It's hard to say. Some things others report as increasing the difficulty of shifting from 1-2 on mazda transmissions (in no particular order):

• old tranny fluid (probably not your problem if your dealer already pulled open your transmission.)
• synchromesh and/or bushing mechanical problems in the transmission
• shifter mechanism bushing problem (worn/misaligned?)
• a cold transmission
• trying to force the shift too fast (?)

I'm not an expert, probably some possibilities I don't know about.

A MT clutch should definitely not be going out at 21000 miles unless it has been criminally abused, so I guess now you know someone at your dealer thought that you suck as a MT driver, assuming you're the original driver. I'd probably be a little miffed, although I suppose from the perspective of a mechanic, you'll cynically call them based on past experience, on a hunch, so maybe they weren't intentionally dissing you.

Clutch work isn't covered by warranty, but it sounds like they agreed after inspecting it that it wasn't a clutch problem. Does that mean their inconclusive diagnostic was covered under warranty? I hope so..

 

Since I have been driving a MT for 20+ years and never killed one I am pretty sure it's not me abusing it. I am the original owner. They did not pull the transmission. They told me there was a hole they could stick their finger in and feel the clutch. Well I put it up on a lift yesterday and 3 of us could find no such window. So I think the dealership was not so truthful?

You are right clutch work is not covered. But they said they would replace it anyways because it was premature wear. I do not think they were planning on being so honest with Mazda about what is or is not wrong with the clutch in order to warranty it. So now I feel I am in a catch 22. Drive it until it is toast and then pay for it? Or let them pull it apart now, hope they find what is actually wrong with it and pay for it. I may go to another dealership and see what they say. I do not want them doing "warranty" work that will come back to haunt me.

Thanks for your thoughts on possible issues. They are some of the same things I have been thinking about.

 

My guess is your have a bad slave cylinder. And no there is no such "hole" to check if a clutch is worn. The presser plate covers the whole clutch disk. There is only one way to say a clutch is worn out and that is if it is slipping and you pull the trans out to see it. There is a clutch release fork that has a rubber boot around it that is what moves the bearing but you can not see the clutch from this hole.

But on the slave cylinder if air gets past the seal in it that will make it not push all the way on the release fork causing the transmission not to disengage the the clutch fully and causing the grinding you are talking about. That is about the easiest thing I can think of to change with out it being something inside the trans causing the issue.

But based on what you have said about this dealership I would not take a car to them. They seem kinda shady.

 

+1

I had a Ford Ranger that had the same issues. Basically, it was a Mazda. Slave cylinder will do this and it won't get better.

 

It seems to be an incredible loophole for Mazda to be able to point to possible "user misuse or improper use" or whatever in terms of not covering clutch repair under warranty. Auto Tranny goes out in the warranty period and most likely you won't have problems with it being covered, but I have read on other forums etc. (edmunds etc.) about people having similar problems with pre-mature clutch failure in the 2010 Mazda 3's and the warranty not covering it. Their logic I guess is that many people will not know how to properly operate a manual transmission, or it will be a new teenage driver learning on it, thus if it fails early, it must be their fault thus not covered. This is ultimately BS though. A good clutch should not fail early unless it has been seriously abused and improperly operated. I learned to drive at 15 on an old VW bug with a monstrous clutch that took a year of brutal punishment from me and continued to give me trouble free driving for 3 years after until I sold it. You shouldn't be having problems with your clutch period. This is some BS and if it were me and I was having clutch trouble on a new 20k mile old 2010 car, I would raise hell. Its supposed to be a 60k mile power train warranty. If they aren't going to cover something like the clutch going out within the warranty period, what is the point of having the warranty?

 

This is some BS and if it were me and I was having clutch trouble on a new 20k mile old 2010 car, I would raise hell. Its supposed to be a 60k mile power train warranty. If they aren't going to cover something like the clutch going out within the warranty period, what is the point of having the warranty?

Because they consider the clutch a normal wear item and while it is excluded from that warranty it does have its own warranty under the break in / adjustment period which is i believe 9000 miles or 12 months... whichever comes first.

