K miles (I think it was 130K, but I'd need to check the records). I always thought my clutch sounded noisy at idle, but everyone said it was normal. Well, guess what, folks, it is NOT always normal, and I'm out a thousand bucks. My advice to ANYONE who has the least bit of concern about the sound your car makes at idle with the clutch out, bitch LOUDLY to your dealership and get it on record, especially if you have less than 12K miles on it.

I've been loyal to Mazda and the rotary for 20 years now, but lately they have demonstrated that they just don't give a sh*t about their most loyal enthusiasts.

It's truly unfortunate that that next time someone asks me "How do you like your 8?", my response will be quite different than it has in the past, and Mazda corporate is fully to blame for that.

Bottom line now? I'm out a grand, and I still don't have an answer to why my car loses power and dies, which is the main reason I brought it in to begin with.

RotaryNoob

Wow. That sucks man. You sound like a good lemon law candidate.

QBallz

Had to replace your flywheel?! What did they say was wrong with it?

As for the loss of power and die, take it in and bitch until they do a compression check on the engine. Is your loss of power starting around 6000-7000rpm?

TCReedy1

In 2 years, I`ve seen this thread about 6 to 7 times. Just about every manual has the gear rattle in neutral issue. Depress the clutch and it goes away because even in neutral, the clutch is spinning the gearbox input shaft. Depress clutch and it decouples the input shaft.

Here is the real issue (I`m a transmission design engineer). The Renesis being a rotary creates crankshaft torsional vibrations that are very different from a V6 or a V8 or an in-line 4 cylinder engine. All of those engines have reciprocating pistons which cause what we call second order, fourth order, eigth order torsional vibrations in the crank. Thats why we put a tuned damper pulley at the front end of the crank - it acts as a rotating mass and smoothes out the torsional vibrations thus quietening everything down. The Renesis throws off very large sixth, ninth and twelth orders especially at idle, which when coupled to a gearbox that was originally designed to go onto a V6 or I-4, the Renesis crankshafy vibrations create resonances inside the gearbox that excites the gears and synchro-rings on the layshaft & output shaft. That excitation causes all the "loose" bits to rattle like a bugger.

It is annoying but unfortunately totally normal. If you really get pissed off with it, try a heavier grade gearbox lube (additives will do nothing unless you use sawdust - but thats a different story - don`t do it!) or a good synthetic may help.

Sorry - this is a case of good engine, good tranny, bad job of matching the two together.

Tom