Broken Shifter
 

I think my shifter is broken. When you pull on the shift knob, the whole thing under the leather comes up off of the rod underneath. I unscrewed the shift knob and then took a part the console. I saw the black thing that the shift knob threads onto. When I pull up on that it comes off. I can't see under it because of the rubber boot thing. I don't have any problems shifting it, but it is kinda weird. Maybe this is the time for me to order the RP Short shifter.

Hurry

Do it now-what are you waiting for?

Funds. :( $250 is a lot of money for the spur of the moment.

I had the same thing happening once.

The shifter consists of two parts which are glued together and the glue seems to lack thermal resistance - it obviously softens. If you remove the shifter completely (check the short shifter install threads for information), you can fix it by glueing it with proper glue.

I used this 2 component glue. Apply it, harden it under high (80° C) temperature for one hour and let it rest for 48 hours. It turns out strong as steel and proves sufficient thermal resistance.

Some people may say that using glue to fix a shifter is not the way to go, but I've been discussing this with a bunch of jet engine engineers who came up with the idea ...

^hmm nice idea...not as much aas 250 if you don't have it either.

would an epoxi resin not work as well? i know you can get some that have a pull strength of 12,000 lbs/inch^2 ?

2 component is epoxy and the one I mentioned is the strongest commercial version I found. :)

Its strength is far beyond anything you'll manage to impose on your shifter. My shifter (it was my Mazdaspeed short shifter that dissolved, but it seems to be produced exactly like the stock one) has 30.000 km on it now - zero problems.

There's a table in the link that gives some numbers, strength, flexibility and temperature resistance are based on the mix of the components and the hardening procedure you chose, I went for max heat resistance.

The cost is roughly $10, plus an hour of work and one or two days patience.

oh hehe never mind then...haha wasn't aware it was epoxy..good deal on fixing your shifter though....much better option than buying a new one :D

Have you tried JB Weld? It is a 2 part epoxy with fillers that is also very strong. It is available at Wal Mart for about $7

Warranty, warranty, warranty.

No Wal Mart here in Germany. ;) But the description sounds good - 500° F is a lot.

hehe so walmart hasn't invaded germany yet..lucky

My dealer is a hassle. I don't feel like being bothered with them unless its absolutely neccessary. Since its still driveable, I will continue for a week or two until I have the funds to order the RP Short Shifter. I wanted one already, and now I have an excuse to get one.

My dealer is really bad. They couldn't even tell me what type of transmission fluid goes in the transmission. They also told me they don't service transmissions?

From your description of the problem, it seems that the knob has separated into 2 parts in which case a short shifter won't solve your basic problem, 'cause as I understand it, the short shifter doesn't come with a shift knob. If so, you will need to reuse the knob you have or get another one. You can find OEM shift knobs on eBay, and they usually go for a reasonable price.

The knob is fine. It is the thing that the knob screws onto. Thing thing the knob screws onto isn't sticking onto the thing sticking up under the rubber boot.

Just went out to the garage and looked at the shift lever I removed from my RX-7 yesterday, and I see what you're saying. I had assumed it was one machined piece, but it obviously is not. Thanks for the clarification. Learn something new every day on this forum. :D

THe piece that broke off on mine... is it able to be fixed with glue? How is it held on? Is it threaded?

Don't know for sure since I haven't taken one apart. But looking at the RX-7 shifter closely it looks like there is a rubber bushing inside the upper part that provides a slip fit to the lower part.

Not sure if the RX-8 shifter is similar. Someone else can probably answer your question more definitively. The parts manual is no help since it shows the shifter as a single unit with one part number assigned. The shop manual shows what might be interpreted as a slip fit (see attached image).

It's pretty much the same as the RX-7 shifter.

The part labeled "upper part" is what slides off when I pull straight up on it.

They can't compete with Aldi.

True. I think there are in fact 40 or so Walmart stores in Germany, but they didn't break nearly as much into the german market as they probably intended to. I've never seen one so far. There's already a fierce competition between discount supermarkets here and I don't think it's wise to invest in this area in Germany.

Remove both and glue them together. Easy job.

your dealer sure sounds like a moron