JFanaselle

lately when trying any downward throw with the shifter (2nd 4th or reverse), there have been problems. It either needs to be forced in, or it'll feel like it went in fine but will either grind or pop out when I let off the clutch. My car has almost 80,000 on it and I've been hard on clutch since I've owned it (about the last 6,000 or so). It definately needs a new clutch very soon because of all of the slipping required to move from a dead stop, and my friction point has come way up from where it was when I got the car. I'm just hoping there's no permanent damage to to the transmission. Is the new clutch going to fix this? maybe a linkage adjustment? Sometimes the problem doesn't occur, and sometimes it does. It usually doesn't matter if the car is warm or cold, or if I've been running it for awhile or not. The problem is always there, but the severity of the problem varies randomly. Anyone had any problems like this? How about edwin, any input here?

PS I tried to search on the subject and all I returned was threads about performance clutches and short throw shifters so save the negetive remarks everyone.

carguycw

Questions...

1) Does it grind and/or pop out going INTO gear, or once it's already IN gear?
2) If you've been driving in a particular gear for a while, will it pop out of gear when you suddenly lift off or apply more throttle, or does the problem only happen while you're shifting?

JFanaselle

it'll happen during a shift. I'll be shifting from 1st to second for example. I press in the clutch all the way, pull the shifter down to second (some times it goes in smoothly, sometimes it grinds going in) and when I release the clutch, it'll either just make a grinding noise and still be in neutral (like it never went into gear but it's barely making contact still), or it'll pop out unless I hold the shifter in when I step on the gas for the first couple of seconds. I'm now noticing that it happens a little more when the car is hot than when it's cool. think it could be a combination between needing the clutch and some fresh fluid? The parts came today for the clutch, so I'm gonna start tackling that tomorrow night or saturday with a buddy of mine. Anyone tackle replacing a clutch in the 1.6 yet? is it gonna go smoothly, or are there some problems I should know about?

Installshield

Just out of curiostiy how are the engine mounts? The throws you mentioned "push" on the transmission (at least they do on 2.0L, not sure about 1.6L), and may be causing it to bind. It could just be only going partly into gear when the clutch is pressed, because of the engine giving with the force, and then getting kicked out as soon as the clutch is engaged. but as far as the grinding noise in nuetral, I can't remember what component failure causes that, but remember hearing about a clutch related component, so that should go away after the clutch replacement. Also, it sounds like the clutch disk is not fully disengaging if it grinds while trying to select a gear. Hopefully a new clutch will solve all of this.

I had a car that would pop out of 5th when I lifted the throttle and it turned out to be a slew of different internal gearbox problems. But it never grinded going into any gears or anything...For now just replace the clutch and check for any broken or weak mounts, hope that solves it...

JFanaselle

the motor mounts are fine. I was finally able to reproduce the problem for my friend who's a mechanic. He's pretty sure that the new clutch will fix the problem. It seems that when you take off aggressively from a stop (and you have to slip the clutch bad to do so because it's so worn) then it won't go into second. He says that it heats the clutch and it expands. when it expands it smooths out even more than it is, and just slips insead of biting on the pressure plate and stopping like it's supposed to. So i'll tear it apart and replace the clutch on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed!

carguycw

I agree that it's probably the clutch if it only happens while you're shifting. Like Installshield says, if the tranny pops out AFTER it's already in gear, this indicates internal tranny problems (namely bent shifter forks), but I don't think you've got that problem.

BTW I also wouldn't be so confident that "the motor mounts are fine." Engagement problems nonwithstanding, stock Mazda clutches are generally pretty tough and will often survive for 120k+ miles. If your clutch is toast at 80k miles with the less torquey 1.6L engine, this tells me that the former owner beat on the tranny and clutch pretty hard. 99 and 00 Proteges have a notoriously wimpy No. 2 motor mount (the one under the front of the tranny, behind the radiator), and Mazda has replaced the old weak-*ss part with a newer, stronger design (pn# B25D-39-050C). Since you have to remove the No. 2 mount in the process of replacing the clutch, I would recommend being prepared to replace it. A Pro with a broken #2 mount is quite drivable, it just drives much better with a good one.

Good luck with your clutch!

Toru

Is it a really difficult job to replace the front motor mount? I have a 99 Pro sedan and I have a non-critical-but-annoying transmission clunk issue. Once I shift gears, then release the clutch I hear a soft "clunk-clunk" from the front. The dealer claims it's "normal" (of course ) but I wonder if it's motor mount related...

Timing does not matter either, if I shift then leave the clutch in for a few seconds it still does the soft double-clunk when I release it.

BTW, I originally reported this here: http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...&threadid=8584

Update: Dealership parts guy says replacement is easy - three bolts. Price for part is $128CDN. Don't want to drop that unless there is some indication that my clunk is related to that...

JFanaselle

thanks for the info on the mount. I noticed that I'd have to remove it in order to drop that tranny. How much would the mount be from a dealer? Now that I'm pressed for time I'll just have to say screw it either way. I absolutely have to replace the clutch tomorrow. That's the only day i can get my buddy to help me and I had to take a personal day at work to do so. It's either tomorrow, or early april.

carguycw

Replacing the No. 2 mount is cake, as long as you have a safe method of supporting the car and you remember to support the engine before you unbolt the mount. I supported the engine with a floor jack and a block of wood. The mount is held on by three 17mm nuts, one through the center, two at the bottom. The only other part that needs to be removed is one screw that holds the plastic underbody tray in place; I removed it so I could push the tray out of the way and get a socket wrench on the center nut. 10 minutes.

If you're not sure about the condition of the mount, get on your back and inspect it. The aforementioned weak-*ss early mount has two rubber parts, a "donut" around the outside and a round rubber block at the center, with really thin rubber webbing connecting them. The rubber webbing on my mount was completely torn away- the outside and the center parts were no longer connected, so the center part was clunking around inside the outer part. The outside and center parts on the new, stronger mount are connected by two thick rubber bars that look MUCH tougher than the pathetic, skinny webbing on my old mount.

Toru

Without going out to look at it...

If I understand correctly, the bushing has been changed, but not the whole mount? If that is the case is there a reason not to just change the rubber part?

Also, if indeed the bushing is torn apart, I wonder if that would be a drivetrain warranty issue?

carguycw

The rubber parts are bonded into the mount. You can't install the rubber seperately.

BTW I should mention that you can also get urethane AWR No. 1 and No. 2 mounts, and Kartboy is working on some too. You can also use the stock mounts, burn out the rubber and use them to make your own custom urethane mounts. Urethane mounts are stronger than the OEM rubber mounts, but will greatly increase NVH levels. My posts are mainly directed towards people who like the more streetable, less harsh OEM rubber mounts.

Yes, it would be, but JFanaselle's car is a 99. Unless he has an extended warranty, the Mazda 36/50 factory warranty ran out long ago.

JFanaselle

carguycw, you were right on the money. I replaced the clutch today, and when I pulled off the front mount, it was torn apart just like yours. I called the dealer, and they wanted $130, and the local parts store wanted $120. I figure thats a rip-off for that small mount. I went to home depot and got some urethane sealer and squirted a bunch of it in the mount. It's out of the car now drying, and I'll install it again when the urethane dries (probably by tomorrow). Hopefully that'll hold ok until I can afford the new mount. How much are the polyurethane one's that you mentioned from AWR and how would I go about ordering them? I'd be very interested, and I can't see them being as much as the oem ones. But on another note, the car shifts beautifully now with the new clutch. Oh and by the way, my car is a 2000

carguycw

www.awrracing.com

Oh yeah, your car is a 2000. My bad. However, the factory warranty is still expired.