unclebuz

I've got 7000 miles on my 5spd P5 and I've notice a clutch stutter.
In first gear with no throttle I slowly release the clutch and it stutters in/out. Does the same thing in reverse. Anyone else feel it on theirs? I don't recall if it always did it...

silver_p5_owner

Mine has done this a few times. I think it's a fluke that happens every once in while when your engine rpms and release speed aren't matched well. Usually it's happend when I've been tired and not paying attention to getting the car going from a stop. 99.999999 % of the time it's smooth as silk whether a fast or slow launch.

Jeff M.

unclebuz

I am going to the dealership today. Mine does it all the time. I'm not sure if it should. It occurs when I slowly release the clutch and do not press on the throttle or if I give it too little throttle. Screw it, I'll just do my WOT starts!! More fun anyway!!!

Doomer_MP3

Am I missing something or is this completely normal? "if I do not press on the throttle" or "give it too little throttle". Both things are going to make your car begin to stall and probably cause vibrations all over the place. I get this too when I'm not thinking straight and do a poor launch. Usually when I'm hungover .

Chris

Ambient

Its completely normal and happens on all manual cars...

There have been posts on this before. Let me guess, this is your first manual car.

unclebuz

Nope. I learned to drive on a 66 chevy 3 on the tree pickup. Had a mustang GT, 300zx, MG, Ranger, Explorer, Corolla, EXP, Prelude, to name a few. Of course, I've burned a few brain cells too so maybe I just don't recall them doing it. It feels funky like it's grabbing but not, ya know? Still runs fine and grabs at about 800rpm. I don't feel it in my sister's saturn. "F" it though. I reported it to the dealership and have record of it so I'm covered.
Thanks for your responses...you're right, it's probably me. It sucks getting old!

Ambient

Good deal, hope everything works out for you.

big_ben

I have the same problem in the morning's. I think it is a problem with the synchro's. When I was in an autox, my MP3 kept poppong out og gear in the corners. I still kicked *** though! Now I have almost 200hp from my turbo and it slips like crazy now.

Carlos

My clutch has also shown a tendency to chatter when cold. Usually on the first -less than full throttle- clutch use of the day (and, no, its not doing it because Im not giving it enough gas). A couple a times it has chattered pretty violently where you can really hear and feel the clutch skipping, pounding away pretty violently. When it develops to that point there's really no option but to push the clutch all the way in and stop accellerating, even if your in the middle of the road. Usually at that point Im only going maybe 5 miles an hour.

Does anyone out there with experience know if this could be related to weak pressure plate/springs that may not be allowing the clutch disk to engage with enough pressure. In my experience with older cars, this chattering has happened with worn or autoparts store aftermarket replacement clutches.

cabane

Yup, same problem with my 2001 ES... I actually started a thread with a slightly different subject a few weeks ago (Clutch chatter). It does it mostly when it's cold, but it also does it when warm. I was in traffic the other day and it started acting up. I brought it to the dealer 2 weeks ago and they told me that they have had many client's complaining about the problem... in fact there had already been 3 others earlier in the week. They however didn't do anything to fix it, instead told me that they were waiting for something official from Mazda... I did mention that there was a TSB for the miata which had the same problem, but yet they still haven't done anything about it.

I think that I'm going to have to call mazda direct...

stocker

Well this morning when pulling away from a stop sign 10 feet from my house, I noticed my clutch give 2 hiccups, next stop sign it did it again. As the clutch warmed up it stopped. But still, it's not normal. I will mention it to my dealership when she goes in for an oil change.

Anyone get any responses to this from the dealership yet?

Stocker.

Sil_Pro5

I too also have this and no its NOT the driver! My friend had it occur while he was driving as well as another friend of mine who owns a 02 SE-R SpecV and of coruse began making fun of the quality of my car. (jokes on him though as anyone whos ever been in an SE-R SpecV knows how cheap the interior is.)

anyways, it happens on my car almost regardless of the amount of throttle used. Does it at 2500 rpms even. someone else actually got their dealer to fix it and the dealer said its due to a bad flywheel. Something about that during the heat tempering process something went awry and the result is "hotspots" on the flywheel that causes "chatter" when trying to engage the clutch. This chatter occurs until the flywheel is heated uniformly. This is definetely something Mazda HAS to fix IMO!

unclebuz

anyone think it might be the motor mounts? 4-bangers are known to vibrate and maybe the mounts are designed to absorb too much of the vibration and causes a shift in the engine/transaxle that causes what feels like clutch stutter. Just a thought! BTW...put in a ractive intake...SWEET!!!

stocker

I know a clutch stutter when I feel one. You don't drive an 88 dodge colt for 4 years without figuring out what clutch problems really mean.
Stocker.

DaleK

The motor mounts are really soft in our cars, but the effect of that is different than the clutch chatter. I have the chatter too when the car is cold (fairly intermittently, but it happens at least a couple times a week). As stocker said, you will know it.

I am expecting to get my clutch replaced in about 3 weeks. At Northill they said they have 'only' had 3 P5s so far that they have done the clutch on it. Others have said that this problem exists with certain model year miatas too.

Azrakain was the one who said he got his flywheel replaced for hotspots which caused the problem (that makes sense to me). Northill said they will replace the clutch, and machine the flywheel, and replace the flywheel also if it is no good.

Anyone who has this issue, report it to your dealer and work with them on a solution. Clutch chatter is not normal.