This is my first post ... but have been around for a while.

Just wanted to share my experiences with you all ...

I bought a new 2005 RX8 about 10wks back and soon started having problems shifting. These were mainly due to the stick not shifting smoothly from 1st to 2nd and then 2nd to 3rd. There was some resistance all the time between those 3 gears. I read several posts and tried to change my shifting behavior several times, with no luck. Note that I have driven manuals for 10+ yrs and always get used to the new car usually within 1mth or less.

Finally, a post suggested I test-drive another new RX8 ... which I did. The sales staff were more than happy to put behind the wheels of another one and they let me take the car by myself for 30mins or so. As soon as I pulled out, I knew there was something wrong with mine!

Sales highly recommended that I keep bringing the car back till it was perfect, and even complain to Mazda if I was not happy. I was really surprised with this.

So I booked my car in, and Service said that there were 3 progressive steps;
1. Change manual transmission fluids
2. Change parts of the clutch pilot system and/or the entire clutch assembly
3. Replace transmission (from experience they had never had to do this on an Rx8 and Sales said the same thing).

Anyways, so they tried step1 and told me to come in again after another 1000miles (I was already on 1000m at that time). However, when I went to pick my car up, I bumped into the salesperson and he suggested I call in to tell them that the problem still persisted ... just to be on the record. So I drove the car around and the gears were no better. So I called in. This time another service person said that if its no good, then to bring it right away!

So I went in for the 2nd time (left the car there for 4 days since I was going away). When I picked the car up again, it was GREAT. They had done step 2, and by replacing the entire clutch and pilot (i think) system, the gears were SUPER!

... now I am loving my RX8 and my advice to you all is that if you have problems, shifting,
1. test drive another one
2. ask your sales person to drive yours around the block (mine did and he agreed there was a problem).
3. don't give up even though its a hassle taking it back in
4. log all calls and conversations, in case you need to push them for a new car!

gd luck & happy shifting!

 

I only have problems every now and then. For me though, it is only at 7.5K RPMs and above. But this is only my second stick, (my first one was a Civic which I only drove for about 6 months). I'm sure a lot of it is just me not being quite used to shifting when there is that much power. Any tips for me? Possibility it could be the same type problem?

 

Same thing happened to me a while back, just they skipped steps 1 + 2 and put in a new transmission.

 

congrats on getting everything taken care of, seems like your dealership is pretty good when it comes to customer service

 

This makes me wonder if my car has a problem with the transmission...Sometimes I feel like something is blocking me from going into 1st from Neutral or into 2nd. Its not smooth. This is my first manual tranmission, so I thought it was normal..but maybe not. 3k miles on the car.

 

If your going any faster than 8mph (approx.), it will be very hard to get into first. Any faster and it will not let you go into first gear for obvious safety reasons.

2nd gear may be a bit notchy but that seems just about normal. Make sure when going from neutral to 2nd your rpms arent too low...give it some gas then shift into 2nd.

Hope that helped.

 

I just picked up my car and service manager says there isn't a problem with the gear nor the transmission. He even told one of the engineer to test drive the car with me and said there isn't a problem.

I was having problem with first three gears and noise from under neath the car but it seems the problem is gone for now.

Come to think of it, I think the problem only occurs in cold weather.

Nedor

 

My car does not shift smoothly when first started if the temp is below freezing. I take it easy and double clutch to keep things smooth until it warms up.
The other interesting thing how the car will move in neutral when the transmission is cold and the clutch is let out. This effect only lasts for a few seconds.

 

R8XY:

I've been having trouble with 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd too. (now at 28k) Sometimes I can time and adjust my RPM and clutching just right, (if I'm really careful) but half the time it wants to "CHHHUNK" into gear. (even when I'm trying to be careful)

I wonder if the pilot system you're refering to is the pilot bearing. I could see how if the pilot bearing is sticky it wouldn't let the input shaft of the trans. to spin completely independently, perhaps causing the gears to clash. I'm not sure why mainly 2nd and third, maybe a bigger difference between gear and final drive speeds or something?

I see the dealer tomorrow; I'll bring it up and see what they say.

 

hi KKMmaniac ... yeah the "pilot" system i mentioned is the pilot bearing. hope you get it looked at.

 

Nah, I always go from 1st-2nd-3rd-4th, and then I will occasionaly skip 5th if I am settling to cruising speed. I think I might not be finishing the shift, sometimes I will let off the clutch a little early or not get it all the way in the next gear. But like I said, this only happens at high RPMs when there is a lot of power.

 

New 2005 rx-8, 1 week old, 500 miles.
I have the same problem - while shifting from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 (and possibly the same at higher gears, but havent red-lined in those gears yet).

My problem appears only when at high rpms, greater than 7k.
Surprisingly, all the dealers in my area have never heard of this problem. Getting it to the dealer this weekend to have it looked at.

