5th gear clutch slip/deglazing?

M

MacheteJames

Greenie N00B Member
Looks like my clutch is finally on its way out after 111,000 miles. It's had a long life at 280whp, so it has done its duty and then some. Right now, it's only slipping at WOT in 5th gear, which isn't something I need frequently, and is still holding at all other times. Two questions

- Would it be worth trying Enki's clutch deglazing technique to try to give the disc a little more life? i.e. letting the clutch out when rolling up to a stoplight a few times

- What's the consensus right now on the best value clutch replacement? LUK/Fidanza is definitely the winner from a $ perspective, but I've heard that the pedal feel isn't as good as OEM.

I can just park the car if I need to, as I no longer daily it, but hoping to get this job done at a shop sometime over the winter so it'll ready to roll in the spring.
 
After a couple of sessions testing out the deglazing technique, followed by a few highway WOT runs in 4th and 5th, I can report that it seems to have worked. In the first of the 5th gear pulls, there was a brief RPM jump, but then it caught and pulled normally. All subsequent pulls were normal. Hopefully this'll buy some time to allow me to save for a dual mass flywheel, because I really do like the feel that feel that it imparts to the powertrain.
 
MacheteJames said:
Hopefully this'll buy some time to allow me to save for a dual mass flywheel, because I really do like the feel that feel that it imparts to the powertrain.
Click to expand...

If this helps at all, here’s the Luk flywheel. Quite a bit cheaper than buying it from Mazda (and I’m guessing it’s identical). RockAuto sells it too.

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Two weeks on since the deglazing and I'm still holding full power in 4th and 5th with no slip. Shit is miraculous. I'll get the clutch taken care of sometime in 2022, but it's far from a dire situation at this point given that the car isn't a DD.

Before I pull the trigger on a flywheel, I still want to hear more from LUK/Fidanza users on the driving experience with that setup, versus the factory LUK DMF.
 
I chose the Luk/Fidenza for my MS6. With the new setup, taking off from a stop is smoother without the rubber band effect that the dual mass can sometimes provide. Engagement when pulling away hard is much more direct. The pedal pressure is light, I would prefer a little stiffer pedal when banging through the gears but for regular driving it is fine. Cost and ease of future replacement are also valuable, I dont know if I would trust a DM flywheel after a resurface. Mine barely passed Mazdas runout requirements @ 80ooomi anyways.
 
Well I just installed that pair in mine. I needed a slave cylinder too, oem $$$ so rolled the dice and got this rock auto FTE 3101023.
Seems fine, a pia to bleed. Used a Harbor freight compressor (air) to vacuum bleed kit. Just have a quart of fluid on hand. Starter when first engagement of flywheel has a different noise.... Since clutch assembly is now much lighter. Engagement sweet spot with my parts appears just slightly narrower than stock. I like to play with pedals anyway. Just remember less rotating mass. Do not forget to save all your old rubber o-rings!!! One is a square donut looking one that sits in very bottom of slave. It goes into the pipe end, can stay inside old one. Screenshot_20211120-174348.png
 
Chatter? None. I don't side step pedal. Always modulate slip point & no load shifts. Actually while in motion less flywheel mass = better rev matching between shifts too.
 
Chatter is not loud, I can only hear it when the A/C compressor kicks in. Other wise its quiet. Even when the trans is chattering, I only notice if Im against a building with the window down, like in a drive thru. But it is there. Like Cfoldone said, rev matching is quick and sweet.
 
I have been running my Luk/Fidanza setup since my motor build (30k mile) and everything has been great. Car free revs faster, rev matches MUCH better, and overall a great experience. No chatter that I have noticed but I also haven't used my AC due to a broken off bolt in the firewall. Honestly my clutch is just about right but still wanting it to still rev faster and be more racecar haha I vote this combo as a great mild performance upgrade.
 
Still holding boost in all gears now - which makes me wonder if the clutch and flywheel are actually fine, and that what I really have is an intermittent rear main seal leak. No evidence of this on the dipstick, though.
 
@Enki what's your clutch deglaze technique usually I'm good at findingthe posts / threads but not tonight. is it as simple as just riding the clutch a bit rolling up to a stop a few times?
 
Full throttle and dump the clutch in fifth



J/k don't do that

Speed up downshift and ride the clutch on the downshift
 
This technique bought me two extra years of clutch life FWIW. It did eventually fail and would not hold boost at all even in 3rd, but the deglazing delayed it for some time.
 
Why are pings not working for me anymore?
But yeah, do a lot of engine braking with slippage after a downshift. Takes about a week or so.
 
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