Won't shift into 6th.
 

On my way home tonight I ran it through the gears up to high-way speeds and it would not shift into 6th.
I tried everything short of ripping the shifter out with my arms to no avail.

Has anyone had this happen?

Doug
Las Vegas

No. In my case 5th and 6th are the smoothest gears. 1st is fine. 2nd through 4th feel like something isn't lubricated, I'm not sure how to explain it but it feels like "metal on metal without lube" in those gears.

What's weird is it used to feel smoother now it feels...kind of ...grindy? I'm wondering if I haven't caused the problem myself and eventually my higher gears will begin to feel the same way.

edit:

I'm speaking ONLY of the feeling I get from the shifter, it just literally feels like a little bit of "scraping" right below the knob...hope that makes sense. I don't think the GEARS are grinding.

When I shift into 6th I have to push towards the passenager door just slightly but it slipps in real easy. Just dont press DOWN.

i rarely use 6th but when i do no problems yet.

I guess it goes into the shop on Monday.......I love this car

DG

Any other transmission problems out there?

not saying it is a problem but in neutral there may be a whirring noise. when the clutch is engaged it goes away. some are saying its the throw out bearing that needs to be replaced. others say its ok.

Mine makes a very loud noise until you push in the clutch....that can't be right....and now 6th. gear is out.....maybe just a bad trans.

Sounds like you've got a hosed tranny. Try rev-matching. At ~80mph, shift to neutral, release clutch, rev to 4k, then push in the clutch and shift into 6th. Rev-matching not only saves wear on the synchros, it makes for a far smoother shift. Basically you want the engine speed and the tranny speed to match up before you shift. Done perfectly, you don't even need to use the clutch (aside from 1st and reverse).

Thanks Winter.......I have tried that and everything else...it just will not go into 6th. 900 miles on it so far.....

Doug,

No real ideas here ... so feel free to skip this post ...

Seems that 6th and reverse are very close. Possible the mechanism that allows access to the R gear has slid over and blocking 6th? Can you put it in R without pushing down? Havent' seen the machnics of the sihfter hence my starting comments. If this was the case, then it's not a trany problem. Again, totally speculating here.

Thanks WHealy,
No you still must depress the shifter to get reverse.
Just called the dealer they can see me in 9 days!
Thing is I very seldom use the 6 gear...in 900 miles maybe 75 were in top gear. Now the transmission is making a lot of noise in all gears and out.

What a bummer.....still love the car however.

Kind regards.
Doug

Doug, this happened to me once when I was coasting down the the freeway and then tried to drop it back into 6th; it wouldn't go. It really freaked me out! It has never happened to me again but I theorize I may have in fact been trying to drop it into 4th thinking it was 6th or for some other reson the gear box was locking me out. I was going about 75mph. I was able to get it into 5th and then eventually inot 6th. Hope this helps.......

Mazda has issued an 'M' tip for their technicians about difficulty shifting. They are told to duplicate the customers concern and then check the torque of the clutch cover bolts. Tighten as necessary. If that's not the case you may actually have a bad trans.

Thanks CERAMICSEAL,
I will tell them.....I spent the day looking it over and found nothing.
Still no 6th. speed.

DG

l
 

still looks good broken.....

,
 

My other rides....

Did you check the brake/clutch master fluid level? My Miata had separate master cylinders. When the clutch cylinder went, the problem did not show up in all the gears simultaneously. The 4th (of 5) went first.

Thanks bernieunger,
No I have not checked that...but I will this afternoon.


Kind regards,
DG

I will tell everyone what Mazda says when I take it in...but another wrench said 6th. gear appears to be locked up (read needs new transmission)

Vampyr,

Doesn't sound like your tranny is in good shape. I would say that you didn't do anything. Judging by your previous posts I would expect that if you were to experience a problem it would be the clutch starting to slip out of gear. It would take you a while to burn the clutch out bad enough for it to start slipping though and that doesn't make it difficult to shift or start creating a noise (unless you count the higher revs as the gears begin to slip at higher torque).

OK thanks 93rd, I take it you meant it doesn't sound like my tranny is in BAD shape, right?

Vampyr,

I can't say whether your tranny is in good shape or not but I can say that by your previous posts if you were going to experience a problem I would expect the problem would be a slipping clutch.

Let me explain: when you "ride" the clutch by releasing the clutch pedal to slow you can burn the clutch plate. This causes extra wear on the clutch plate and through time will cause the plate to allow the the gear to slip out. It starts at high torque usually in a high gear like trying to pass someone at freeway speeds by stomping on the gas in 5th gear. It will get to a certain point and then slip like it was coming out of gear. As you take your foot off the gas it will begin to grip again. After a short period of time you will notice it "slipping" in all gears and the engine won't have to be straining.

This is the typical wear clutches will see with a new M/T driver but usually the driver is able to figure out how to shift properly before there is any real damage done (otherwise my parents cars would've been screwed). Because your saying that your car is making an unusual noise and it is hard to get it in gear leads me to believe that it is another problem. If there is a problem. Have the dealer look at it.

New 5 Speed mode
 

On my previous RX-8 (before the re-cycle for the HP issue) I lost 6th gear. No grinding, no noise - just like it was a 5 speed. I could not speed shift (or speed match, as I have heard it called). Because this was a fairly early model, the dealer pulled the tranny and replaced it. Luckily, the western parts deport for Mazda is Ontario, CA. where the dealer is. I was able to get my car back the next day. The service rep told me I was the first to have a tranny replaced in the US. Whoo hoo!

Mine is doing the same thing!

Kind regards,
DG