- Bodi

 

I've always had a problems shifting from 1st to 2nd, but this is my first MT car. Its about 5 months old and around 6,500 miles. If I shift very slowly and very carefully I can shift into 2nd smoothly, but I never have a problem shifting into 3rd, only from 1st to 2nd. Is this just me being a noob at manual transmissions?

 

This is in reponse to the post by Cool-blue-dad.
Thanks for the info .. I red-lined only for a very short while and mostly shifting at or below 4k. Should be fine ..

Before I continue, I want you guys to know that I know next to nothing about rotaries, but I have basic knowledge about engines. So please dont take what I say as gospel and what I say below is my speculation - I am not putting down facts.

Mazda does not say to not redline it (it only warns against racing - which prolly means redlining it with no load - car not in gear).

Moreover, Mazda recommends that you change speed frequently. Meaning you accelerate quickly under decent engine load and then decelerate quickly. This creates increased pressure on the piston rings in a cylinder engine (and its equivalent in the rotary) and helps the piston (rotor) seals seat against the cylinders (or housing for rotary). So you should not be limiting rpms during break-in (altho I dont think going to 9k is appropriate either - I simply dont know). And 4k sounds low for a rotary. And I have checked this against break-in recommendations for aircraft piston engines, other car piston engines etc. In fact for aircraft engines, it recommends running full throttle to seat the piston rings.

So I have a bit of suspicion about racing beat's recommendations. If someone can tell me why, Racing beats recommendations make sense, I will shut up Racing beats idea that it puts progressive load on the engine is also weird since the engine is not weak to start with and then with use it somehow becomes "stronger" .. - that sounds very weird. If anything a new engine should be the strongest mechanically (in terms of bearing load). The break-in is not about progressively loading the engine, but seating some parts properly (mostly the moving parts - which for the rotary are very few - the rotor and the equivalent of piston rings rubbing against the housing). If they are not properly seated, the walls will prolly retain more oil than needed - this will lead to increased oil consumption and maybe loss of power.

Mazdas recommendations however, do make sense to me.

- Bodi

 

i have the same problem with 1st to 2nd gear and sometimes 3rd gear too. sometimes its hard to get into those gears. it also have this click noise sometimes when i shift it. so do you guys suggest me to bring it back to the dealer to for a check up?

 

When I shift from 1st to 2nd there has always felt like there was a big notch inbetween the gears. When I took it in, my dealership told me the transmission just felt new, but here I am two years later and still feeling the notchy gearbox. The 1st to 2nd gear notchy shift always made me wonder why people on this board said the gearbox was smooth. I'll go on a test drive tomorrow with another 8 and see how it goes.

 

The transmission is "smooth". The way to shift the gearbox is not to grip the gear shifter as if you are holding a fighter plane's joystick. Just cup your hand over the stick and just gently flick it back from 1st to 2nd. There's no need to "gate" the shifter into 2nd as the shifter will naturally fall into its place. The "spring" action is pretty accurate. From 2nd to 3rd... again just cup your hand over the shifter and just push up. Again, no need to "gate" the shifter as it will naturally pass "N" to 3rd in lightning speed.

I once tried clasping the gearbox coz it looks kind of cool. However, it felt kind of notchy as the transition between gears lost its natural "springyness". Cupping over the shifter actually makes the shift work "lighter", "smoother" and "quicker". Try it!

I drive on the RHS... so for me the left hand action with the cupping over the shifter works for me. Once you get used to shifting with your cupped palms over the shifter, you can also shift from 1 to 2 using 2 fingers to "flick it" in gear. Same 2 fingers can be used to shift from 3 -> 4 and 5 -> 6. As I have said, the gearbox will naturally spring into it's place.

Once you discover that this gearbox is actually VERY SMOOTH... you can try different style is clasping the shifter without losing the natural transition movements between gears. I also have a braided SS clutchline... it is worth every cent I paid for.

Ohhh... just today while doing my routine carbon cleaning workout I revved over 9500 rpm. I looked at my speedo and it registered 121 km/h on second gear. Doh!!! The thing is, it still felt like it was making power at those revs and later I felt the limiter cut in. Tacho needle was nudging on 10000 rpm. A flick to 3rd... everything was smooth cruising! 2 years on... still running smooth. March 9 & 20 I am booked to take the car on track. More carbon cleaning routine for me...

Hope that didn't put an "error" code in the Engine management computer.

 

I rarely have problems when shifting but quite often when I shift from 2nd to 3rd i get a loud sound from the transmission but never grinding. Only happens when going into third too.

 

I just came back from my test drive and the test car with the engine cold was smoother than my 8 with the engine warm. And it didn't have that notch going into first gear. I'll take it in tomorrow and have them check it out.

 

Probably. I can shift just fine after that point and don't have much experience or practice with a stick.

 

A technique they were teaching in my driving school was to place the back of your hand against the shifter (not on top of the ****) and just gently flick your wrist (or just two fingers when shifting in the downward diretion with virtually no contact of the rest of your hand on the shifter) and it would go into gear smoothly. This was to teach you to not grab so hard and try to use a lot of force when shifting.