06 Mazda 3 clutch problem
 

The clutch is slipping on my friend's car with less than 80k even though I know they granny drive it and don't ride the clutch.

I found it wierd that the engagement point is sooooo high on the pedal and the pedal is feather light.

Can you guys suggest a shop in Van/Bby that deals with Mazdas all the time and is totally reliable (courtesy car - bonus)?

I'm going to take a look at it myself before it gets to that, just to check the fluid levels and see if there are any leaks.

I took a quick peek under the hood and couldn't find the clutch master/reservoir. Is the res. remote mounted under some cover or something?

Also, I couldn't see how to adjust the pedal freeplay. Looks like there's a cable hooked to the pedal - unlike on a Honda, where you would see the adjustable rod/locknut.

Please advise.

Thanks.

Unlike Hondas, there's only 1 fluid reservoir for both clutch and brake on the mazda3's.

with a high engagement point, and a soft pedal, it might be that they have a habit of resting their foot on the clutch pedal when they are driving, and with the light pressure plate resistance, this might cause the clutch to slightly disengage which would increase wear a fair bit i would imagine.

My co workers Mazda 3 did the same thing, he ended up getting a new clutch under warrenty. I Dont exactly recall what was wrong but i think he experienced excessive clutch wear and he is a pretty good driver in terms of clutch riding.

His pedal was fairly heavy before and after the replacement it was pretty light.

High clutch engagement is generally something that happens when the clutch starts to wear out. BMW came out with a SAC to prevent that (self adjusting clutch) where the pressureplate compensates for wear. To my knowledge i dont think the mazda has this.

I would check for visual leaks, perhaps your slave cylinder is leaking or one of the lines going to it is leaking.

Depending on your mileage i would take it back to the dealership and have them look at it. It may be covered under your powertrain warrenty still depending on what it is.

I will add, a lot of people seem to complain about clutch engagement on the MS3/Mazda3. AFAIK its not adjustble in the MS3/3 only in the MS6

Thanks a lot guys. Thought I was going retarded not finding the clutch res. or being able to adj. the freeplay.

Which dealerships have you guys had good experiences with as far as recall repairs and good service?