i dunno if this is a first but there is a fault with my short shifter.
i noticed the problem when I first got my car back from the repairer (damaged left front door) yesterday. the gear shift wobbled horribly.
last night I opened the tranny to replaced the shifter to my original.
to my dismay, I found the bottom pastic covering have partly melted and broken up.. some part of it may have fallen inside which is quite disturbing..
the shifter has been replaced back to original for now and luckily there are no signs of problem with the gear change.

i'll attach some pics and i've also took video which i'll try and upload somewhere..

hymee, do you think it can be fixed under warranty? i have no idea how it could have broken up in such way...

 

some more pics..

 

Your shifter has a lifetime warranty and Hymee has spare cups available for you free of charge. Just press fit it on with care so you dont damage it.

This is the first time I've seen this. I'm sure Richard will want to see some close up pics. He changed the material the cups are made of for increased durability some time back....you may have had the earlier design.

It might be prudent to change your gearbox oil. Richard knows the hardness of the cups......he may be able to advise whether or not you should go down that path.

 

Same thing happened to me.
Hymee actually gave out replacement cups at the Nats - did you get one playa?
I've put mine on (totally forgot I had it when the old one broke) and everything is fine.

When I checked about the broken bits of plastic in the gb both Hymee and Richard said it was not a problem. (no oil change reqd) .Its not like they are metal shavings.

I dont have any pics of the new cup sorry but it is cream/pale yellow as opposed to black and is fibre reinforced.

Hymee will probably go made at me now but if anyone else still has the black bush, given that 2 of us have now had it break, I'd do a pre-emptive strike and switch to the fibre one.

Edit no 3: the new bush is made from Kevlar.

 

Hmm, from memory I've got the cream coloured cup so I should be okay.

Is it difficult to check this out? From memory there is a trick to getting the trim off or something.

 

Yes...you have the cream cup, puffcake

 

Thank you, installer.

 

Mine went at the last track day......Called Richard...and I had the new part in less than a week....( from Cali to Canada...that's almost a record with Canada Customs )

I'm going to change out the gearbox oil and see if the part comes out.....maybe flush with ATF or something a bit runnier . I'll post what I get out later. I'm sure the delrin will just shred...it's pretty soft compared to the metal gears

 

looks like its not just me then I'm much relieved..
hymee could you mail me the part in question? i don't know if u remember my mailing addr?
I will PM to you if you lost the details

 

hey muzz, long time no see.
yeah I remember the part you showed me.. I didn't realise it was that bit.
so I guess u had the same problem? maybe it was more hardware problem than abused driving.. well, it should be okay once I get that replaced i guess. cheers

 

How about mine ... I order mine as time as yours - ours came together?

 

Didn't Hymee give you a new one at the Nats, taka?

 

looks like he forgot some of the early buyers doh...

 

Actually mine is still sitting in my centre console

 

No, I fitted yours in March. I fitted Revolvers at the Nats.

 

when you said it was shaking...was that at idle...b/c i've noticed mine is moving around a bit more than normal.

 

I'd put it on if I were you timbo, that's where mine was sitting when my shifter broke.

I've had the shifter for about a year or so. I havent been mashing the gearbox or anything. I do have Redline in the tranny tho - do you Playa? I wonder if synthetic oil is the common denominator here...

edit: I probably shouldn't say 'shifter broke'. The shifter is perfectly fine. It's merely a plastic malfunction.

 

You will notice if it is broken believe me

I had to limp home holding it in gear, it would jump out otherwise. Maybe mine was worse than playas, I thought I had snapped the linkage altogether.

 

It's not the oil. The geometry of the short shifter mandates the cup be installed deep into the selector to obtain the necessary reduction in lever throw. This causes additional wear on the cup. The early black cup was machined out of a Dupont polymer known as Delrin.

Last year Richard started producing the cup out of Kevlar.... bulletproof vest type stuff. That should be the end of any further wear.

 

that's without the engine on.. i'll try and put up a video to demonstrate what i mean.. but the video doesn't do justice to how it actually felt..

 

yes, that's how mine felt like.. the gear went in easy but I scared, something had been snapped somewhere coz it would still wobble with gear engaged..
i had to nurse it in when shifting between gears..

 

So mine will have a cream cup... right?

 

so does anyone want to sell their stock shifter? or isn't this a good time to ask

 

I am fairly sure it doesn't. I think you are a black cup kinda guy.

 

My stock shifter will go with the current car when I swap it for the next RX-8.