clutch clicking and notchy ?

[ejh]

I could seem to find something similar posted elsewhere/

I am having what I think is a clicking sound with my clutch, accompanied by minor notchiness. It is 4-6 clicks as the pedal gets pushed towards the bottom. When it clicks, the pedal sort of sticks, or is notchy, rather than a smooth motion.

I have isolated the clicking to the engine compartment, in the front center under the hood. I can't seem to get at any moving parts though, to see if something is catching somewhere.

I can't hear anything when the engine is running, but I can feel the pedal move in notches as it gets near the floor? It is hard to feel with thicker shoes.

There is no impact on actual clutch operation.

My car is a 2008 Mazda3 with 17.5k miles.

Any thoughts?
Is this normal, and I am just noticing it?

Thanks.

 

[lucaspl88]

hmmm... sounds like a throw out bearing...

 

[ejh]

Car went to the dealer today, which was a waste.

They said they fixed it by lubing a hinge (keeper? Can't remember).

As soon as I got the car, it was acting worse. The bottom 1/3 of the clutch pedal is notchy and not smooth, accompanied by a clicking type sound in the actually clutch, like something is catching in there.

The dealer kept the car and will take out the tranny and clutch tomorrow to inspect the clutch assembly. They said something about needing authorization for this, which seems like crap.

 

[ejh]

second day at the dealer they actually took things apart and found the ball joint/hinge where the clutch lever connects was never lubed at the factory. It was dry ans rusty. Mechanic said he never saw that before and its a one in a million bad situation. The clutch is working great now, maybe better than when new. I am told now that is properly lubed ans sealed back up that it should never be a problem again. We'll see.