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Hi guys and thanks in advance for any help you can give!
So starting from the beginning I bought a 2006 Mazda 3 2.3 back in January with around 98 000 KM at the time and I couldn’t be happier with it. I knew when buying it after my due diligence that everything was running fine and all it needed was new brakes and a new suspension, other than that it ran like a dream.
After driving it for about 10 000 km I started it one day and over the course of a week I noticed that the engine idle and acceleration were starting to get rough and laboured and the clutch was getting quite stiff at times and normal at other but mostly stiff. Eventually on the 5th day I got a 2 codes, one for a slight leak in the evap and a second for running lean at idle bank 1 (sorry cant remember code numbers atm). I knew that the Mazda 3’s were notorious for the canister purge valve getting stuck so I replaced it and the codes have never come back since. I also traced the line for corrosion or cracks all the way back to the canister and then blew the line and the canister out with an A/C. The canister did not appear to be clogged and the rollover valve and filler neck all appeared to be in good order. The only problem is that I was still experiencing bad engine performance/idle/clutch issues.
At the time I was working crazy hours in and out of my city so I didnt have time to further investigate it myself so I took it to the Mazda dealer and asked them to diagnose the issue while I was working out of town. I told them all of the issues i was having and asked them to make sure the clutch side wasn’t being caused by the master/slave cylinder just to be sure. They called me a couple days later saying they couldn’t find anything wrong with my car….. so i told them to keep looking as the degree of severity changed from drive to drive and by length of drive. After a while they called me back and said they were sure 100% it was my clutch because it didn’t stall out when they started it in 3rd gear. I kinda felt they were just feeding me lip service but i decided to show some trust anyways and let them do their thing as my free time to do it myself was very limited. They proceeded to tell me that a whole new clutch kit install would take 9 hours and cost me $2000 which I proceeded to give a good belly aching laugh at. I told them I would do it myself in 6 hours whilst drinking beer with my fiends and in the end I grudgingly agreed to $1600 (I know I got ripped off).
After I got the car back I started it up and the engine was running worse than ever (mostly because they didn’t reset the ecu) and the clutch had absolutely no pressure to it (I would step on it and it would fall right to the floor and then daintily come back up) and i couldn’t even feel where it would catch when I shifted gears. I brought it right back to them and they told me the car was running great and this was all normal. I didn’t have the energy to fight them on it and I had to head back out of town for work again so a few weeks later when I was home I brought it to the shop that I had the brakes/rotors and suspension work done at so they could take care of some lingering issues (leaking power steering hose, wheel alignment, balancing) and to also check the clutch and engine. Again I got the run around. They were happy to take care of all the easy issues but in the end they told me they didn’t feel anything was wrong with the clutch and the problems I was having were all engine related and after their “diagnosis” they told me they couldn’t figure out what was causing it and that I should “just wait for it to get worse”.
After all of this nonsense I’ve decided to get to the bottom of this myself. Ill outline all of the symptoms I’ve been having below as well as all the work that the shops and I myself have done and hopefully this might ring a bell with one of you gents as to what my issue might be.
Engine Symptoms:
– Rough idle (Used to lope but not anymore after some work but its still pretty bad. Mostly noticeable at around 700 rpm)
– Lack of power during acceleration (Unless i give it alot of gas, especially noticeable in 4th gear)
– Hard to drive slow in lower gears in parking lots for instance. (When I’m just creeping along and start accelerating it feels like its choking a little and its definitely heard in the exhaust. Throughty, basey sound and feels like it almost wants to stall) **car always starts with no problems and has never once stalled for any reason**
– Would momentarily lose acceleration during sharper turns. (This hasn’t been happening for a while now)
– Power steering would feel harder than it should be. (Not so much of a problem now but i still notice that sometimes its better than others)
– Ticking noise and shaking in engine. (This seems to get better and worse with the more work I do. I’m checking into the possibility that it could be the air shutters in my intake manifold as opposed to the lifters tomorrow)
– Fuel economy isn’t as good as it was when I first started driving it.
