So my transmission went out today...
 

2004 mazda rx8 6sp manual...

Now, sense the day I bought the car at 69k miles, (has 92k now) the throwout barring was making noise, and the clutch was a little weak, good but fading..

As some of you might know, I've been having transmission issues, like grinding noises during acceleration in 3rd gear, or shifting fast from 1st to 2ed...Also reverse popping out of place when trying to disengage it...4th gear syncro has always been bad sense ive had the car. 2ed gear likes to catch sometimes and is hard to put in..

Well, today, I went to start my car, started fine like always, and heard what sounded to me like my flywheel knocking...The shifter was stiff and it was hard to move it around while it was in "neutral"...as in, you know you have free play while its in neutral you can move it left or right with ease...well it was stiff and felt catchy...

Well, usually I could just hold reverse in place with force and it would pop in gear...well I went to go reverse and it wouldn't catch at all, went to go pull forward up my driveway after attempting to back up,......and nothing, grinding...lots and lots of grinding...

Now, I could put it in every gear with the clutch engaged, but once I tried to release the clutch while in gear, it would grind away...hinting off that my clutch was dead...Sounds like the flywheel is busted up...and knowing my trans has been having issues...I'm not real sure what the actual issue is.

Do you think my trans is still okay? Could it still be rebuilt? ...Or should I just buy myself a used transmission? With about 50-70k miles? (of course i'm buying a clutch and flywheel too)

A good used should be the thing, and get new throw out and pilot bearing,etc.

Sometimes its really hard to fix all those synchro and bad gears in a trans, especially poping out of gear trouble.

Yours sounds like a basket case.

You can open up the used and check general condition, and feel free play.

Yeah thats what I was leaning towards anywho. Yeah good idea. Thanx

if you release the clutch and you get grinding means you are not in gear. you might pass the syncro stage but not full engaged still.
you know it could very well be the little plastic cover on the other end of the shifter rod has broken in pieces and affecting your shifting.
when was the last time you changed transmission fluid and checked the shifter bushing?
http://www.axialflow.com/images/diy/ss8_di7.jpg

Hmmm, never actually. I'll look into that, no ones ever mentioned that to me before, about the plastic piece. And you know what, that could explain why it was so hard to move it around in neutral too.

Okay, I just checked out my shifter bushing and it was perfectly fine. I was trying to see if anything around the shifter was catching it, but everything looked good. I took a short video to show you guys just how its catching.

(okay so in this vid, notice how it moves freely in neutral...but If I put it in 1st gear, *and only 1st* then back to neutral, it will start to catch and its hard to move. I tried every other gear and it moves fine again.

SO, in this vid, I started out while it was not catching, then I put it in 1st, tried to move it around (catching) then I went from 1st to 2ed and it clears up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jow4gjKjw-Y

These are pictures of the me looking down the shifter housing.

Notice how the hole is offset to the right. Is it suppose to be that way?

looks like something is bent in the transmission.