Looby

Hello guys. Sorry for length ahead of time. I am not really very active but I have a couple problems with my 2004 Mazda 3 Hatch that are pushing me towards getting rid of the car out of utter frustration. I NEED help and no one seems to be able to help.

Car:
2004 Mazda 3 Hatch NON-ABS
DBA 4000 series Clubspec rotors all around
Hawk HPS pads all around
Goodridge SS 4 line kit
Super Blue fluid
under 3,000 miles on everything

Brake Problem:

Basically when light - medium/light pressure is applied brakes are good. Not great but good. when medium to heavy pressure is applied the pedal hit a mechanical feeling "hard" point. pedal cannot be pressed any lower and brake pressure does not increase and i cannot perform a fast stop. basically if i were in need of a "panic stop" i could only get enough stopping power for a casual "granny" stop.

Bled and bled and pedal is firm. I do notice that when cracking bleeder screw the pedal never drops to the floor. it hits that same mechanical feeling point and stops. No bubbles but it doesnt sink any lower. Calipers/pistons appear to operate correctly. I did notice that cranking the adjuster for the parking brake all the way tight makes the initial braking feel much better but has no effect on the other braking.


Any help would be MUCH appreciated. Like i said im almost ready to give up on this car and sell it...

Thanks
Looby



PS:
I know this isn't the clutch/drive train section but ill leave this here too
Clutch Problem:

Clutch seems to catch fully at a VERY extreme height. 1/4 - 1/2" from fully up. Begins to catch, then half engages, then kinda unengages slightly, then fully engages. Doesnt seem to slip or anything like that. can floor it up a hill in 5th and never slips. tried bleeding and replacing slave cylinder to no avail. i have driven dozens of these cars and never felt another car do this.

Diagram
D__dead space_ C HE UE FE U
[----------------------------------]

D - Down
C - Catch
HE - Half engaged
UE - Unengaged
FE - Fully Engage
U - Up

Conrad Hoffman

I disliked the brakes on my '04 since new. I changed over to Hawk HPS pads and was very pleased for a year or so. The car then developed a dragging brake problem. Ultimately changing the calipers fixed it, but what was really interesting was that the braking didn't get really good until the master cylinder was changed. By any measure there was nothing wrong with it, but the new one gave me much better stopping power. The local shop also replaced all four rotors and installed ceramic pads. I was skeptical, but the ceramic pads work as well as the HPS. They also cured a water problem that nothing else could. The car always had trouble stopping in the rain, and the ceramic pads seem completely immune to it.

IMO, you seem to have a mechanical problem with the master cylinder. Not sure about the clutch issue, but it isn't normal. Odd that you seem to have mechanical issues with both clutch and brakes. Some body alignment issue from crash damage?

I never let a post go by without saying the '04 is the worst car I've ever owned in terms of dumb mechanical problems and expensive repairs. I love driving it, but I call it the "do you feel lucky Mazda" because every time I get in I hear a little voice saying, "Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do ya? I could abandon you on the side of the road any time I want. So, do you feel lucky punk?"