Mazda 3 2.0 2014 Skyactiv - Mazda 3 2014 - Harsh Vibration pulling away

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Tue 27 Mar 2018 10:28
Mazda 3 2.0 2014 Skyactiv - Mazda 3 2014 - Harsh Vibration pulling away - MZAT

Hi,

My 2014 Mazda 3 has become increasinly annoying in the mornings with pulling away in 1st on cold/damp days only.

Its basically as described in the 'What to watch out for' section - 14-9-2016: Report of juddering from drivetrain of 2014 Mazda3 2.0 Skyactiv when letting clutch out first thing in the morning (particularly when damp), even on gentle take-up with few revs. The juddering goes once car driven for a few minutes and clutch take-up becomes smooth. (Might have a DMF.)

I'm wondering if anyone has any experiance of this? I've never had clutch issues with any car i've owned, my understanding is these have a DMF which are known to have issues but is this something I should just accept and learn to live with or take it to the dealer (I still have extended warrenty)

Any experiances or advice welcome.

Cheers!

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Tue 27 Mar 2018 11:06
Mazda 3 2.0 2014 Skyactiv - Mazda 3 2014 - Harsh Vibration pulling away - SLO76
Common issue with Japanese cars particularly Honda and sometimes Mazda (wonder if they share clutch suppliers) is clutch judder when cold. I personally believe it’s contamination on the clutch plate as it feels exactly the same as the judder I encountered with a VW Caddy van a number of years back. VW replaced it at just under 3yrs old and 20,000 miles for free staying that the input shaft seal had failed allowing oil to contaminate the clutch.

I’ve had several that’ve done this to varying degrees including our current Honda CRV which had a new clutch fitted free by Honda a few months back. It cured the severe judder from cold but after a few months it began to show up again. It’s not as bad as it was but is still irritating on £26k worth of car and backs up my suggestion to our Honda dealer that the same fault exists as our VW van but they deny this. The clutch is being contaminated somehow either by oil or possibly condensation which quickly burns off as you use it.

You stating that yours is worse on wet mornings further backs up my belief that somehow condensation is causing this judder until it burns off and the car is fine. Sadly at 4yrs old you’re out of manufacturer warranty and I doubt you’ll get any goodwill on a clutch that judders only when cold.

It is sadly a common characteristic on many Japanese cars, one which they never seem to take seriously. It’s put me off buying another CRV. I doubt it has anything to do with the DMF as these petrol models aren’t hard on them plus you’d typically hear it breaking up first before noticing and judder.

Edited by SLO76 on 27/03/2018 at 11:08

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Tue 27 Mar 2018 11:17
Mazda 3 2.0 2014 Skyactiv - Mazda 3 2014 - Harsh Vibration pulling away - skidpan

My BMW 118D had a little clutch judder on cold damp mornings. Once I had pulled off the drive and then pulled off the street and changed gear a few times it disapeared, by the time I stopped at the junction in the village there was no problem. If it was warm and or dry no issue at all. Was like it for probably 3 or 4 years.

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Tue 27 Mar 2018 12:36
Mazda 3 2.0 2014 Skyactiv - Mazda 3 2014 - Harsh Vibration pulling away - FP

I have had this on my Mazda CX-5. I consistently avoid the worse effects of it by keeping the revs fairly high when engaging the clutch and letting it up gently. Fortunately, where I live it's pretty flat whichever direction I go. When the car's warm it's never a problem.

These last few days it seems to have virtually disappeared; this morning, for example, I wasn't aware of it at all. As SLO says (and I read it elsewhere), clutch judder it seems can be caused by dampness (i.e. condensation) on the clutch plates.

Edited by FP on 27/03/2018 at 13:32

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Tue 27 Mar 2018 19:10
Mazda 3 2.0 2014 Skyactiv - Mazda 3 2014 - Harsh Vibration pulling away - Sprice

As SLO mentioned, this does seem to be a problem with Japanese cars. My last car, a 63 plate Civic 1.6 diesel did this when first pulling off after being parked overnight. What did help, was if I revved it a few times with the clutch pedal pressed, my thinking being it would help fling off any moisture!

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