– Compared to when everything was running fine my braking distance/responsiveness seems to be out of sync with the transmission.
– Depending on how rough the engine is running the A/C sounds like a dying robot when I turn it on.Clutch Symptoms:
– Clutch releases very high compared to before. The dealership told me they installed an OEM as well. Once I’m in gear it feels like don’t have the range of travel that I did compared to when it was running good. When manoeuvring through traffic its easy to accidentally release the clutch to quickly at the end and have it slam into gear. it needs to be feathered carefully right before I take my foot off.
– Feels really firm at times and a little more normal at others. When its stiff my foot is sore by the time i get home from work its that bad.
– Shifting gears feel more difficult than it should when the clutch is stiff, again when its at its worst my hand can hurt from shifting during a long trip.
** Today when I was doing some work on it I noticed that there is a loud air sucking noise every time i release the clutch so I’m beginning to believe again the master/slave was the culprit. Let me know what you think**Work done by shops:
– Brake pads/rotors
– Front and rear springs
– Clutch Kit / Machined Flywheel
– Power steering hose replacement / bleedWork done by myself:
– MAF clean with sensorclean (continuity check/voltage check)
– MAP clean with sensorclean (continuity check/voltage check)
– EGR clean/hose clean with carb cleaner/gasket replaced (tested with 9 volt battery/continuity check/voltage check)
– EVAP purge valve replacement/ hose clean (tested with 9 volt battery/continuity check/voltage check. also checked lines and charcoal canister)
– Throttle body clean with carb cleaner ** was careful not to damage it ** (tested TPS and it seems ok but whenever the car it turned to ON position it makes a buzzing noise. I think this is ok but could it possibly be too much voltage and nneds to have its own ground?)
– Changed spark plugs with recommended NGK’s. Bought 2 pairs to test with, one factory gapped and the other gapped to 0.050 as per Haynes manual recommendation. (they never have evidence of harsh operation)
– Tested ignition coils (ohm test as well as pulling them to listen for consistent drop in idle)
– Fuel injectors (ohm tested, and spray pattern seemed ok)
– Changed air filter. (no obstructions in box)
– Checked for vacuum leaks EVERYWHERE with carb cleaner as well as a MAP gas tourch from work (Im a plumber/gasfitter 😉 )
– Checked for exhaust leaks
– Changed upstream O2 sensor
– Coolant change
– Regular oil changes
– Tested battery at local Partsource. Snapon scanner said it was “OK” but at the lower end of being ok. He recommended putting it on a trickle charger overnight. Cold cranks never dropped below 10V when i tested it was well. Alternator was charging as well (around 14 something volts)
– Cleaned chassis ground connections.Things to note:
– Slight oil leak at top left hand rear of engine, up and behind engine from crankshaft position sensor
– Oil isn’t being burned and level stays consistent
– I always reset the ECM by disconnecting the battery and then wire harness for at least 10 min after all work i do
– I havent recieved a single code since the EVAP although I’ve noticed that when I check my OBD2 scanner during my work the EVAP never passed the emissions test. Unsure if this is caused by the vacuum system or something else.
– I noticed my serpentine belt wear indicator is just about all the way down as of late and they need to be replaced. Havent got around to it yet
– I bought a fuel pressure gauge but unfortunately it was for a schrader vale ….which i dont have …. that test is pendingSorry for this being so long winded but I wanted to be thorough. Thanks for any advice you can give.
Cheers.
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Replies
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– I havent recieved a single code since the EVAP although I’ve noticed that when I check my OBD2 scanner during my work the EVAP never passed the emissions test. Unsure if this is caused by the vacuum system or something else….
