Clutch slipping at 17,700 miles!

[Mark 02dx]

I don't believe it... My clutch is slipping! It's felt a little "soft" for about a week now, but tonight I could definitely tell it's slipping.

Now, before anyone says anything, I've been driving stickshift cars for 15 years. I drive fast, but I do not abuse the clutch. I've never worn out a clutch before.

It's going into the dealership tomorrow, and I'll see what they have to say, but does anyone know of any clutch issues, other than the chatter (which my car never had)? Sticky hydraulics, anything like that that could make it slip?

I don't mind telling you, I'm pretty disappointed with Mazda right now. There's no excuse for a clutch going out at 17k, especially the way I drive.

[hihoslva]

It happens, man.

My 93 Miata lost the clutch after only about a year and less than 15k miles. Repaired under warranty - and I owned the car until 80,000 miles without a hint of clutch trouble.

Get it warranteed, and consider it "just one of those things" that happens. That's what warrantees are for.

~HH

[03MSP]

Are clutches covered by the manufacturer warranty? I thought it was just one of those things that "wear down" so it wouldn't be covered.

[Mark 02dx]

Update:

OK, now I'm really confused. I didn't drive it all weekend. Brought it to the dealer today, they looked at it & couldn't find anything wrong. So they road-tested it, and then compared it to a brand-new one, and said there was no difference.

So they call me up, tell me it's fine, and I'm like, "no way." So I went back out there, took a little drive with the mechanic riding along, and sure enough, now there's nothing wrong! What the hell?! No slip, no mushy pedal, everything back to normal. Still feels a little "different," but maybe it's just me.

So I tell the mechanic, "I felt it slip, I swear I did. I even smelled it a couple times." He says, "well, if something happens again, just come back."

All I can think is that something was hanging up somewhere (slave cylinder or maybe the throwout bearing) and by poking around at it, they popped it loose & it started engaging all the way again. I guess all I can do is wait to see if it happens again...

Oh, and BTW, I looked it up. Clutch wear is not covered on the warranty, but if something breaks that CAUSES the clutch to go out, collateral damage kind of thing, then they'll replace it.

On a semi-related note: My loaner for the day was an '03 Pro DX automatic. I'm going to change to the 03 cupholders as soon as I can, and I'm considering getting something cheap with an automatic, just for bombing thru rush-hour traffic with. It's sooo much easier. (or maybe I'm just getting lazier as I'm getting older...)