Well, I was driving on Monday night and my car jerked and couldn't shift anymore.

My clutch was dead, that was okay.
Next morning I call AAA and get them to tow it, sigh. They had to scrape my muffler getting it on the trunk and another off the truck. I tried to not let it get to me.
I called the Mazda Mechanics ahead of time to get an oral estimate of 500 dollars. I was cool with that, 500 bucks with a 10% coupon. Well, its been a week now. The car is fixed; but in crap condition.

My new clutch, its LOOSE. VERY LOOSE. Is that how new clutches are suppose to be(1990 Stock OE)? I always thought of it being stiff, like really stiff.

A bar holding my intake so it doesn't rattle against the body. That's been broken. My custom clutch pedal is grease black. My car sounds like crap when you sit inside of it; kinda of hear a buzzing sound not sure if its the new clutch or something done to my tranny or engine to make it sound like that. Over all, I don't like the service done to it.

Anyway, my question is the clutch suppose to be loose as a goose?

 

I dont know about RX-7's, but my general experience with replaced clutches is that they should be about the same as before. On other cars I've had, there has been a way to adjust where the clutch engages, but I dont know about the stiffness. Did you have an aftermarket clutch or anything?
Anyways, my general rule is to only take your car to a dealer if the problem is replaced under warrenty. I know that some dealers are very good, but its safer to stay away form them unless you know that they're good.

 

i hate idiot f*g mechanics, idiots...it pisses me off to read that, i took my car in for a 5sp swap and they gave me a 900-1200 estimate on everything and then it came to like 2200 dollars and they lost my old shifter frame, my battery was dead, and the car was all extra dirty inside. And when i had my car painted, they ******* painted my mufflers, and rear blinkers and pained my custom radiator cover. ********.

 

Its time to call in some favors...

You should break them. I hate stupid mechanics.





And here's the intro theme song to get you pumped up.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~hesseln/ateam/teamsoun/ateam.mp3

 

please don't tell me you went to the dealer...

 

I had these retard mechanics try and sit in my brand new Tenzo R Type-R Evolution Seats with there oily coveralls. I absolutely lost it. I had to grab one by the coveralls before he had a chance to squeeze his fat *** into the seat. No respect. None what so ever.

 

In general it shouldn't be loose. When you say clutch job did that include a new pressure plate? If it did then it should definitely be tight. The other thing is the clutch slave should be bled of air, that can cause it to have a loose feel. And put some new fluid in there and check for leaks.

I haven't been to a dealer for my car in over 13 years. Ain't no freaking way I'll let them porch monkeys work on my car--just to f something up.

Scott

p.s. I did have a clutch job done at a dealer back in 90, cost about $400 if I remember right. At the time I lived in an apartment and didn't have the tools. It really is an easy job.

 

well, the big problem besides the clutch, it stalls alot...the idle is rough, it did that a few times before the clutch job, but they don't know that. I'm gonna go give them hell tomorrow and see if they can fix that.

 

Where did you go to get this done? I had the clutch replaced in my 1988 GXL with a stock OE one, and it was perfect. I also replaced the clutch in my 1990 TII when I rebuilt the engine, and as far as I know, I did a perfect job as well (I've only driven around the block with the damn thing.)

Either way, take the car back and get them to do the job right.

Also, this is "Doctor Who" on the CSS message board.

 

Jeff Wyler Eastgate....do you know people there that would do the job right?

Better yet, maybe you could look at it.

 

I just had my clutch replaced too, I have a 91 NA, replaced it with another OEM clutch kit. It feels exactly the same as it did before, with the exceptiion that it requires slightly more effort to put it in gear, but I'm not having any of the issues that you are describing.

I didn't have it done by the dealer, I bought the clutch from them and got a friend to do it.

 

do yourself a favor find a rotary shop that has good reputation then you can save some $ and time and worries, even better way is learn and do everything urself, u'll find out ways soon or later

 

Every time I have changed a clutch (4 and counting) the clutch has been much easier to operate when new, compared to one which needs to be changed. The hydraulic actuator of the RX-7 clutch has less friction and probably more mechanical advantage than cars that just use a clutch cable, so to answer your question, yes, the stock clutch is very light and easy to disengage (compared to Hondas and Volkswagens in my experience).

Does the clutch judder or not fully engage? It sounds like you are pissed about your ride getting ruffled. Did your car have an after-market clutch in it before? If so, that may have been why the pedal felt so stiff. My RX-7 has a stock clutch and the pedal is anything but stiff; it is very light and easy to operate. I prefer it over the stiff clutches that you have to stomp to get to disengage.

