Transmission Work

illapino · Post by **illapino** » November 16th, 2006, 4:45 am

First off, I'm planning to buy this on eBay: "THIS IS A COMPLETE CLUTCH KIT REPLACEMENT READY TO BE INSTALLed CONSISTs OF Pressure plate, clutch disc, release bearing, and alignment tool 100% BRAND NEW WITH 12,000 MFG WARRANTY"

It consists of pressure plate, clutch disc, release bearing and alignment tool. i don't hear flywheel. Do i just keep my stock flywheel and resurface it? ... this is for a 230 000 km K8 i'm riding. i've decided that my engine has still life in it so i want to remedy the transmission always jerking around, and plus i'm starting to feel my clutch pedal chittering sometimes, so i think it's a smart move.

next thing: is transmission work all paid labor to the transmission mechanics? is there absolutely no way for a do-it-yourself amateur to rebuild his transmission at home? especially since i see absolutely no resources that detail transaxle work ...

thanks for input. a rebuilt transmission will be a major improvement to my car.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » November 16th, 2006, 11:24 am

Before you rebuild the transmission, have the clutch done and replace your shifter bushings. See how it feels then.. its not going to cost any different and it could save you cash. As for the flywheel.. you will have to remove it and have it inspected to see if it needs to be resurfaced or if it even can be resurfaced. However.. a new off the shelf OEM replacement flywheel is only $50-$60 depending on where you buy it. I think autozone sells them for $50.. not that I would buy anything from them.. but thats about the cheapest I have heard of one. Shifter bushings are available from Mazda or SRD.. a search will reveal more details about them. The ones from mazda are cheap.. under $35 for the set. SRD are more performance oriented and are priced accordingly.

Tunes67

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » November 16th, 2006, 11:46 am

The clutch is a do it yourself thing tho

Its easy if engine is out. I agree with tunes about the flywheel. Taking off the flywheel is easy with a breaker bar and a long flat screw driver. Why are you rebuilding transmission? Is yours bad? If looking for gas mileage get an mx6 transmission.

You may want to do your main seal now that you are in there also. Check axles. I done see anything wrong with autozones flywheels. They also sell the engine mounts. Shafts have lifetime warranty and come fully assembled.

max kl · Post by **max kl** » November 16th, 2006, 2:42 pm

im with hec on this 1 why rebiuld when replacement is so cheap.
finding a good or great used mx6 or pgw/mx3 tranny is not hard.

your description of the trans jerking around makes me wana ask for a more accurate description.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » November 16th, 2006, 4:38 pm

well i've gone over this in many other threads: my car is lurchy when driving around malls and such places in 1st to 2nd gears. I have to depress the clutch in almost half-way to alleviate the lurches (a common reflex for most drivers, they figure this out also when they have a lurchy car)... sourcing a remanufactured tranny hasn't been too generous to me: transmission shops don't bother to help me find one and say that doing work on my existing tranny would be by far much cheaper (and they give me the $3000 price range for remanufactured trannies which is just complete BS for a 92 car, i ignore them).. The shifters bushings i have currently on order from my mazda dealership: they should be in next week and i will install those myself. i ordered everything that goes at the bottom of the shift stick, so when i do jobs, i prefer to replace absolutely everything. the extension bar bushing that connects to the tranny itself, however, i did not order in. i have a reasonable premonition that that bushing is tucked away behind the firewall and hard to access, so i thought i could get away with just replacing the shifter bushings without breaking my brain over doing the extension bushing (i'm a newb!).. thanks. and u sure that if it comes down to the clutch, i really wouldn't have to worry about rebuilding the entire tranny? u sure? i'd hate to have it out just to replace the clutch kit, put it back on, and see that my tranny still isn't acting like new...

oh and to elaborate on my tranny symptoms: downshifting to 2nd and then to 1st is a real biatch. there's resistance so it takes like 2 whole seconds for me to push in the shift-stick into the gear i want (those low gears). i had tranny fluid replaced about 3 weeks ago and the guys also spray-lubed my shift linkages (somehow, don't ask), but the smooth effects of those have worn off now and i desire a more permanent cure...

