Hello, I just purchased my first RX8, a yellow 2004 GT with 61k miles, and have a few questions about the manual transmission shift lever. My car's shift lever seems to lean to the left. When at rest in neutral it sits where I would expect 1-2 to be, and it is just about centered in the console when cruising in 6th. This causes the lever to rub against the left side of the console when shifting into 1st and 2nd. Is there any way to adjust this?

I have also noticed when getting on and off the throttle in 2nd the gear lever rocks 1/16 to 1/8 inch. Is this anything I should be concerned about?

Thank you

 

Anybody? Is everybody else's stick centerd in the console when in neutral? I looked at It a little more and it doesn't actually lean to the left, it is vertical when in neutral but just shifted over to the left side of the hole. Is there any play in the rear transmission mount holes? If there is I may be able to shift the rear of the transmission over about an inch to fix it.

 

pictures would help but you might want to check your tranny and motor mounts.

 

Here are pictures of the shifter in Neutral, 1st and 5th. Let me know what you think.

Thank you

 

Are you able to push the shifter any further to the left and have it release back to its place with a spring tension?

The shifter return (to center neutral position) is done by a spring mechanism. If the spring responsible for the centering return is broken, it may cause that or render the shifter to be floppy when in neutral.

 

doesn't look right to me. Did the previous owner put a short shift kit in it?

I'd check the mounts underneath. I think there is a DYI for removing the shift lever boot and you can see if the tranny is more or less centered, rolled to the left or off center.

 

It springs back to the center just fine from the left or right. I will pull the console apart this weekend and see what it looks like in there. Is there a DIY for the transmission mount? I have not come across one in my searches.