I get my car back today!
 

Well, they called yesterday afternoon to tell me my car was ready. They didn't fix my second gear (although they agree it's not nice and smooth) because it hasn't gone out of spec yet, so Mazda won't cover it under warranty until it does. :( They said maybe around 15K miles it would be ready (I've got 8600 right now). They said everything was tight (whether it was or not) but I know a plug was loose because I checked and tightned it up some before I dropped it off, basically enough so that it wasn't "wiggly" to the touch. Their reason for the oily spatters and oily puddle coming from my car was my "aftermarket oil cap" that I had on there. I have the rotor-shaped one my friend got me from Rosenthal Mazda. Funny, though, is that there was no oily anything near the cap and it has never done this at all and I have had that cap on since the second week I had my car. Plus, the oily spatters were significant around the spark plug area, to the point of being pretty much coated in it. :dunno: As long as it's fixed, I'm happy. They said the cap didn't seal well and it was sucking in air as well as letting the oil come out. So, they are blaming the burning oil on that, as well as getting some really bad gas that caused the other issues. I don't know that they'd admit if they left something loose or not, but the plug definitely was loose.

They did turn my alarm down, too. Hopefully it's enough that it doesn't go off every few minutes at my boyfriend's house and we have to be awakened by angry neighbors at 8 a.m. :) Funny thing is that we only heard the alarm go off one time since we had gotten back that night and put my car in the driveway, and that was at 8 a.m. just moments before the angry neighbor came over. :dunno:

Ja, they won't admit to doing wrong with the spark plugs.

Ah........ check around about the oil cap, maybe they were right but I doubt it.

As far as I know you can not get an air leak from the cap with out an oil leak.

Have you ever seen the bottom of an oil filter? Just look at the seal. Nothing gets past that unless it's loose.

Now if air leaks from the can, the you have a drop in oil pressure and oil leak too.

Let us know how the gear shifting is after a week.

Did they actually take it apart? There is a TSB about shifter fork, but I think that's on older models. Your stick is too new I do believe.

Well it sucks that your tranny is like that but atleast its running again. I bet it was the plug the entire time. If you could move it with your hand your compression must have been really low, fire needs air and I bet that was blowing past the spark plug (some of it) so you had alot of unburnt fuel getting pushed into the exhaust. Atleast you might of been able to shoot some sick flames out the exhaust while the car was running like that.

My car is at about 4500 miles now and my second is weird for the first 2-3 shifts when the car is cold. Normaly I just put it into N let out the clutch for a second then push it back in and go to second. That seems to work best when I first turn the car on.
I wanna change the tranny fluid soon to something better maybe it will help.

What is wrong with your transmission, Bunny? Would ya spare me the search and give us the short version?

Okay. :) Second gear is extremely notchy/clunky to the point where it sometimes is so hard to shift it is pretty much "forced" into gear. It is extremely bad when the car is cold and/or the outside temperature. When the car is warm it is a little better but still that way. Twice about a week or so ago when it was quite cold out and the car still cold, I couldn't get it into second gear at all. It was too hard and I didn't want to force it and break something. I'm used to the car making a little clunk sound (kinda like when you put it into reverse) when I put it into second gear but it used to always go easily and smoothly. It would only minimally be kinda stiff going in when the car was still cold but nothing like this. The warmed up "normal" now is like the old "cold" used to be. Now it's harder and not so smooth.

The parts (whichever ones involved) aren't damaged or "bent" (at least not to an obvious extent and not "abused") enough to be out of spec, so I just have to wait for it to get worse or hope it improves on its own. I was thinking about changing out the transmission fluid to see if that would help it, like others say it does, but I don't know how to do that or able to do that at my house, so I would need help. :)

There's a DIY on changing transmission oil. You need to raise the car, either on a lift if you have access to a garage or on jack stands.

If the dealer actually disassembled your transmission (fat chance, IMHO) they would have put new oil in it.

FWIW, my transmission was kind of stiff in all gears when new. After a couple of thousand miles 1 through 4 were like butter, and after a couple more 5 and 6 (which don't get shifted in/out of as often as 1-4) smoothed out. I think you've got enough miles that your shifter should be broken in.

Ken

Hmmm... In my case, 2nd gear is clunky or notchy ALL the time on the 1-2 shift. I've not had any trouble getting it into gear, I assumed that this is just the way it is.

Well, where I live work on vehicles is prohibited (apparently too many people made messes or something in the past), plus I don't have tools and stuff necessary to do it. I would if I borrowed from my stepdad, but we don't even want to ask or mention anything about doing something on my car. :)

My gears were always super smooth from the time I got it. They are all still super smooth except for second, which is why I am inclined to believe that something is "up" with it, along with the reports of other people having "issues" with second gear.

I don't know exactly what they did to check stuff out on my car until I get my work invoice (which will usually say) when I go pick it up in a couple hours. I just talked to one of the service managers on the phone about what was found when they called to tell me my car was ready.

Maybe I should test drive an '8 at the dealership to see if MY 2nd gear thing is typical or not... Hmmmm.....

Have a local 8 driver drive your car to see there impression.

Are you sure you are pulling back towards you to shift to second not straight back?

Don't understand why the gear oil would make it really tough it's only oil.

I would also suggest changing the gear oil anyhow.

I would order some new trans and diff oil and shop around to see who'll do it for you the cheapest.

Go to another dealer

My car was built Feb. 1, 2006 (know the exact date from paperwork they had at the dealership when I picked it up).

I picked it up yesterday afternoon and it feels like a totally different car now! I can tell they adjusted a bunch of stuff on it. The clutch is stiffer/firmer again like when it was new. All the gears feel really "solid" and more firm now, less play, and totally smooth. Second doesn't have to be forced (at least for now) but it still makes the clunk like it did when I first got it. Basically, everything on the car feels like it did the day I picked it up brand new. So, at least for now, I'm not really having any problems with second gear or anything. Hopefully things stay that way.

According to my work invoice, it just says that basically they "checked" a bunch of stuff, not adjusted or anything else, although it is totally obvious they did. Invoice was a little cryptic in that it didn't say specifically what they did other than I voiced complaints about certain things that they then looked at. The other set of invoices that they have you sign said a whole lot more and was numerous pages long.

The car is also running/sounding better in general. Feels a lot more peppy than it was when I dropped it off. My work invoice does say they tightend my plugs, although the service guy said everything was tight when he called to tell me it was done. :dunno:

As long as it stays like this, I'm happy. :) I don't smell burning oil anymore and they cleaned up everything under the hood, so I slightly smell their cleaner, though. I'll have to get gas on the way home from work tonight, so then I'll get to see if my mileage returns to anywhere near normal, which I'll be happy with anything over 20.

I'll have to get my friend Kevin or someone else to drive it or something :eek: to see what it feels like to him. Kevin has an identical car to mine except for the color, and it was also built in Feb. 06. I drove his for a few miles a little while back and noticed how much "firmer" everything felt in his car compared to mine. Now mine feels like his did when I drove it.

i had the same exact thing, the transmission completely blew, right after the clutch blew...which was caused by the issue. Seriously, get that transmission fixed. It will never go away....i had to get rid of the car because they replaced the transmission after it blew, and it was still going on. there is something else, that ultimately they refused to look anymore, and i got rid of the car


oh and i had to pay for the clutch

How would I get it fixed if it's still within spec and wouldn't be covered under warranty? I don't want to have to pay for it out of pocket, especially since I can't afford that kind of expense at this moment. How many miles did you have when yours went?