eric-prk

Well, I picked up an 06.5 from the dealer about 2 months ago, only other one on the lot was an RS4, so I got one of the last. Anyways, love it, just broke 3,000 miles. I searched some, but didn't find anything relevant to my issues...

Its going in for service on Thursday, but wondering if other people had experienced similar issues, and what ended up being the problem.

First off, pretty much since the first week I've noticed little things about clutch disengagement, at first it was only occasionally, but now its become a real nusance. Clutch pedal has slight vibration, especially during engagement, feels like a T/O bearing going bad. I also have had a very hard time finding reverse or first lately, will do the standard. Release and re-depress pedal, blip the throttle, go to a different gear and try for reverse again. Eventually get it, sometimes after 4-5 tries. It feels like it goes part way in, and gets caught on a gate or something, same thing with first. And lately reverse engagement is accompanied by a loud CLUNK. Shifting through all gears feels very notchy, never driven another xB, but its feels worse then day 1.

Secondly, the idle is erratic sometimes, and ALWAYS when the A/C is on. Now that its getting hot here, A/C is in normal use now. So it'll jump between around 300-400 and then idle up to about 1k, and then drop back down, about a second spent at each rpm range. Sometimes I think its gonna die, cause the car will start to shake, due to very low rpm.

But its going into the local dealer Thursday, and I'll let you guys know what the diagnoses was.

I'm on Tein S.Techs and removed snorkel, will either of these cause warranty issues??

Thanks...

biancoxb

hmm removed snorkel and the teins shouldnt be noticeable, most mechanics or service reps wont sell out customers for aftermarket parts only when the aftermarket parts are deliberatly causing the problem that the warranty has to cover, most of the time I dont even think they notice if they are there or certain parts removed

andrewdustin

the idling thing is normal, as far as i know. mine does the samething when the ac is on. the clutch thing i am not sure about. i don't usually have any problem with first but sometimes reverse can be alittle tricky, i always figured it was because there is not a syncronizer on that gear. let us know what the dealer says.

superboxcarxb

the idle is like that on mine too. i don't use the ac at all. i never had a problem with my clutch.

13edge

I'm pretty hard on the clutch, but I haven't experienced any vibrations (06.5). The idle thing I always figured was normal as I experience it too. I'm interested in hearing what they say.

MadMike550

my idle with the ac on..is similar..the idle drops a bit..but does mot vary to 1k and down to 400 rpm

as far as the shifting goes. mine shifts great..I got 37K on it now..and no troubles..everything is smooth..

hope that helps

hotbox05

yeah these cars cannot idle at 300-400 rpm ....

superboxcarxb

mine idles normal at 700, with the ac it goes to about 500 to 600. I think it means it's dead when it gets to 400.

Scorpius01

The idle surges becuase the compressor is engaging and disengaging. A huge power requirement is needed to engage the magnetic clutch of the compressor. The rpm surge is so the load from the compressor doesn't stop the engine every time the compessor cycles on. Every car does this. idle is 700 rpm and a 300-400 rpm spike is normal

The reverse grind is when the gears are not aligned, since reverse has no gear synchronizer you have to shift into first gear or move a little in first gear to align the gears without grinding on a front wheel drive transaxle. This is a trait of front wheel drive transxles.


There is slight vibration on all 1nz-fe manual transmissioned motors on clutch engagement in the clutch pedal. A bad throwout bearing would be sqealing at idle (clutch pedal released), and go away when the clutch pedal is depressed.

eric-prk

Ya, I assumed the spike was from the compressor turning on and off, but it seemed to be a little more then normal to me, as I've never had another car surge like this.

I know theres no synchros in reverse, but I have trouble finding gears more then just 1st/reverse. Today I couldn't get 2nd either. Personally I feel theres a issue, but maybe its just normal. I would hope not, cause that would be very dissappointing.

