I have recently changed my clutch, release bearing and pressure plate. All was well until I picked up a shudder whenever I pull off. I took my Astina in and was told that both my front and rear engine mountings needs to be replaced. I purchased the original mountings from the Mazda dealers and fitted them. The shudder was gone! But guess what! The shudder returned about a week later. I took the car to the Mazda dealers and they checked my engine mountings again. The engine mountings checked out fine! They told me that my flywheel might not have been skimmed and therefore a high spot on it might be causing the shudder. For the time being I have set my clutch to take up high. I found that the car does not shudder that bad when the clutch takes high.

Anyone of you had similar problems?

I got my 1.8 about 10 months ago with 25k on the clock.
It's just got to 40 and for the last month or two, I've been getting the same problem, but only for the first two or three pull-aways.
Almost seems like something needs to warm up ?

My clutch take-up is also and always has been on high too.

Wondered if my clutch was about to wave bye bye, but maybe not.

Would like to sort it, but I think your Mazda chums have got pound signs in their eyes !!

So hopefully, there's a good(cheap) answer out there.

I really hope so. Last night I set the clutch down so that it takes quicker.

i second that...

when mines been left outside overnight it judders for first few pull offs on the clutch, but wen its garaged its fine

so just something thats still cold?

I also have all the aforementioned symptoms on my 1800ba, ie high clutch drive take-up and judder when the engine is cold, disappearing when the engine has warmed.

One of the main causes of this, is gearbox oil leaking through the clutch release bearing seal, and contaminating the clutch friction material, it only takes a very small amount of oil to cause clutch judder, and you probably wont notice any significant loss of gearbox oil. The oil on the friction material becomes very hot, mixes with the friction material residue, forming a thick gooey glue-like substance which causes the clutch to grab and release very quickly and repetitively whilst cold hence " judder" , then once the engine becomes hot, it thins and burns off .
I accept it as part of the cars character, that is to say adjust your driving technique to compensate, thus it has never caused me any real problems.
C`mon guys we are 323f ba drivers not li`l old ladies

Thats seems to be an excellent explanation and, in fact, I've already adjusted the way I drive to compensate, but sometimes I forget and the juddering does cheese me off!
I imagine replacing the seal would neither be easy nor cheap, so I guess I can live with it (for a while).

Thanks for the help.

Okay! I took my car to the local Mazda dealer today. It is not my clutch but my front engine mounting that is causing the shudder! I replaced both front and rear mountings just over a month ago. Can you believe it. The front mounting is not torn. Maybe the rubber compound is too soft? It is a genuine mounting aswell!

knowing mazda they prob fitted the wrong mount! that mount in your car probably belongs to an RX7!!

:D

Maybe you're right! I am taking it off 2night.

It should be covered by a warranty - take it back and throw it at them (that's a joke by the way, don't throw it at them ).


Mark

Yes. We will see what happens 2morrow.

I replaced my front engine mounting this weekend and all is well.

Excellent Well done.


Mark

Well, about two weeks ago the shudder on pull off came and said hi again! I checked my mountings and could not find anything visually wrong. Last weekend I took off the front engine mounting and found it to be very soft (same as the previous mounting). You can actually pull the mounting up and down to it limits with your hand. So once again I fitted my home made solid mounting and took the original mounting back to the Mazda. I spoke to the technicians at Mazda and they asked me again if I have a performance clutch fitted. I informed them that I do not have a performance clutch fitted. They did not replace the mounting because they still think I have a performance clutch fitted. Can you believe this?

So last week I made a few calls and found a place called Suspension Parts that sells engine mountings and rubber bushes. I paid them a visit and informed them about my problem. It so turns out that they also make custom mountings. So last week I took my soft original mounting to them. They only need the casing so that they can mould the new solid mounting made out of polyurethane.

The price difference between the genuine part and the custom part are as follows:
Genuine Mazda front engine mounting R198 (£17 est.)
Custom high performance engine mounting R395 (£35 est.)

I am going to collect my new engine mounting today. Will post a pic of how it looks.

glad to hear you are getting there

I just came back from Suspension Parts with my new mounting. No point in posting a pic due to the fact that it looks almost identical to the original. I'll fit it tonight and then see how it goes.

Somewhere on the net there's a guide on how to make your own 323 engine mounts - don't know where though It's on one of the 323/protege websites.

Good luck with the new mounting.

Mark

Well... All is going well with my new polyurethane mounting. But now another mounting appeared to be buggered. During my cam belt change I did myself not so long ago, I found that the mounting by the cam belt that had to be loosened was cracked right around. Yesterday I had a look at my bud Eben's Astina and noticed that his mounting bracket bolted onto the top of the mounting was about 10mm higher than mine. So yesterday I called the Mazda dealers and I was told that a new mounting will cost me about R1300 (£122.40 est). This was way to expensive for me. Today I paid a visit to Suspension Parts and bought one of their mountings to replace my buggered one and paid only R500 (£47 est) for it. I'll fit it tonight and hopefully my mounting problems is a thing of the past.

Last night I fitted the new engine mounting and all is well. Took me about 30 mintutes to fit.

Nice one matey

Any improvement over that standard ones, or is it just how it should be?


Mark

[quote]Any improvement over that standard ones, or is it just how it should be?[/quote]
I am not to sure. The new mounting feels more solid and at least I can pull off fast again and change to 2nd gear with minimal movement of my Astina's engine.

Here is a pic of the mounting that I replaced.
[img]http://static.flickr.com/16/88472994_e08de10dba.jpg[/img]

I have this problem with tasha's car, Automatic, the only thing is the garage told me it was one of the mountings that had split, quote to repair was £170, only thing is he didnt specify which one was split, though am sure it is the same one as you have there.

Yet another job to do lol