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3-4 Gear Lever Pop Out Adjustment Manual for Transmission
This PDF shows the adjustment procedure for Mazda's P66M 6 Speed MANUAL Transmission ...factory installed in the Series II RX-8 and all NC Miata/MX-5's only.
This Counter Shaft Adjuster procedure should solve issues with the 3rd-4th Gear Lever (Shifter) pop out while driving under load or coasting, grinding, or hard to engage these two gears.
Naturally this procedure will not solve actual internal mechanical transmission damage or wear inside of your 6MT.
Question about this: On the outside of the adjustment mechanism, there is the 6-pointed star nut, a 6-sided hex nut, and some kind of backing plate connecting the two. Are the backing plate and the 6-pointed star nut a single piece of metal? If so, the backing plate would rotate along with the 6-pointed star nut when the star nut is adjusted, and the 6-sided hex nut would lock the backing plate (and the star nut) in-place once the adjustment is completed. Is this correct?
Wow this is great info!! Thanks!! S2 troubleshooting sticky maybe?
I recently went drag racing for fun and was noticing 3rd gear was pretty hard to engage and caused me to miss shift several times, this is definitely something worth looking into. (Although my shifting skills could be at fault too...)
Just want to clarify something, it mentions about equalizing the gaps between the flats, but then it says "The flats will touch when the adjustment is right, and there will be a gap when it is wrong."
So in reality you don't really want to equalize the gap, you want both flats the front and back sides to touch the sides without any gaps in between right?
I think it is all pretty much self explanatory, I am not the author just the copier, the guy who authored this (most) was a member who rebuilt transmissions on racing NC Miata's.
He said 'to experiment' and you will see what he means when you do the adjustment.
No FS manual in the auto industry actually *explains* how *everything* works in the detail you like or prefer..
The reason for this PDF is that Mazda instructs even less on 'How To' in their FSM
The original author listed the *open view* pic as a reference, as it shows where e-shaft goes (internal view), this is extra detail which is NOT necessary for adjustment.
This PDF is only for adjustment of 3-4 gear lever ONLY...anything else is irrelevant which has nothing to do with a condition or the rectification..
on mine the adjustment nut actually looked like it was welded on - ended up playing with it and turns out it was just a bad angle and we couldn't see it.
In case anyone hasn't done this yet, the adjustment ****, when turned, basically moves the resting point of the shifter forward and backward, depending on the direction of the twist.
With the 19mm wrench on the adjustment nut, from the underside of the car, when you push the wrench towards the front, the shift lever's resting point moves towards the front of the car. The opposite direction (towards the rear) moves the shifter's rest position towards the rear (obvi).
so I thought we had it adjusted properly, but I'm still popping out of 3rd gear under load at a certain RPM range (i can't tell what it is, since RPMs shoot almost immediately to redline once it does it)...
^mine was popping out of 4th on the street, while not under load, then it seemed to clear itself up. Then I had it happen on track out of 3rd a couple of times under load. I took a bit of extra care shifting and that seemed to cure it, until I could no longer shift due to my clutch binding... anyway, if it is happening under load, I think you should make sure the gear is fully engaging. Check that you don't have any material in the way of the shifter. You can do this by feel, or taking off the center console piece and shift boot and make sure it is all in the right place. Then, when on track, make sure you engage the gear all the way.
Mazda are having issues with current Skyactiv owners (ladies) with auto transmissions who hang their handbags, etc on the auto shifter shaft, this weight is misaligning the inhibitor switch (under console) and now that all cars have push button starts/off the car is remaining in a accessory (standby) or ON mode.
Car wont start, but, left unattended can drain battery.....sorry not really related to this thread.
I can't imagine that I'm not shifting and getting it in all the way, but I'll try to pay more attention to that as well as play with the adjustment some more. The way it's popping out on mine is that it engages, and I'll be accelerating in 3rd, and once it hits a certain RPM (after already being under load, engaged and pulling), it will pop out. Not sure if that's the same symptom or not, but if it is, I will have to shift less "mad quick, yo," and make sure it's all the way in there, haha.
if you have it adjusted too much in the 3rd gear position this will happen. Had the same issue when I had a Synchro Saver on my S1 trans. The raised areas on the black plastic piece that bolts onto the top of the shifter housing serves the same purpose as the synchro saver. The metal tab on the shifter shaft engages these raised areas to prevent overshifting. If the adjustment is not correct the opposite will occur; it will prevent the shifter from making the synchro fully engage.
thanks for the tip, Team. I'll take it apart and look at it again.
