A couple of months ago I drove out of town (a few hundred miles) and when I got home...I started having problems with the clutch. On one occasion the clutch stuck to the floor and I had to manually pull the clutch back up and pump it to be able to drive. After this incident I started noticing that the RPM's would rev up from 1st to 2nd gear. Just recently I found out that I had a leak and my shifter started acting really weird. It is bogging out like it's going to die when I'm shifting into 1st gear then to 2nd. Like it wants to die. All my other gears seem to be shifting fine. This is my first Mazda and I really don't know much about cars. I want to take it to get looked at but I'm a female and I know that I'll get suckered and do not know who to trust to take it to without being charged an arm and a leg. I've been burnt before with my last vehicle. I live in Fresno, CA so if anyone knows of someone trusting and fair that I could take it to get looked at, I would really appreciate it. Any suggestions or ideas of what it could be would be great. Thanks.

 

Is your check engine light on? If so go to an auto parts store, they'll run the codes for free. My '02 is doing something similar, bogging down like it wants to die as I take off in first and when letting the clutch out in second. It's producing 2 codes (bank 1 lean)and (warm up catalyst efficiency below threshold ). Not sure exactly what that means, but my code reader troubleshooting guide (if I interpreted it right) says my catalytic converter is bad. I love my protege and have had it for 5 years. I'll check back to see if you get any better answers. Good luck!

 

Thank you so much for responding. Yes, my check engine light came on about a week ago. I'll take it to Auto Zone tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on the codes. Unfortunately, I've had my Mazda for less than a year but I really love it and want to get it back in tip top shape. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!!

 

Hope you're getting some answers to help you out
, not sure why I didn't think to have you check your brake fluid, I believe the clucth uses the brake fluid to operate. It's hydrolic......I believe. Guy's at Autozone can help you with that too. My problem turned out to be the plastic tube between the air filter to the intake. Completely torn in half. I grilled a service tech at my local dealer and I was able to get the info out of him. He then tried to tell me I had to replace all my sensors, but seem to work fine after a fifty dollar tube was installed.

 

I'm picking up my car today and taking it over to Auto Zone to have them check it out for me. I'm hoping it's something that can be cheaply fixed. lol. Thanks so much for the tips and I'll keep you posted!

 

So I guess the state of California outlawed the auto stores hooking up the diagnostics machine to check codes. I had a mechanic take a look yesterday. He said the master seal needs to be replaced and so much oil leaked on the clutch that I need to replace the clutch. Also, one of the O2 Sensors needs to be replaced. Next step is now I need to find a great deal on a clutch and O2 Sensor. Any suggestions?

 

California sucks(no offence),

I bought a craftsman code reader for around a $100, works great. Also i've had good luck getting Mazda OEM parts from www.mazda-parts.com I'm not sure how it compairs to autozone/oriely's, but i had to replace some suspension components and they were real helpful. I had priced the clutch, think it was around $185-200. Did the mechanic say anything about the flywheel, or pilot bearing. I'm pretty sure you should replace all three or you may not get much life out of the new clutch. i'm currently getting ready to start pricing the O2 sensors myself. check engine light came back on for the exhaust catalyst below threashold again. I either have a bad O2 sensor in the exhaust or i have a bad catalitic converter(@ $950 for the converter lets hope its not that).

You might see if one of the community colleges or technical institutes in your area have automotive classes. They repair cars for the price of the parts. All the kids doing the work are getting instruction from factory trained teacher/technitions so the programs are pretty good. save you some $ on the repair costs. Also a great place to get diagnostics as for they're not going to try to sucker you for more repairs than you need.

Oh and you will probably want to get the main seal replace to so it doesnt continue leaking on the new clutch.

Sorry it wasnt something simple. Hope you get it fixed and back on the road.

keep me posted,
jeromie

 

Hey Jeromie,

Ok, so I took my car into the shop on Monday and this is what I've found out so far. (Mind you this is the 3rd mechanic that I've had look at my car and actually has a shop )

They replaced the Air Intake Boot. The mechanic said it was completely shot. Once they replaced that part, he said my car is running smoothly.....not bogging and jerking. Only thing that still worries him is that the pedal is very stiff and easy to engage. 3rd gear is also feeling funny. This doesn't surprise me b/c that's exactly what I was thinking when I bought the car. Still the same problem. I thought it was just me though. lol. So now he is going to check into whether or not he needs to bleed it and if that will help.

As for the leak....he hasn't mentioned anything to me as of yet and still nothing on the clutch. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the clutch doesn't need to be replaced. So far my bill for parts is up $90 (not bad at all). I'm hoping to keep the bill as low as possible. I'll keep you posted.

-Nickey

 

Glad to hear.that you're not out much money so far. Good luck on getting more answers. Keep me posted.

Jeromie

 

Aside from the pedal issues, can your tell if the clutch is slipping after the car is in gear?

If the clutch is holding then you may be lucky enough to get away with just having the clutch master/slave cylinders replaced. I just replaced mine - did the work myself abd it cost about $65 total. Not sure what a shop would charge.