I have hear that sometimes it takes like 20 miles of driving before it gets fully readyI would of cource rec you not use carb cleaner on throdle body… they ahve specail cleaners for them
I sorta dout that it is a feul pressure issue… you could try a compression test and see if that says anything dout it does but you can try it out…
now you say you are not getting any codes correct??? if you are check freeze frame data… or you can see if you have live data and see if that shows you anythingsorry about I dont know to much about manual trans so I cant help you to much with that.. but sounds like to me they dont know what they are doing or are not feeling like they want to redo there work… you can always take it to another shop and see what they say
also when you replace your belt also check your tenchenor too.. and be ready to by it… I uselly see them go bad when the belt is at its end of lifeIll be buying a compression gauge pretty soon but im pretty sure that isnt the issue. doesnt hurt to check though right. unfortunately i dont have a scanner to check live sensor data but im thinking of inducing a simple DTC to get some freeze frame but that such an unreliable way of going about it. thanks for the tensioner tip too, it was part of my plan to check that when i do the serpantine.
As far as the clutch goes.. did you check to see if the master or slave cylinders are leaking? Might need to adjust the engagement on the clutch pedal if the travel doesn’t feel right. ETCG has a video on that.
I just put a clutch in my Honda this winter, the clutch manufacturer recommended adjusting the travel after 700 miles. Sure enough, after 700 miles it did need a pretty significant adjustment. Needed more travel. Just sitting at idle, with clutch in, car in gear, the clutch was starting to engage. I set the throw a little too short. Now I have the adjustment a little too long. A couple turns makes a big difference.
Of course, if you have a leaking clutch master cylinder, you’ll have some other issues. Clutch not engaging or disengaging, pedal staying on the floor. Hard shifting, since you are shifting with no clutching. Clutch could be slipping too I suppose. Just go out and look and see if the reservoir is full.
Unfortunately the Mazda 3 hydraulic clutch isn’t adjustable, believe me I wish it were. So far there wasnt any signs of leakage either but Im going to pull the boot back on the slave today and remove the battery tray to look at the master and see whats going on in there. Ill post back later with the results. If anyone has any ideas for the engine too id be much appreciated.
Yeah… A quick google and it turns out it isn’t.
Did find this tho: http://www.consumerclasslawyersblog.com/2015/02/18/mazda3-owners-clutch-problems-replacement-premature-failure-fault/
It’s for 2010 and newer. Your is an 06. I have an 06 too. It’s the car the wife drives. I will say the clutched does feel odd and inconsistent. Sometimes it seems ‘normal’ other times the engagement does seem short and stiff.
It’s got 120k miles. So about 65k kilometers. I will say it’s not as nice engagement as my honda or 5.0.
If nothing weird is going on with the master of slave, might want to look on one of the any Mazda 3 forums. There are lots of clutch combining there.
You know the funny thing is I had my eye on a Mazda 3 or a Golf for a really long time and everything i had heard was about avoiding the automatic ford transmissions because they were garbage but the manuals were supposedly rated as “one of the best every reviewed by consumer reports”. Such a disappointment. Then again if it is just the master/slave then ill hold my tongue and see how long this new clutch lasts once its running properly.
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the Mazda 3. Having owned it for 8 years, I can’t complain about anything mechanically going wrong. The only issue I had was replacing the forward O2 sensor and maintenance items. Struts, brakes, tires. That damn rear window wiper arm. But, it’s not a comfortable car to get in and drive for long trips and the interior plastic is crappy and breaks all the time.
It’s one of those cars, you test drive it and it seems peppy, sporty, but just isn’t a thrilling purchase for long-term. Oh yeah, it rusts like it’s been sitting in the ocean for a year.
This really is the nightmare! Lol.
The only advice I can offer os from my past experience, and basically goes along the lines of finding a progressive auto tuning shop, for at least your clutch issues, but it does seem you’re no stranger to working on your own car.
One thing is for sure though, the service department at your local stealership can’t be trusted to do more than the basics, my family and I have had bad experiences with a few of the major brands.
I wish you the best of luck!
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