It didn't seem to work when we did it last and had someone hold the shift lever all the way up in 3rd... is it supposed to be held in position? or is the adjustment supposed to be based off the resting position of the gear...?
Since I can only seem to get this to happen at the track, I was thinking of taking it back for a weekend, taking the cover off, and driving it on the track... then if the problem occurs, driving it onto the ramps and making adjustments on the fly between sessions... hopefully that helps fine-tune it and fix it...!
Per the PDF link above, you set the adjustment so that the gap between the metal tab and the raised black top piece is equal with the shifter in the resting position for both 3rd and 4th gears.
Edit: next page said to push-pull/hold the shifter so that it touches while making the adjustment, which would require 2 people if the trans is installed.
I tried this over the weekend, but could not figure out this part, "CAUTION: Chamfer side of e-shaft should point straight upward."
Basically I could not get enough torque to move that independently of the adjuster, and looking at the diagrams of the internal parts, I'm not sure it should?
In the end I settled for moving the adjuster nut so the eccentric shaft was vertical (it was not to start, so may have moved over time).
Also, correct me if I am wrong, but loosening the mounting plate did not make any difference to adjusting and so was not needed?
My issue is popping out of 3rd mid corner on maintenance throttle when on track (i.e. little load through the transmission).
My starting and end point was with a larger gap between 3rd and the plastic tab, than 4th and the plastic tab. As I played with it, I could get it so 4th would not touch the tab, but the gap for 3rd was still bigger, so it seems like making the gaps even is not correct. Perhaps due to wear, perhaps due to differences with the RX-8 and MX-5 transmissions, or perhaps due to my interpretation of the gap taking play into account?
After all that, on track it seemed to stay in 3rd for the morning, but started popping out in the afternoon. Pretty much about the same behavior as before. I have yet to get back under the car to check if it moved during the day. If not, I guess I will adjust again to give a bigger gap to 3rd than it currently has (already bigger than 4th as mentioned above).
Last edited by blu3dragon; 04-12-2016 at 12:43 PM.
^Sorry for the thread jack but I am wondering the same thing as I was trying to adjust mine today, 09 with 49k miles. I sent it to the dealer two weeks ago because my 3rd popped out, they did the adjustment and the 4th started to pop out so I decided to take a look while I was doing my oil change.
I found my Chamfer is pointing to the front, not straight up, so I tried to move the Chamfer but it did not move at all. I am taking it to another dealer next week.
Also, like Emery mentioned, I think the end goal is to touch the flats. My 3rd is touching the flat perfectly right now and it won't pop out, but the 4th leaves some gap, I guess that is why the 4th started to pop out? Would the 3rd leave a gap if I move the adjuster to let the shifter sit towards 4th?
^^ you have to loosen the 12-point nut first and hold the nut with a box wrench while you adjust the flat chamfer end. Then you have to hold the flat chamfer end in position while you tighten the nut.
Otherwise it's been so long since I adjusted one that I can't recall exactly. The chamfer end is integral to to the same piece that has the cam on it per the parts link Ash posted above. So I don't see how you can change the position of the gearshaft and still have it perfectly vertical unless that just happens to be the ideal position. That said there is a limited amount of movement that the cam can provide so an extreme position like it being horizontal could be a no-no. They possibly mean "vertical-ish" as in it being somewhat vertical but not necessarily perfectly so.
There are a lot of potential areas for play/wear; the shifter end bushing, the bushings on the engagement ends of the 3/4 extension lever shown on the pdf and parts diagram, etc., and even the top shifter plate itself. I installed a new top shifter plate when I did mine. As noted in an earlier post there is very little slop in the top plate mounting holes. It is only plastic though which is one thing that concerns me. I could see if the adjustment was off for a while and the metal plate on the shifter shaft was hitting the flat on the plastic top plate that it might possibly beat it back over time, but that's just a guess. It's obviously a little touchy so the thing I'd recommend more than anything is to keep track of the alignment position and keep adjusting it to try and hone in on the fine line between both gears that may work the best.
