Hi,

I have a 2012 Mazda 3 with 74K miles. I bought it used with around 66K miles and lately I have been noticing a squeaking noise coming from the clutch. A bit of background on the noise

1. It doesn't happen/is barely audible when the car is cold (i.e. is just sitting with the engine off)
2. Noise is noticeably louder after I have been driving for 15 minutes or so, if I turn the engine off at this point I can still get the noise to happen when I depress the clutch pedal.
3. The noise sounds like a squeaky door hinge, it happens as I depress or release the clutch. There is no associated vibration with the noise, and it doesn't matter which gear I am in. It only happens when I am actively moving the clutch. If the clutch pedal is fully depressed, or fully released then it doesn't make the noise.
4. I took a video of the noise and uploaded it to youtube . To my ears it sounds like the noise is coming from the area of the slave cylinder and clutch fork.

I am wondering what the problem could be. A bit of research points to either an issue with the slave cylinder, the clutch fork (i.e. needing lubrication) or the throwout bearing. The slave cylinder and clutch fork should be easy to fix, but the throwout bearing would require pulling the engine to be able to access the clutch. At my last oil change the dealer mentioned that the clutch would need replacing soon (although I am not feeling any clutch slippage), and replacing the throwout bearing would be done as part of the clutch replacement. The dealer quoted me a ridiculous price of $1700, but seems like you can get it done for $70-$800 from a reputable third party shop.

If you have any insights as to what the problem might be it would be greatly appreciated!

 

I've seen this problem before a few times, once its been the pedal assembly, and twice its been the gearbox mount. The mount gets warm & soft & moves around & it squeaks when the load goes on & off the clutch/gearbox.

 

I have the exact same problem! Did you get to the bottom of it? I don't know how to approach this problem. Was your clutch indeed almost in need for replacing? I hope those two things are not related..

 

Same squeek on my '12 Skyactiv, just not as loud as in the video. I have 80K miles and assume the clutch is in good shape as I've put over 500K on manual transmissions and haven't had to replace a clutch since the late 1980s. The sound seems to be coming from under the dash. Anyone find a magic place to lube?