From my experience with bad TO bearings, they don't always squel, I have seen that trait. But I've seen it happen both ways.

Ya, first fwd car, but when I test drove other stuff the tranny was much smoother.

mrsocks

clutch release assemblies seem to be very problematic on these cars (see mine and other's posts in driveline). as for idle, mine is very erratic even when a/c is off.

superboxcarxb

mine runs smooth. only when i have all the electrical stuff on and it's raining and i'm in heavy traffic, is when it starts to get a little rough...but that's once in a lifetime, so i don't really have any issues with my clutch.

Braveliltoaster

I know exactly what you are talking about...mine will do the same thing. The gears grinding and is a _____ to get into reverse or 1st. I havent taken it to the dealer because i didnt feel like hearing all their stupid bull____. I think I may have to. i was thinking about running the Redline Synthetic MT-90 fluid. I have heard that helps out a bit.

mrsocks

i notice too, that you really have to have the clutch pedal ALL the way to the floor. mine has been this way since day one. i like the seat all the way back, but to avoid grinding, i run it forward one notch. now i can feel the pedal 'hit the stops'.

vintage42

My clutch is very smooth, and engages far from the floor.That is what happens if you try to put in it reverse if the car has any motion at all. You must have one foot on the brake to put it in reverse. Why in the world would you blip the throttle?My transmission shifts like butter. I hang my fingers over the Zeta Gen 2 armrest and let them gently move the shifter. The shifter almost falls into the gears by itself.

It sounds like your use of the clutch and shifting of gears may have been hard on the car. The xB is the softest, gentlest car I have ever had with respect to throttle, clutch and shifter. It is a constant pleasure to operate it. However, I don't think it will respond well or last long in heavy hands.

My engine idles around 750 rpm. It will fluctuate momentarily when the compressor cycles, but then the ECU restores the idle to 750 rpm.

superboxcarxb

i agree with vintage. The shifts are like butter on the xb. very smooth.

mrsocks

2 of my mazda trucks (2200's) and a honda or two were like butter, but the box feels more like an old VW bug to me, minus the 'throw'. did stall alot early on due to quietness, smoothness hence lack of feed back. also when you keep your foot in it and the revs closer to 5 grand she'll shift quite smoothly and probably doesn't even need synchros but i rarely drive like that. all and all, it's the funnest car i have had. very close to bathtub porsche without heavy steering associated with same.

jwaj2002

mine shifts like ___, 1st and reverse are hard to get into I have to force it 90% of the time, and my idle bounces from 300 - 2000

vintage42

There must be differences in transmissions within the same vehicles. For instance, I have had a Mazda B2600i since new in 1990. The first week I had it, I took it back to complain that the transmission was hard to shift and the syncros seemed weak. The dealer said it was normal, and the same gearbox was in the RX-7, so it must be good. Now after 150K miles, the gearbox feels the same as it did new. Unpleasant and hard work to use.
http://aatherton06.home.insightbb.co...Road_LSide.jpg

That is why I love the smooth buttery feel of my Scion transmission. Maybe it helps that I always upshift at 2000 rpm and don't downshift to slow down, only to get more power. At low rpms the shifter just glides from gear to gear with fingertip guidance from a hand hanging off the armrest.
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...atherRtFrt.jpg

eric-prk

Car IS NOT moving, I blip the throttle to get it into gear, its the only way I can get reverse, this is what I learned to do on non-synchro dog gear boxes, and true sequentials. I KNOW how to drive, and how it all works, I've built transmissions from the ground up and driven every type currently used.

The dealer said nothing is wrong, but still can't get the gears I want half the time...

I don't think I'm overly hard on the transmission, I shift around 3500 most of the time, do blip downshifts coming up to lights, but I've done that in every car I've had. And had no problems whatsoever, and this was on cars with 100k+

I personally feels like it shifts like ****, and glad to see I'm not the only one. Overall, kind of wish I had gotten a Mazda 3.