So, at 47.5k miles on my car the entire transmission decided to start giving out slowly. The car is stock and I don’t drive it crazy. Tons of MS6 owners keep having the same issue.
The dealer said “Mazda is sending us a brand new tranny, do you want to do the clutch/flywheel since the labor is already covered in the transmission replacement?”
So, I have some choices…
The clutch pedal has slowly lowered as the clutch has worn down over the last 50k miles but I’ve had ZERO problems with it gripping or slipping, even under heavy load. Do I tell them “no thanks.” despite the cost of doing it later being $800, due to the whole subframe having to be dropped making it a PITA install? It could last 50k more miles, or it could be 2k miles away from starting to slip… it’s impossible to tell…
They quoted me $525 for a stock clutch, re-using the flywheel.
I can get an ACT Street Clutch and 20% lighter than stock flywheel for $715 shipped, as a second option.
What would you do if your car had 50k miles on it? Would you spend the cash, even though the parts are O.K. at the moment, so you can save the labor costs later of having to do it all over again? $500+ is a lot of cash… I wasn’t planning on spending the money, but it almost seems like a good idea to get it out of the way.
I was talking to someone just now who said “Aftermarket clutches aren’t Dual Mass like the stock MS6” and he said “putting a lightened flywheel may wear out your transmission earlier and if I was you I’d just replace the clutch. Perhaps upgrade the clutch alone to a 6-puck instead.”
I hate being stuck deciding this in less than a day.
They mentioned that they could get me a clutch for $525 or I was more than allowed to bring one of my own. The guy knew there were only two options for the car… I’m guessing he’s had a few MS3 people come in to get upgrades. The clutches are the same between the MS3 and MS6.
The clutch replacement and warranty is an interesting thing to think about. I wonder what kind of warranty you’d get on a replacement clutch by a dealer… 12k miles? That’s what it was on the car originally.
But if you just drive it and not beat on it I would get stock. you wont like the firmer pedal. chances are, after only 12k miles, mazda will be putting another tranny in eventually, so your priorities may change by then
plus if you sell it an aftermarket clutch will hurt resale.
They told me they would, that’s why I’m at a quandary. I really want to upgrade since it’ll be free labor, but at the same time I don’t want to put a 20% lighter flywheel in that isn’t a dual mass just because it is available.
I want to because of the performance gains of it, as well as a stiffer and more aggressive clutch though. I would love to take off from a stop from 4k RPM… LOL
What made you say they won’t install it? They offered…
Upgrade but only because for an extra $200 I would rather have a new flywheel as well. You could then resurface the old one and sell it and make back a good chunk of the extra coin.
I didn’t think you could resurface a dual-mass flywheel? That’s a sweet idea though. I’m sure someone on here knows someone who could do that, if it’s actually possible.
My brain is so fried from reading, I don’t even want to start thinking about finding out that information now… or costs associated with machining something.
Ahhhhh it is a dual mass. Well this is quite debated and most people/shops are going to say it can not be done. I do know some people do clean theirs up using various techniques but I can not say it is smart or not. I will leave this one to the professionals.
I’m not too worried though. I can see it going either way, sadly.
I go OEM, get the warranty and just go on living normally with my stock car. I spend $525 and I have confidence for 12,000 miles I’m safe.
OR, I go ACT and enjoy the car a little more. It has a better feel, a little more vibration which I would love to feel, better grip and the lightened flywheel makes me feel even more as though I’m driving. Of course, there is no warranty associated with the parts or install… so there is risk.
Having a car is risky, right? Just turn the key every day, drive down the road and hope for the best.
I drive the snot out of my cars and expect them to break. That is just how I roll so I would deff go for the upgrade and do awd heaters. Then it will blow up something else…about 3-4 years later I would end up in some 600hp fully built MS6 but I have severe issues
So you have a glass transmission and you think upgrading the clutch so you can do 4k clutch dumpn launches on it is a good idea? Mazda probably offered to install the aftermarket clutch just so they could stop warrantying your trans.
Put a new stock one in it and be done with it. I really doubt those 50k miles were easy miles. The clutch probably doesn’t have THAT much life left.
Absolutely get it done. The big cost of doing your clutch/FW when it does go is R&R of the trans. You’ll kick yourself when it starts slipping in 20k miles and you have to pay to do it anyway.
50k is hardly new on a wear part, esp. if those haven’t been highway miles.
