Clutch fails after 9,000 miles!!

[bearymore]

My wife was driving home on Friday night when the clutch failed. She smelled a burning smell and then disengagement between the engine and the wheels. When she pulled off the road, she could not even restart the car. It's now at the dealer for repair. Mazda asked them to tear down the car until they discover the cause of the problem, which makes me nervous.

This is kind of a shock. Our other car is a '93 Miata which we bought new and is still on its original clutch after almost 100,000 miles. I never dreamed we'd have problems with a Mazda clutch.

I've felt since the beginning that the car did not get the gas mileage it should have. It has always seemed peppy enough and I haven't noticed any clutch slippage, so I haven't a clue.

Any similar experiences?

 

[NYMZ5]

yikes. please let us know how this turns out.

 

[Mazda5wannabe]

This certainly isn't a usual thing for any of the Japanese cars. It sounds like Mazda is interested in what went wrong too.

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

LOL I remember a Mazda 6 tranny which packed it in early in life and was torn apart and they had found some loose bolts and it was the bolts that did in the tranny

 

[bearymore]

Well, we got the car back with a new clutch, casing at all. They said they found no reason for the failure.

I wonder?

 

[mazdadude]

So was the clutch worn down or did it come apart?

If it was worn down, I would suspect it was either driving style such as resting your foot on clutch pedal, mis aligned floor mat, etc., or a possible leak that allowed fluid on to the clutch disc.

If the disc came apart then that is most likely a manufacturing defect.

I would really want to know what caused it because I would not want to have to pay for it when it is off warranty. Does anyone know if you would have to pay for it if it happened after the 12 month, 12k warranty is up?

 

[jandree22]

Does anyone know if you would have to pay for it if it happened after the 12 month, 12k warranty is up?

What happened to 4/50k warranty for the '06?

 

[bearymore]

So was the clutch worn down or did it come apart?

If it was worn down, I would suspect it was either driving style such as resting your foot on clutch pedal, mis aligned floor mat, etc., or a possible leak that allowed fluid on to the clutch disc.

If the disc came apart then that is most likely a manufacturing defect.

I would really want to know what caused it because I would not want to have to pay for it when it is off warranty. Does anyone know if you would have to pay for it if it happened after the 12 month, 12k warranty is up?

My wife didn't ask and they didn't say. I would imagine that it wasn't a worn disc, though. I drove the car the day before and there was no evidence of slippage, nor at any time before that. Both of us have been driving manuals since the 1960's and haven't experienced any significant clutch problems (we even got a Ford Pinto to reach 50,000 miles before needing a new clutch), so I doubt it's technique. I'm also guessing its more than worn discs -- the whole mechanism was replaced including the cover and the flywheel. Sounds like some kind of catastrophic internal failure to me.

As for the warranty, the 2006 warranty is for 48 months or 50,000 miles. The 2007 has a powertrain warranty for 60 months or 60,000 miles. Where is a 12k mile warranty in effect?

 

[mazdadude]

What happened to 4/50k warranty for the '06?

From what I understand with Mazda warranty, for first 12k everything is covered including adjustments. After that, "normal wear" items such as brake linings, clutch lining, filters, tires, etc. are not covered.

Since they replaced the housing, it sounds like a catostrophic failure.

Thanks for the update!

 

[jandree22]

Ah ic... makes sense. Glad you got your 5 back bearymore, certainly doesn't sound like you caused the problem.