I have an '86 GXL 5-speed. Soon after changing trans. fluid I noticed considerable shuddering during clutch engaugement for all gears. I discovered that I had slightly (maybe 1 cup) overfilled the trans. The shuddering disappeared. Now it has reappeared sporadically ONLY when starting from a stop in 1st gear. It has 92K miles.

Any ideas?

 

Oil on the clutch...?

 

Because of overfill, pressure build up in trans pushed oil out front seal, onto disc. Normally the oil would be pushed out the rear seal and slung onto the exhaust.

 

I've got the same thing, man! Drives me crazy. I think I'm going to replace the clutch lines with stainless steel, which would obviously require a bleeding of that system, which I think is in order...

 

If it is oil that got into the clutch assembly, shouldn't it eventually dissipate/burn off, or do I have to do something about it?

 

Usually oil that gets onto the clutch assembly will soak into the clutch disk, and pretty much ruin it. If it was just a very small amount it may be in the very upper layer of the disk and wear off soon, but theres really no way to tell.

 

Ditto Above-Very well stated!

 

I took it out Sunday and the chatter had completely disappeared. Maybe the trans. fluid fill was just a coincidence and there's some sort of an intermittent mechanical problem in the clutch assembly.

 

RXMFN7: I found the hole in the bottom of the trans with the rubber plug in it, pulled it out, and looked up there. It looks as dry as a bone. Does this quell my worst fear-- blown seal with oil getting onto clutch? Maybe my engine/trans mounts are the problem?

 

I just was on Mazdatrix.com and their diagnosis section described my problem exactly and said that it's the front U-joint. Anybody agree or disagree?

 

Replace the clutch, You can do the U joint but i doubt it's going to fix anything. I've gone 150k miles and never had problems with u-joints, but i have gone through 2 or 3 clutches.

 

I was all set to do the clutch, but my mechanic drove it and said that he didn't think it's the clutch. I remember now having these exact same symptoms in my Mazda PU truck and it was the U-joint.

 

usually with a bad u-joint you'll hear a clunking sound when you come off a stop (even if you're being gentle and burning the clutch). when my driveshaft went bad, i had a very ugly "toonk" sound.

if you leave it alone, eventually it will get louder and it will start vibrating (like your seat is a pager or a cell). i don't know what happens after vibrating, i replaced mine at that point.

john

 

I had a lot of chatter, as I kinda mentioned in my first post in this thread.

This weekend, I checked the fluid, and decided to bleed it. Why? Because there was hardly any fluid in the reservior, and what was in there, was black!

So, I bled it out well, and low and behold, the chatter is gone! Check your fluid!

 

There's plenty of fluid in the clutch reservoir and it looks fine. As far as bleeding the system, how would I know if that is necessary?

 

well, it was just an option. Bleeding it is cheap and very easy. It's always best to start cheap, and if that doesn't work, then do the expensive things. (at least, that's always been my theory)

Seriously, for the 15 minutes it would take, it would be worth the peace of mind. There could be air in there, and you'd never know until you bled it.

 

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

 

I just emptied the clutch fluid and bled the system. The fluid was disgusting (black)! There was crud in the bottom of the reservoir also. I cleaned out the reservoir too. I drove it about 5 mi and 10 stop signs and all went well. It went that far before, though, without chatter sometimes, so I'll try to take it for a long drive tomorrow. Here's hoping!! Thanks for the info, though. Even if it doesn't fix the chatter, it obviously needed to be done.