1990 Mazda protege se 1.8 SOHC with 5 speed M (jerky 1'st gear engagement)
 

ISSUE:Jerks when going into 1'st gear and reverse
Hi everyone, iv'e been doing up my Mazda for a few months and have got it running beautifully. It only has 128.000 miles on it, and for some reason i cant get the clutch to engage properly, iv'e made sure its been properly bled and i think i need to adjust the pedal? i know that i need a new engine mount, the one by the left/ front of the engine, i haven't seen the clutch itself but the previous owner said it was hardly used after he replaced it and then parked it for many years. I flushed the transmission and put the specified gear oil in and checked it with the speedometer gear, i also re did the timing and belt and tension-er and put new water and oil pump gaskets, new CV axles and rebuilt the disk and drum brakes, and put new bushings all around, new tie-rods and some other stuff, would any of this contribute to the issue? Any info would be great! I cant seem to find much information specifically for my year only 2000's+ for some reason.

So, i was driving today and i noticed that if i release the clutch really really slow and gentle it wouldn't shake, but so slow that in normal traffic it would be impractical i think, like 15 seconds of engagement? Thanks again my friends! Also i let the car warm up really well before I start to drive. It isn't worse if i don't, but if it helps that's how iv'e been starting its driving around.

So this is embarrassing! turns out i had cyl #'s 2 and 4's spark plug wires crossed up. Fixed it immediately! i hope this helps someone in the future

Thanks for posting the update. Sorry that no one posted a recommendation.

It does seem that the fix for a Mazda is far simpler than for other brands.

I'm just glad that the forum exists man haha, thank you and don't be sorry! and this car is hands down the most fun to work on, almost like it was designed to be redone, sometimes on some other vehicles its a gauntlet. thanks again