SethMcMichael

Just this past weekend I was driving, not even that hard. Well the story goes like this, i went to get in front of a car and popped the clutch and transmission blew. I have been looking around and not really found anything about anyone else having this problem. This is not the first time either. This will know be my second new tranny. The best part is that the dealer told me that Mazda would probably not participate in the repair, which means it wont be covered. To me this sounds a little ridiculous; I couldn’t believe it when I heard that.

Well does anyone have any advise for me that might strengthen my case with Mazda? I can’t see how they can do something like that. Well that’s about it, any help would be appreciated.

eclps0

my tranny didnt blow.

my thread on my tranny

zoom44

well you need to know what "blew" and why. you say this is your second tranny with this car? what blew on the first one and why. how many miles on the new one?

SethMcMichael

The mechanic said something about some kind of fork broke. The car only has about 15,XXX. The new tranny only has about 3500 on it. Its the same thing that happened on the first one.

zoom44

shift forks. yep bad shifts bend and break shift forks. did they give you a whole new tranny or just replace the forks?if they just did forks unless the forks they put in last time were somehow improperly installed( hard to prove) then you will mostly likely have to pay. if it was a whole new tranny there must be somekind of warrenty on it. it's always worth the time though to go up the chain to the local rep and Mazda itself to see if they will play nice and warrenty the work the 2nd time.

zoom44

oh and do a search for guy321 posts about shift forks. he broke one.

SethMcMichael

That’s it, the shift fork. It was a new tranny, I just don’t see how I can be next to the only one doing this. I don't drive the car that hard. I plan on talking to the rep. We will see what happens. I don’t see how legally they can say "we are not covering it" don’t they have to prove negligence or something.

beachdog

Maybe you don't drive that hard but it sounds like you shift pretty hard. This isn't a 1969 Roadrunner with a Hearst shifter that you had to shift with your whole arm and shoulder. Hand and wrist is plenty.

Reaper Man

usually, at least what I've seen with car manufacturers, the first tranny is warranty, after that, they figure on some sort of abuse- just the way it is

sorry to hear about your forks though

SethMcMichael

It didnt happen when i shiffted, it happened right at the get go in first gear.

red_rx8_red_int

OK I'm being lazy and not searching at howstuffworks.com. But what exactly do the shift forks do?

beachdog

Not likely. It happened on the last shift before the final failure. Accumulated stress on the shift fork. You had one last shift on that fork and then no more shifts. It just happened to be the next time you tried to get into first.

Think of the shift forks as the last part of the shift linkage. The part that actually slides the gears into engagement.

Smoker

I know a guy who broke two shift forks on his new car. He is the type who tried to look cool on everything he does, so on everyshifts he does one of this "Tom Cruise from Days of Thunder, Dropping the Hammer" kind of shift. Basically , snap the gear from one to another as fast as humanly possible.

Yea he gets a lot "Wow you drive like a racer car driver!" from people who doesn't know much about cars. For the ones who knows, we grinched everytime he shifts cause you can hear the sychronos are taking a beating. And yea he had to pay for both his Shift forks.

But don't worry, I told him, he will be needing new Synchronos in about six months anyway so either way you will be rebuilding the tranny. :D

zoom44

one piece of advise i can give you is to NOT change your story when speaking to the service writer. in your first post in this thread you said:

"popped the clutch" normally means you changed gears and then let the clutch out very quickly. were you or were you not shifting? don't make this mistake in front of the service writer when trying to get it covered.

SethMcMichael

Its not a mistake. I have never heard of popping the clutch out besides in 1st gear at a stop. You can do it in all the gears but it has nothing to do with shifting.

Other_Dave

Do you mean you rev'ed it up and then slipped your foot off the clutch so that it let out all at once, lots of wheelspin etc. If so, It'll get you going quick, but I would sat that that is HARD driving.
--Dave.

Zoom_Zoom

You may want to drive a little more sensibly. Mazda's reluctance may be based on your driving style and the fact that this is tranny #2.

911SC

Sethy my boy, if you tell the Rep. what you told us, you will be paying for a new tranny.

XUrotaryrocket

Here's a novel idea. Don't try to beat everyone off the stoplights.

Take a word of advice from the Geto Boys :

"Real gansta *** ****** don't flex nuts, cuz real gansta *** ****** know they got 'em."

rx8_joy

The only reason that this wouldn't be covered is if the dealer believes that the damage was caused by racing or abuse. The dealer has the responsbility of proof in this claim, so don't agree to pay for it if they fail to provide you with written proof of their claim.

In addition, if you continue to experience problems with the transmission, you can research the laws in your state for a lemon law. If there is such a law, you can influency the dealership and manufacturer to cover the expenses.

RX8_JOY

SethMcMichael

That’s what I wanted to hear. Tell me where it says that a little clutch popping is considered hard driving. If it is I might have to go trade my car in for a 350z. (Did I just say that ) but that’s how I feel. I have had 8 cars sense I have been driving and have drove them all the same way. This is now my fist new car and I have had nothing but problems with it. Mazda is trying to bend me over for a $3300 repair. I feel like XUrotary's Honda symbol.

I checked the lemon laws last night and it says you have to have at least 4 repairs done to the same thing to even be considered.

PS to everyone. Quite acting like you know how I drive my car, you are not there. Do you think I would be so mad if I thought it was something I did?

As of know, down with the RX8. First year car with problems should not be treated like the car has been out for 10 years and they know how and why everything happens.

Maybe some of you younger guys can relate, would this happen if I was a grown man? Maybe I should have had my dad take it in and not some young 20 year old.

Thanks RX8 Joy

XUrotaryrocket

I hear you about the age thing. I used to take my FD in for service and the bastards would practically laugh at me. I was about 22-23 when I got it.

I don't pretend to know how you drive your car. However, the way you described it..... it sounded a bit abusive. I (like most others) have had no problems with the car (even w/aggressive driving). However, every model has its lemons and you might just be one of the (un)lucky few. In this case, I say tell 'em to shove it and give you another new tranny !!!

Keshav

Yeah, I broke transmissions when I was young too. Here's the bad news.

1. Aggressive shifting on a normal transmission will cause premature failure.
2. A car warantee is meant to cover manufacturer's defects, not support your bad driving habits.

Here's information to help keep your future cars alive. One of the best primers on shifting I've seen:

http://www.spdusa.com/shifting.htm

nt5k

Excellent site Keshav.. That's where I went when I was still learning the wrx.. Once I stopped trying to force the machine everything started going much smoother.

SethMcMichael

So, $3300 later i get my car back. I dont know what im going to do. Should i pursue this more in a legal fashion or just take a huge hit wich i probrable cant afford? Another thing im worried about is if this happens again. I cant keep having this problem, i dont know what im going to do.

Does fell nice again to be back in the car. Finally get some nice looks and "wow look at that car(as the point)."