max kl · Post by **max kl** » November 18th, 2006, 2:56 pm

did the shifting effort get easer after [lube]?

i have experinced lurching in both on my kl cars and a customers kf & k8 cars when the tps is adjusted to low. it only happens under low load and idle or light throttle application. it feels like the key is being turned on & off.

i have a freibd with a trans shop and he will do a bearing & brass rebiud only.
he charges 900 -1200 if all your gears are good.
low mileage units go for 300 -600+ and no waiting om the shop.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » November 20th, 2006, 2:03 am

yes, the shifting effort improved after the lube, but in a couple of weeks, the effects of that vanished... just hard to downshift to second and then to first. Just as I near a "red" intersection, rpm's fading, i have to shift down to first u know, and there is about a 3-second resistance to get into first gear from second (that's alot)..

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » November 20th, 2006, 6:23 am

I would say that the "lurching" could be the result numerous possibilities. Perhaps the idle setting / TB setting needs to be fine tuned so to speak and possibly that the engine mounts might be a bit weak also. Check intake track and air filter also. One other place to look might be the VAF where there may possibly be dead spots on the resistance pick-up layer. Those dead spots will give the wrong air intake volume pressure and therefore give the wrong fuel supply accordingly. I had a similar problem with a Celica many years ago. On higher mileage cars the possibility of worn resistance sections in the VAF may be giving the incorrect info to the ECU which in turn would apply the wrong fuel delivery message.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » November 21st, 2006, 2:29 pm

i guess the idle ur talking about doesn't mean the "idle speed" which was already looked at during my tune-up a couple months ago... the reason why i associate a lurchy car with the transmission is because there have been more than a few threads about the same symptom and often answered with "transmission fluid" and "shift linkage" answers, all denoting the transmission ... neway, my oem shift bushings (not srd) should be in this week probably today. if only it wouldn't rain ill have them in soon

rccardude04 · Post by **rccardude04** » November 24th, 2006, 5:23 am

My car doesn't go into 1st worth a crud either. I'm pretty sure the syncros on 1st gear on our cars are just really crappy. My buddy just got a '92 that will go into 1st easy as long as you're under like 20mph. Honestly, I've just gotten used to it. Put it in 1st at a a very slow roll and it goes in fine. The only time it sucks is when you're doing like 10mph and it won't go into 1st but you have to GO so you're stuck either GOing slow or slipping the clutch to get the revvs up until you're going fast enough for the car to make horsepower.
-Eric

hharb · Post by **hharb** » November 24th, 2006, 10:12 am

haha, i can never downshft to first, even if the car is rolling at like 5km/h unless the car is completly stopped i can't put it in first, and downshifting to second is hell. I guess i just got used to it, and i will get the tranny fixed or replaced whenever i get an engine swap.

mxmaz · Post by **mxmaz** » November 24th, 2006, 8:38 pm

GM Syncromesh ftw!!

illapino · Post by **illapino** » November 25th, 2006, 2:55 am

GM Syncromesh ??? i guess i'll be pressing 'Search' after i submit this post.
at least i'm not the only one who gets the bucket for downshifting. good god. it's even worse when u leave the car outside in the cold overnight. downshifting in my car involves so much brutality i can conjure the experience right off the fly. how do u fix that? a bushing?

hharb · Post by **hharb** » November 25th, 2006, 2:57 am

When my car is very cold evenregular shifting to second and third is a bit of a b----, let alone downshifting, man you're like blessed compared to me lol, I dont think oil would change alot.. i mean i got my tranny oil changed a month ago, it kindof made things a tiny bit smoother but it was nothing impressive.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » November 25th, 2006, 3:52 am

well i have all new shifter widgets now from mazda here. all those grommmets that go in the base of the shift rod. i hope to install them tomorrow. i bet it's the extension rod bushing the culprit more though

Symptom: downshifting 1st and 2nd gears very brutal
Remedy: ??? transmission work or bushings? ?