Mazda 5 Speed Q's

[brock71]

New to the Ranger world. I recently bought a 2001 4.0L, 4wd. Supposed to have had a new clutch in it not long ago. It has 42K mi. Was a test vehicle for a brake supplier.

Seems to me the clutch engages high. Dealer service mgr drove it and said it was normal.

I can't get it to "lock up" if I get on it hard from a stop. Almost felt like slippage. Got a squeek out of the tires on launch while RPM sort of held about 3500 and speed increased "slowly". Someone told me the is an oriface in the hydraulic line preventing a rapid clutch release from happening. Could that be true?

Finally I have a slight buzz feeling in the shifter if I shift fast 2-3. If I downshift 4-3 I never have felt it. I'm thinking I have a syncro problem. Seems to be a bit balky in every gear. Maybe that's "normal" too?

Seems like a lot going on here. Though it drives fine and If I overlook these issues it may go a long long time before needing any work. Just don't know. HELP PLEASE .

 

[AllanD]

Ok, first:

The clutch actuation... FORGET everything you have ever heard about
"clutches are supposed to grab right off the floor"

It's a hydraulic clutch it ain't gonna behave like that and if it did it might not completely release.

Pay attention to where it releases and only push the pedal 1/2-3/4" past
that point to shift.

as for spinning the wheels the computer KNOWS when the pedal is
depressed and "censors" what the engine will do when the clutch
is even slightly depressed

while it's possible you have a hydraulic problem it is quite possible
that it's "user inputs" that are at fault... I'd actually need to see
the truck (and possibly see you drive it to tell for sure)

IT's equally possible you have a faulty hydraulic component or a pinched/kinked
clutch line or foreign material in the coupling... etc... I can only guess via computer screen.

Next the "buzz" going into 3rd (and if you pay close attention 2nd)
The "dog teeth" on 2nd & 3rd on 2002-up transmissions have
"assymetrically cut" synchro teeth.

the basic resiult of this is that on a quick upshift the teeth on the "slider"
are fully engaged against the gear BEFORE the synchro ring is forced into
engagement with the cone.

If I could show you the pieces (a picture wouldn't do it) you'd understand.

But basically you need to "adapt" your own shift technique
for 2nd and 3rd gear upshifting

My recommendation is be more forceful with the shift lever going into 3rd

With the assymetrical cut teeth it's kinda difficult to "feel" the synchros
engage and feel it into gear.

On DOWNSHIFTING the carbon fiber faced synchro ring is really "grabby"
against the gear cone and the synchro rings are extreemly durable
(they can actually wear the steel cone on the gear!)

It mostly just takes some getting used to...


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[brock71]

Mazda 5 Sped Q's

Thanks for the very informative and compelte response. Sounds like it's all "nornal".
However, if I did want to go further on investigfating the hydraulic circuit is that something the dealer is liekly to be able to diagnose reliably or is it likely I'd take it back several times and never really know and maybe be recommended to replace the master cylinder etc for no good reason?