Before I start, yes, I’ve read the relevant section in the FAQ and wanted to clarify some details.
I’m the 3rd owner of my 2004/04 1.8 MX-5. I have no service history details other than stamps in the service book (no receipts) so I can’t be certain what work has been done on the car in the past. It has nearly reached 60k miles.
My car appears to have the clutch judder problem associated with pre-late 2004 cars, manifest as a judder when pulling away in 1st (a little in 2nd).
My question is whether Mazda would replace this item with no charge, or if I have to decide if I prefer to have the money or a smoother take-off when driving the car from cold? The article mentions that Mazda were replacing the clutches, but also that it wasn’t a formal recall, so I imagine I could find it challenging to convince my dealer to sort the problem for free.
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To be honest your chances of Mazda replacing it for nothing are pretty much zero, after all it’s a 9 year old car!
I have the same issue and I pretty quickly adjucted my driving style (more revs when pulling off) to compensate and now it very rarely does it, only really a pain when parking or in stop start traffic. I dare say if it was my daily driver I’d be getting the clutch replaced but as it’s only a weekend car I can live with it.
Yes, I get the impression that it should have been a proper recall, but Mazda have saved themselves a lot of money by just replacing the handful that turned up under warranty.
Since the next service involves a cam belt change, I’ll probably put up with it for now.
I could not agree with you more. Our 2002 Sport was afflicted as were so many at the time and it took the dealer 2 attempts with different clutches to eradicate our example.
It’s one of these things…Perhaps print off a few “forum issue” pages, take it to the dealer, and see.
Nothing to loose. Trouble is, and I say this as the owner of a Mk1 & a Sport two years older than your car the dealer would not even keep your car on the forecourt on an exchange these days.
As far as they are concerned it’s geriatric. I’m on your side…but I’d chase you!
Interesting that the technical bulletin says that a judder above 1200rpm is clutch judder and below 1200rpm is transmission shake which is normal. Mine definately falls into the latter catagory as it’s fine when the revs are at 1500+. Glad I didn’t waste money on a new clutch then if that’s not the problem.
It was not “normal” though. That, in my view, was dealer-speak. “They all do that Sir”
Bovine excrement.
I was shown Mazda UK’s “problem-fix” they sent out to main dealer service managers.
The issue was caused by a new generation of asbestos free clutch liners also used in light Ford commercials, and since designed to be abused as such, the surfaces polished over time when given an easier life in a 5. This rose to some people giving their clutches big stick to burn the slippage out which sometimes worked to a degree. Not something I’d recommend in gearbox & drivetrain terms though.
the dealer would not even keep your car on the forecourt on an exchange these days.