 

I've actually got the same problem. A few times it just wont go into second or go into second very easily causing my hand to slip and making it to go back to neutral and like you I have to let the clutch out then in again. There is no grinding of the gears, it just feels like the gear is just not connecting. I've also got a problem with reverse not going in when I start the car, it just wont go in at all while every other gear will, like it can't get past the point where reverse would connect. And the only way to fix it is like what I have to do when second doesn't go in, release and reengage the clutch.

 

My reverse does this too! My friends always give me shit for it, but sometimes I'll press the clutch in and it just won't connect all the way through. I have it put it into neutral and clutch in again and try again. It's weird because it's only when I start the car.

 

I canceled my appointment with the dealership. Now I guess I need to make a decision what to do.

While I am not happy to hear that you are having the same issue Pancake, I am glad to know it's not just me. Have you brought your car to a dealership to be looked at? How many miles on your car?

 

I have not taken it in yet but I plan on talking to them about it when I take it in for an oil change in the coming month ( I get them for free :cheesy: ) but if it continues to get worse it'll be going in before than for sure. The car only has ~5100 miles on it so it should not under any circumstances be "worn out". I just think that the collar cannot match the speed of the gear quick enough on second gear and I have no idea what is going on with my problem of not being able to go into reverse sometimes.

 

I get that but still, clutch problems at 20k miles is not due to 'normal wear'. I have read numerous reports of this problem at Edmunds townhall and other places online and it is beyond me how a company like Mazda that is supposed to have the 'soul of a sports car' could be producing lackluster clutches.

 

I have a similar problem with putting mine into reverse. Will bring it up with Mazda when I go for my 1st oil change next month. I'll let you know if they have any positive (or negative) feedback.

If they try the "misuse" excuse on me, I will likely start yelling haha

 

I searched and found another Mazda forum where owners are having the same issues. One of them had their transmission pulled and the synchro replaced. One guy said they replaced the sychros and 3 gears.

I called my dealership and the service manager said he would call the Mazda tech line. I haven't heard back from him.

 

A bunch of people have said that redline mt 90 or royal purple max gear 75w90 works well to fix a notchy manual in our cars. I'm gonna be trying it probably this weekend

 

I also had a problem with the 2nd not going in even if clutch pedal was bottomed out....
But now I had to bring my mazda 3 2010 gs in for a clutch and they want 1285$ for the repairs the car has only 24k on it and my old 15 years old sunbird ...had its original clutch for the 5 years i had it ...
theirs something wrong here...

 

great,
now i am concerned about my GT with 4700 miles on it, 2nd gear is far from smooth and reverse sometimes takes some work. And I have never owned an automatic if it matters

 

I'm coming in late to this but I posted a thread about this a couple months ago when it wasn't a prevalent issue. Since my original post, I am more and more convinced that the 2010 manuals have defects, mostly centered on the 2nd and 3rd gears. My car has 5k miles and the 2nd gear has "grinded" on me in every sort of driving situation before. It hasn't as of late so I just let it go but I really don't want a clutch problem down the road..maybe we need some sort of a petition to gain greater recognition for this problem, and get it fixed without coming out of Mazda3 owners pockets.

 

Can't recall if I posted in this or not. I know our transmissions don't like cold and will do it when cold. It should get better when the transmission gets warm. Mine does this even though I replaced the fluid. Even with the 2nd gear grind 3rd gear clunk there wasn't an above normal amount of wear metal in the transmission fluid I replaced. My 2008 sedan (2.0l 5spd) and 2010 hatch (2.5l 6spd) had the same 1-2 and 2-3 issues. Reverse issue I correct by either trying 1st or 2nd then going to reverse. If that doesn't work i move forward a bit or roll back a bit and it goes in no problem.

 

I'm thinking of replacing the oil in my 6speed MT.

I've seen many times reference to Redline MT90 (75W-90 GL4), please excuse my ignorance but how will it be different from the factory oil 75W-80 GL4? I guess viscosity will be lower...

I'm also having a little bit of inconvenience when shifting. What kind of improvement should I expect?

How easy is the transfluid to flush out and replace? I just would like to make sure I'm doing this right.

Is there someone kind enough to help a noob? I would appreciate feedback from people who've done this.

Thanks a lot!

