hard shifting

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 18th, 2007, 7:24 pm

I know shifting is harder in the colder weather and it gets eaiser to shift once it warms up.... but im having to actually use both hands to put it into second LOL i just had fresh gear lube put in it and its been like that ever since... what the heck lol

ryan_Fuerte · Post by **ryan_Fuerte** » February 18th, 2007, 8:28 pm

hey rockfordgirl,

i would suspect the bushings on the shifter assembly tighten up from the cold and sitting overnight. after driving you have already shifted up and down the gears a couple times loosening them up. You could pull the bushings out and put some grease on the through bolts that go through them. Also if normal gear oil was installed in the trans, its like snot when its cold. You could or should have substituted it for a synthetic gear oil.

-ryan

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 18th, 2007, 8:59 pm

sweet

i should've mentioned the synthetic gear oil when they were putting it in.. thanks so much

MazdaManiacMx3 · Post by **MazdaManiacMx3** » February 18th, 2007, 9:26 pm

Or just use a lighter weight gear oil

Hope I helped
Kris

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 18th, 2007, 9:33 pm

you did thank you! Ill have to pick some up tomorrow cause its driving me up the wall lol

Franko · Post by **Franko** » February 19th, 2007, 1:12 pm

What kind of hard shifting do you mean? Is it easy to get out of first into neutral but then hard to get into second? Does it make any sounds? How about when you put it in to reverse? Does it go in easy? If it goes into reverse or fourth easy then it cant be your bushings since youre moving the shifter in the same direction. In fact if it goes in any gear easily then it isnt your bushings.

How cold are we talking here? My buddy had a suzuki sidekick and the transmission would freeze every winter. It would take about ten mintues before he would be able to shift it into any gear. Something similar happened to my car when I put lucas oil stabalizer in it. The car really didnt want to go into gear. I highly recommend Red Line gear oil. I have that in mine and it made a big difference to the transmission and its ability go get into gear.

What brand and weight oil did you use?

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 19th, 2007, 1:33 pm

I've never had a problem shifting until I had the tranny flushed..Im not exactly sure what they put in it... I should've known better then to go to "cough cough..speedy"... but I was in a rush that day and decided to get my oil and tranny fluid changed. I wanted to get it done at mazda but with my school schedual I never really get the chance..When I try to put it into second it doesnt make any grinding noises... its just the fact that Im using both hands to actually get it into gear.... but I find makes a noise when I put it into 3rd... not a shitty grinding gear noise... it almost sounds like im fourcing it... and puting it into reverse is another pain in the a--... takes 2 hands as well lol. It is the worst in the morning... understandable.. its winter and its been fairly cold lately... but even after I drive it for a while the shifting doesn't get any better. The car is in amazing shape.. Ive had 2 Mx-3s and I only paid 500$ for this one... I just put a jspec in it and a new clutch and it runs perfect besides the shifting.

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 20th, 2007, 11:26 am

ok.... I went to the mazda dealership thismorning and turns out my problem is a little worse than just the bushings... My transmission cover is completely rusted and i have tranny fuild leaking out like crazy... they said that explains my hard shifting... it was the lack of tranny fliud... I had no idea i had a leak... Im used to my automatic MX-3 where I can just check my tranny fluid with the dip stick... so for now Im going to have to keep adding tranny fluid until I can get my hands on a used tranny... or I can just replace the covers... I havnt really decided....

kinda bummed out... going back to bed lol

Post by **Custommx3** » February 20th, 2007, 1:35 pm

Moved to Transmissions

pox · Post by **pox** » February 20th, 2007, 10:16 pm

Hope you find one soon. Good luck.

hharb · Post by **hharb** » February 20th, 2007, 10:42 pm

that sounds CRAZY, how did the speedy guys change your tranny oil and not notice that it was leaking? i mean if its actually leaking enough to drain the tranny and cause very hard shifting, it should've done that before you changed the oil, as a matter of fact the speedy guys should've found very little or no oil in the tranny.. just simple logic. my GS has had the same problem forever now, downshifting to second is very hard, to first is impossible, and reverse is very tricky. in any case i would make sure i know where the problem exactly lies before taking action, trannies are not cheap and installation at a dealership will cost you a fortune. anyways goodluck keep us posted

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 20th, 2007, 11:37 pm

well i've had the car for just over a year... and this is the first major problem Ive actually had with it... Ive checked the wreckers and they olny want 500$ for a used transmission... not bad considering manual transmissions usually never need to be changed on these cars if looked after and plus i only paid 500$ for the car.... when I bought my car i know it was sitting for a while... which might explain the rusted transmission cover... the car is in such perfect shape body wise and driving wise...besides my tranny now

when the tranny fluid was changed i remember them pointing out how dirty it was and how it looked like it had never been changed... so i just came to the conclusion that maybe it had never been changed and left it at that. SOooooo.. if anyone has an extra 1993 MX-3 GS 1.8 V6 manual transmission hangin around let me know!! Im just going to keep my eye on the tranny fluid until i can come across one

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 20th, 2007, 11:58 pm

ive been considering just replacing the covers on the transmission.... but im not sure.... I just put a jspec in it over the summer which was shipped straight from japan... so confused on what to do ... mazda is asking just over 100$ for the one cover... and maybe once the new cover is on and the fluid is changed things will be peachy... but then I wonder what the seals are like on the trany...

i want to cry

hharb · Post by **hharb** » February 21st, 2007, 12:12 am

ok, guys correct me if i'm wrong. you said the tranny fluid was probably never changed.. thats the biggest problem thats exactly why it crapped out once u changed the oil... ok when shifting sometimes there is a little grinding envolved, which causes the metal to shred a little, now over the years if u dont change the fluid at all the shreds stay in and normally float in the fluid and u get alot of them since they have never been flused by oil changes. so now you come and change the oil and you get all these metal shreds and chunks in some cases and they get stuck in inconvenient places which causes the tranny to go bad. maybe thats not 1000% accurate but you get the idea. thats why if the tranny oil was never changed you're better off not changing it and leaving it in until the tranny dies. i'm sure you can find trannies for 250 or even less if you're lucky just look on the forum, obviously look for mx6 trannies too. goodluck.

rockfordgirl · Post by **rockfordgirl** » February 21st, 2007, 12:25 am

thats exactly what happened by the look of the fluid

i posted a WTB on one of the forums... if anyone sees any sweet deals let me know!

Thanks for the posts everybody!!!! really helped out a lot!!!

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