5th Gear Missing! 92 1.8L GS

[NTJoe]

First off, wonderful site! I just picked up a "basket case" 92 GS with 189,000 miles from a friend for $200.00. They had some electrical problems they couldnt sort out. Turned out to be the aftermarket alarms starter kill! Anyway, after a major cleaning, new plugs, dist cap, rotor botton, pcv valve and air filter, it runs great! However................

They told me the car had the shifter drop and after they put it back together with parts from a junked GS. After being put back together, the car would not go into 5th gear at all. If you lean HARD on the shifter it will go in for second and then pop out and grind a bit. I am convinced this is simply a case of the shift linkage needing to be adjusted. I believe that it is just not getting all the way into 5th as you dont feel that click, if you know what I mean. The rest of the gears work fine and it does not grind at all.

My question is do the shift linkage bars have adjustable ends or ways for them to be adjusted? I have searched about every word combination I have thought of and cant find anything about this, as well as searching google. Also I'm assuming it has to be done from right by the tranny?

I appreciate any help you all can be.

[jaydog5678]

Welcome to the site.

There is not an adjustment for the shifting rod/arm and the Mx-3 does have the problem of the "falling shift lever". You can search for the anti-drop brackets that were made for the shift levers else where on the site. A temporary fix on my buddies Mx was just a hole drilled through the shift bracket, then a bolt and nut to hold it to the cars unibody. No problems yet..

The 5th gear popout is common when the fluid level in the trans is very low. Check the trans for leaks first and if that's o.k, fill the trans to the right level. Getting into 5th gear is a different story. If you can get into reverse, but not into 5th, sounds to me like something is bent or it may have internal trans problems.

[NTJoe]

Welcome to the site.

There is not an adjustment for the shifting rod/arm and the Mx-3 does have the problem of the "falling shift lever". You can search for the anti-drop brackets that were made for the shift levers else where on the site. A temporary fix on my buddies Mx was just a hole drilled through the shift bracket, then a bolt and nut to hold it to the cars unibody. No problems yet..

The 5th gear popout is common when the fluid level in the trans is very low. Check the trans for leaks first and if that's o.k, fill the trans to the right level. Getting into 5th gear is a different story. If you can get into reverse, but not into 5th, sounds to me like something is bent or it may have internal trans problems.

Thanks for the welcome. The drop shifter has been fixed by the previous owner, so I'm ok on that one.

I appreciate the advise on the fluid level...I'll check that out right away. I can get into reverse with no problem at all, in fact all the gears are fine except 5th. Hopefully (crosses fingers!) that all I need is some more fluid.....

Thanks!

[NTJoe]

Ok, I checked the fluid level and it was VERY low. I have that resolved now and it shifts much smoother than before. However I still have no 5th gear. What I find unusual about this is that its not going in then popping out, its just not there unless you lean very hard then you catch and edge of it if that makes sense. I spoke with my friend who had it and he said that 5th worked until the shift dropped and then hasnt worked since they fixed it.

I have a thought that when they fixed it they caused a problem with the linkage or did something wrong. Unfortunately with the weather and lack of a garage here, I have to wait until later in the week when I can "borrow" a garage from a friend.

Worst case scenario is that it needs a new 5th or a new tranny. I knew there might be issues as this was so cheap, so let's cross our fingers!

[onlytrueromeo]

Engine/tranny swap time!

best of luck figuring out your problem. We had an old old truck at my camp I worked at for 8 years, and it only shifted into magical overdrive (4th) at the perfect rpm. you know how you can shift w/o the clutch, well that was the only way we could get it to shift. but we never really tried it very much as we only drove it on narrow dirt roads and "overdrive" is a bit fast for that

[Volones]

It sounds to me like someone put the transmission together wrong. If 5th worked perfectly until the tranny was worked on, but now doesn't, then you have established the time frame of the problem starting. I don't know if it's possible to put the individual gear in backwards (I've heard of people doing it in other vehicles), or forget a spacer, but something seems to be a little out of alignment.

I'd check the tranny to see if 5th has the correct spacing, or something along those lines.

GL,
Vol!

[NTJoe]

It sounds to me like someone put the transmission together wrong. If 5th worked perfectly until the tranny was worked on, but now doesn't, then you have established the time frame of the problem starting. I don't know if it's possible to put the individual gear in backwards (I've heard of people doing it in other vehicles), or forget a spacer, but something seems to be a little out of alignment.

I'd check the tranny to see if 5th has the correct spacing, or something along those lines.

GL,
Vol!

I'm thinking that when the shifter dropped they screwed something up when they put it back together. If the car was going into 5th and then popping out, I would agree the tranny is probably toast, however its just not there and you dont even feel the shifter go into anything. However, after seeing how they took care of this car, I'm betting that they did something in putting back together that is causing the issue. Of course I have to take into account the idea that they just lied and never had 5th anyway. So anyway, this weekend or when the weather is a bit more cooperative I'll get under there and look.

Thanks for all the advise on this...I'll update when I get some mowre info.

[Yoda]

5th gear is a common problem with the Mazda MTX tranny in the 90's. Mazda and Ford in the US used ATF in the MTX even thought their specs say to only use ATF only below 0deg C. You mentioned that it was low on fluid. If it has been that way for awhile this usually means that the 5th gear syncro in toast because it is mounted outside the main gear case and starves for fluid long before the rest of the tranny. It can be changed without removing the tranny. Would recommend you flush the gearbox ASAP adding more fluid moved the metal chips around

[NTJoe]

5th gear is a common problem with the Mazda MTX tranny in the 90's. Mazda and Ford in the US used ATF in the MTX even thought their specs say to only use ATF only below 0deg C. You mentioned that it was low on fluid. If it has been that way for awhile this usually means that the 5th gear syncro in toast because it is mounted outside the main gear case and starves for fluid long before the rest of the tranny. It can be changed without removing the tranny. Would recommend you flush the gearbox ASAP adding more fluid moved the metal chips around

Thanks for the advise....I'll do the flush this weekend.

If the synchro was toast would it just not go into 5th? It acts like there is no gear there at all. Whenever I think of a bad synchro I think of it grinding going in and popping out all the time. Mine does nothing at all, it just behaves the same as it being in the neutral gate.

[nerd racing]

Did you ever figure this out? Mine does the same thing in the RS.

[Xiantez]

Sounds like to me that when the shifter dropped and they went to mount it back into place, They could of (half-assed) it. Look underneath your car where the shifter meets the linkage rod and see if the shifter plate is mounted in its proper position. If its not mounted correctly ( center) it would put stress on the linkage reaching 5th gear which would cause it to pop out initially, then eventually damaging the linkage causing it not to go into 5th gear at all. Sounds like to me they might of used self tapping screws to mount the shifter back into place and didnt properly position the shifter. Anyways Hope you find it out =)