 

no the mt 90 is thicker. I used the RP maxgear 75w90 and it works fine but I still have some notchiness. It's not hard to do. remove the undercover, put a pan under the transmission. undo the 23mm bolt on the bottom, undo the 23mm bolt on the side and it drains quick. replace the lower bolt then fill with 3.02 quarts of fluid or until it starts coming out the fill hole as that indicates full (lol). replace the side bolt then replace the plastic undercover. It's simple BUT make sure you have long enough tubing. I felt happy I had a the SRI because I ran the fluid down the tube and into the xmission using one of those attachments that screw to the bottle and you can start/stop the flow. If you don't have the SRI I suggest removing the airbox otherwise it could be a pain.

Like I said I didn't see much metal in the fluid. I let it settle for about 2 hours. I've been running the RP for about 6k miles. I believe I changed it back near 23k miles. I drive a lot.... 29k miles since december 18th

 

Thanks a lot.

I just had a mazda tech on the phone about this issue and he told me that for the 1st gen, mazda recommended to remove 1 liter off transfluid and replace by 1 liter of AT transfluid...weird!

 

If you think that's weird some MT use just motor oil. Not sure of their reasoning on that. MT90 is what most people use and I'd have used it too if it was available locally. =/

 

I'll probably try what Mazda has to offer and see if it makes any difference...but I doubt. I finally found a local retailer for the Redline product (not cheap although), at the end I'll most likely try that.

I'm still confused on the benefit of a thicker oil. Mine shifts a little rougher when cold and it improves as it warms up. This is getting really cold here (eastern canada), I had though that the lower the viscosity the better it would be but I don't really know how this MT works and how it could be affected by oil.

 

I am going through the same problem with my Mazda 3. Clutch failure with 12000 miles and Mazda wont do anything! Cost will likely be out of pocket. This BS. Anyone else with this problem???

 

What kind of clutch failure?

 

So has anybody had any luck with bringing their MZ3 in for the clutch?
What do you say for them to even look at it, and what is their response?

 

I'm also having a problem with 2nd gear. Every once in a while, going from 1st to 2nd I get a grinding noise. At first I thought it was me, but I know it's not me as it only happens when shifting from 1st to 2nd and no other gears. It never happens going from 3rd to 2nd either.

I've been driving manual for 24 years now and have never, ever had to replace any of my clutches. And I drive a lot. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents. There really is a problem. I just hope Mazda steps up and fixes it.

BeEvil

 

If you're not going slow enough, 2nd gear will grind a little...but only when downshifting. It seems to be some kind of safety feature so you don't destroy your trans.

 

I have always had a slight "soft grind" going from first into second, but it is intermittent. My OCD makes me really hate this car sometimes. I have had it happen, hot, cold, fast slow, no matter what the situation, it happens from time to time. I know that it will inevitably lead to me paying for a really expensive repair further down the road, when it is clearly a design flaw.

BeEvil, hello from TM3!

I have taken my car to the dealer, mainly to start a paper trail. I can live with the other small niggles of the car, the squeaks, and crappy paint, but the transmission bugs me worse than anything, even the terrible paint. It makes me regret I ever bought the car, I may sell it next fall and buy my dad's 2009 V6 Rav4 off him. 0 issues with it, minus the crappy interior.

EDIT...this never happens when downshifting into second gear. We all need to start making noise. up shifting from 2-3 has some odd hesitation from time to time, but it is not as much of a concern for me.

 

Hey Pacmann33,

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Never downshifting and it's totally intermitent. Doesn't matter how careful you are trying to be. If it's going to grind it just will. No matter what you are doing. I find it seems to happen a bit more often when I'm performing a turn and shifting from first to second. Does this seem to happen to you? Also, do you have a short shifter installed? I do and I'm affraid that the dealership is going to blame that. But I know it was doing it before I installed it.

BeEvil

 

I forgot to add, I have switched to redline MT-90, and it was an improvement, but it is not going to fix a poorly designed transmission.

 

I had the same problem, when I first got the car last JAN I grinned 2nd so much. I couldn't believe i was missing 2nd so much. Well the play in the shift is outrageous so I got JBrones short shift kit and BAM no more missing 2nd. I swear I have not missed 2nd sense then its been 10 months.

Love the way my car drives and sounds! MAZDA!