It even tells you earlier in the description (shown below) that you have to turn it to make the shifter position change. In theory and assuming all the parts are good the bigger the gap to the flat on the shifter top the less in-gear it is. So if you specifically have a problem of it popping out in one particular gear then in theory there should be a gap to the flat in that gear and you'd want to try and close that some. If it starts popping out in the other gear then you maybe went a little too far and need to take it back some. If you have gaps and can't get it to the flat then there might be the option of using feeler gauges in the gap to fine tune it that way too.
IMO unless you have the trans out of the car it is pretty much a 2 person job. Having the trans out is ideal for making the adjustment, which fortunately I had this procedure before installing mine. Doing it installed on the car is considerably harder which is why a second person up top is highly recommended, but they need to be able to understand what you're trying to achieve to be useful.
Which you can see that this earlier post quoted below appears to be wrong. As shown in the parts diagram earlier in this thread, the nut is a separate piece that just threads onto the end of the eccentric adjuster shaft and locks it into position once tightened down. The mounting plate is just the access for replacement of, and outer sealing surface for, the O-ring seal on the shaft end. They want you to use threadlock on the threads so it won't move or vibrate loose later. I think he just misinterpreted that you have to loosen the nut to make the adjustment.
Originally Posted by Emery_
The instructions don't say to adjust the chamfer, it says to adjust the adjuster nut only.
^^ you have to loosen the 12-point nut first and hold the nut with a box wrench while you adjust the flat chamfer end. Then you have to hold the flat chamfer end in position while you tighten the nut.
Otherwise it's been so long since I adjusted one that I can't recall exactly. The chamfer end is integral to to the same piece that has the cam on it per the parts link Ash posted above. So I don't see how you can change the position of the gearshaft and still have it perfectly vertical unless that just happens to be the ideal position. That said there is a limited amount of movement that the cam can provide so an extreme position like it being horizontal could be a no-no. They possibly mean "vertical-ish" as in it being somewhat vertical but not necessarily perfectly so.
There are a lot of potential areas for play/wear; the shifter end bushing, the bushings on the engagement ends of the 3/4 extension lever shown on the pdf and parts diagram, etc., and even the top shifter plate itself. I installed a new top shifter plate when I did mine. As noted in an earlier post there is very little slop in the top plate mounting holes. It is only plastic though which is one thing that concerns me. I could see if the adjustment was off for a while and the metal plate on the shifter shaft was hitting the flat on the plastic top plate that it might possibly beat it back over time, but that's just a guess. It's obviously a little touchy so the thing I'd recommend more than anything is to keep track of the alignment position and keep adjusting it to try and hone in on the fine line between both gears that may work the best.
Thanks a lot for the reply, this really clear thing up.
Just to update my issue so I can help others. After a transmission fluid change at the dealer and two unsuccessful dealership visits for gear adjustment, I decided to change the fluid myself today and the pop-out issue seems gone.
The first time I took it to the dealer I bought 2qt of Motul 300 with me and the pop-out switched from 3rd gear to 4th gear around 4k rpm. Today I used a little over 2qt of highly-praised Motorcraft oil and the pop-out issue cannot be duplicated anymore.
I do feel puzzled by this experience because I do not know if it is the amount of oil I put in or the different oil that made this problem go away. Maybe someone with more experience with this transmission can chime in for some advice?
I have a 07 mazdM rx8 and my reverse stop working it just won't go in Can someone tell me what part do I need to replace. Thank you.
This thread is for the 3-4 gear adjustment. I think you need a new (or different) thread for this issue.
It will need some diagnosis. Could be related to the clutch rather than the transmission.
I was wondering if this procedure would help my situation. 2 gear is hard to engage, as well as 3 gear (that also pops out). If it is something else then could someone direct me to the right place [new rx8 owner]
It only addresses 3rd or 4th gear popping out. So it can possibly help you with 3rd gear, but not with 2nd gear. You might try changing the transmission oil first, making sure to use the proper oil type, to see if that helps.
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06-14-2013, 09:12 PM
