STULER

Has anyone on here replaced a clutch off a 2nd gen??? I was wondering if I should do it myself or just pay the Mazda dealership to do it.?? WOuld it be worth paying for.??? Im looking in my CLYmers manual and it says you have to remove the exhuast, starter, and all this other stuff to just get the transmission out.??? I really dont want to have to mess around with it.

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

If you don't want to mess around with it, then pay someone to do it. Its not that hard but will take a good day.

novaktim

not that hard to do just takes time i just changed mine and saved alot of money as the shops around me cheapest i found was 1800 to change the clutch . dependant on how much they will charge you if they want 800 or more i'd change it myself

Dedlyvirus

i just got done with mine. its not hard to do, it just takes alot of time. you do have to remove the exhaust, driveshaft, all the heat shields, the starter and the clutch slave cylinde,. unplug the wiring harness to the transmission and remove the speedometer sensor and the shifter. once the transmission is ready to come out, you need a jack to help lower it down. its only 5 bolts that holds the transmission to the engine.
the clutch comes out pretty easy, just take out some screws holding the pressure plate to the flywheel. once you are in there though, you need to look at the flywheel. it made need to be resurfaced, or replaced. to get that off, is an entire different job if you haven't done it before.
like i said, i just got done with mine, and am still working on it. this was the first time that i have ever replaced a clutch on anything and this is my first rx7. i can try and help with whatever questions you have because i learned alot and got a lot of new tools to help make it easier for me.
but, if you want to bring it some place and have them do it, they'll get it done faster and save you the trouble of doing it yourself, but it will cost more.

black1991

pay someone to do it' I've replaced mine before its not hard, beats the time and mess you will make and any shop can do it with out any problems

thejallenator

iTrader: (14)

if you know how to turn a wrech just go for it. its gunna be a bit of work but hey its well worth the money you will save. if you do it yourself your lookin at like 200-300 bucks. depending on what kinda clutch you want to stick in it. but shouldnt be too bad. and its WAY easier than doing it in a FWD car thats for sure

STULER

Well heres what im thinking. I spoke with my old autos teacher from high school which i graduated a few years back. he said he would let me use the lift if i needed it. he also said he would help for a little bit after his classes were done so im thinking about just having him help and ill pay him a lil $$$ for this inconvienece. it just would be a huge help to have a car lift.

NCZ13

1800? thats around 17 hours of tech labor?

it cost me 450 to have the clutch done on my fwd protege5.

STULER

the mazda dealership quoted me $600 to put in my clutch. i just dont want to fork over that much if i dont have to .

novaktim

where i'm at the mazda dealership wont even quote me as they say they dont have anyone able or willing to deal with anything with a rotary including the rx-8's , just not much options around here so they can charge what they want , the 1800 was from the local transmission shop , they wanted 800 for the clutch alone plus labor and they wont install parts not purchased from them, was just easier to do myself

kendark2light

iTrader: (1)

i hate dealships thats real funny tho your new rx8 can't be serviced here cuz its different lol good luck i normly don't have problems with it but some time getting the trans to re-aline is hard took me 3 hours trying on my 89 and with me 88 it just slid right in

farberio

iTrader: (7)

Wow...that dealer sux!

thejallenator

iTrader: (14)

this sounds like your best bet! without a lift its a b word.. luckily my grandfather has one

NOPISTONS?

Sounds like your not very familiar with auto repair. Haveing a shop do it may be your best bet. You may want to call around or try to meet some guy's at smaller shops. I do custom exhuast at my shop and guy's are surprised what we know and do at our hole in the wall. Go to any car event or your nearest track and see where people take their cars. You should build a repor with someone, haveing a pro do it and them spotting any problems, oil leaks, and just having a warrenty on the job is nice. I don't want to talk you out of learning anything but if you don't have the tools or anything else to drive you may bite off more than you can chew.

STULER

Trust me.... I have the tools. And the time. My dad has built many engines and transmissions and replaced a few clutches. he just hates working on imports. he likes the american muscles. But hes willing to help out. I think i might do it myself.

fast2g

okay its seriously very simple to take out the transmission make sure you got the car lifted really high(unless you have a lift) it only like six bolt plus the drive shaft and exhaust. take it from me i did it with some help it was easy. on a scale of 1-10 like a 4. the only problem i encoutered was putting the tranny back on the engine. what happened was that when the tranny was pulled out the engine tilted forward causing the tranny splines not to aling with the flywheel it was hell but heres what i did, take the jack that the car brings and put it on the pulley on the bottom of the engine simply jack it up. it helps alot. but yeah if a 17 year old kid can do it with his father trust me its not that hard if you have the simple skills to work on a car.

STULER

OIkay........................ So im not so sure its the clutch. It doesnt really grind when i put it into gear. just kinda has a hard time going into second and third and sometimes you have to really force the shifter in. most times it doesnt do this but once in a while it does. and it makes a little popping noise sometimes when i put it in second and third. not a grind though. What could it be. i was thinking shifter linkage but i looked at the manual and these cars dont have shifter linkage. So i dont know. any ideas???

Dedlyvirus

maybe its the synchros in the transmission that align the gears so you can shift smoothly from gear to gear.