*edit* I forgot to mention that many people agree with you: Mazda dealerships suck! It seems that people who know RX-7 cars and how to properly work on them are very seldom found in dealerships or even normal repair shops. A lot of us on this board do our own maintenance and repairs for that reason, but there are a few shops where the RX-7 is a specialty, where mechanics have worked on many, many rotary cars before.

 

You appearently just haven't found a good dealer then. When I had my clutch replaced (as I don't have anything capable of creating 350ft/lbs of torque, nor measuring that much) I brought my aftermarket clutch kit in and they had it done in 3.3 hours. Cost me about $250 CDN with the flywheel machining, but they also replaced some small things here and there as well. They did a great job and the clutch feels great, better than the stock one by far. I trusted them because the mechanic who worked on my car owned a 1st gen himself, as did the local muffler guy who did my exhaust. Maybe there's just more rotary competent people up here, but I'm sure you have some down there too, just search around a little first.

 

I only took mine just once to the dealer whatta memorable experience. Oh well, live and learn.

They stored my FC indoors at night as I had to leave it for 2 days. They washed throughly and really clean.

Of course I paid dearly for the carwash.

 

The previous owner had my car rebuilt and a new clutch put in at the dealer..you know what mine "buzzes" unless the clutch is pressed in..WTF do they do to these cars there? I have replaced 3 rx-7 clutches and never had the problems the dealers create.... ps. 20k into the rebuild and the oil control rings are leaking a bit....

 

Yeah, there are some reliable trustworthy dealerships out there, but in my experience they are few and far between. Its even harder to find one that can work on rotaries. Actually, this is even more true for other repair places, but people mainly bitch about dealerships since they expect more from them, I guess. I found a dealer near me where someone knows about rotaries, but ironically its a Subaru dealership. The sales manager there used to work at a Mazda dealership. He actually photocopied me a few cool things like a suplement to a rotary training video that was put out in '87. (No idea why he still had it) Genearlly speaking, the only way a shop is going to have someone that knows how to work on RX-7's is if someone that works there owns one or used to own one. Its a real bitch for me cause the nearest place that I trust with major work on my car is 2 1/2 hours away.

 

I have never driven any other car with a stick than my rotary, the parts were installed by previous owner, the bonez street comp clutch. It wasn't stiff or anything, just how I liked it. Now since I went back to the OE clutch its very loose, I always heard people talking about stiff clutch when their car is new; I would figure mine would be the same.

Last night I was trying to fix up my intake, I found an old piece of equipment that was either replaced and left in there because they were too lazy to take it out. Well anyways, I'm going back to tell them to fix whats wrong with the idle on the car.

 

never put a stock clucth back in so couldnt really tell you if it should be tight or loose but I did put a centerforce in a guys car one time and it was looser then the stock clutch even after playing with it I would go to the dealer and ask to see what parts they ordered for the job and see if they still have any of your old parts see if they used you old pressure plate some times the cheap ***'s do that its all about the money to them man they dont care if your happy or not they get payed by the hour.

Sad but true............

 

sounds like a pilot bearing or throw out bearing. i had a problem with my 89 gxl that it wouldn't go into any gears and all i had to do was replace the pilot bearing. the noise you are hearing could very well come from the release bearing, the sound should come in and go when you engage the clutch pedal. bleed your clutch and check for leaks to try to get rid of the loose/spongy feel.

 

Yep, I think everyone has bad dealer goof ball stories...
Your not too far from Indy...Shane at AIM here does good work & knows the RX-7's inside & out...
Everyone should aviod dealers when buying, selling or service...
Good luck/skill!

 

i took mine to a local mechanic ( who just lies a whole lot) Had to get the master cylinder replaced... he go aheads and replaces the slave cylinder... and the whole clutch.
and when i got it back (oh yea... bet your *** about this) there was black **** all over my floor board, ALL over my steering wheel, ALL over my hood. ALL in my seat. Oh yea, And my Crusie control didn't work anymore, and the clutch was so loose and made clicking nosies. I looked past all of the bad stuff... but the clutch being lose and clicking made me lose it. Had a lawer walk in there w/ me and my father. I've never heard so many bs excuses before in my life. but he fixed it all for FREE. i got 50% off of the clutch labor. Come out to a total of $400 for everything. I was pretty damn happy about that. Get ya a lawer when ya go back. They gets scared