jdmulveyiu

Hi all,

I am new to the club and have been an Rx 8 owner for about 7 months now.

I have an 04 rx 8 GTE with 6 spd manual with 48k miles.

I took my car in to have the rear 02 sensor replaced and asked for a tranny flush since I am at the half way point between fluid replacement.

Once I got my car back I noticed a distinct metallic noise when moving the stick shift from rev to 1st or 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. Not noticeable in the higher gears.

Took the car back to shop and they said without taking tranny apart they weren’t sure what was wrong and that I should probably get a new transmission or swap.

After getting the car back I then noticed sounds with the clutch, noise when pushing clutch in most noticeable preparing to shift from new to 1st and 1st to 2nd. This made me think it was the throw out bearing.

The sound when actually moving the stick shift is not really noticeable now.

I have done some research and have found other rx 8 owners having transmission problems around 40k miles due to some cheap parts in the drive linkage (disclaimer not the most technical car expert but trying to learn!!).

I took the car to a third party and they said it needs a transmission and new clutch kit.

After talking to the shop they said they would be willing to work with me on price due to being upset with service. They never said they noticed an issue with the transmission until I called back after picking it up and said I noticed a noise.

They said they did as well before service and when they did the flush there were metallic pieces in the fluid.

The shop quoted me a price of around 3k for a new transmission and 2k for a rebuilt with around the same mileage.

New Transmission
$2050 with 12 month 12k mile warranty (labor included)
$315.84 for new clutch kit
$24.00 for transmission fluid
$325 for labor

Rebuilt
$1250 (48k miles when it was rebuilt)12 month 12k mile warranty (no labor included)
$24 for fluid
315.84 for new clutch kit
$325 for labor

What do you guys think of the prices? Is there better parts I should be using to extend the life/performance of my transmission and car?

Since I will be paying 2-3k I want this done correctly and want it to last.

I was thinking about going with the new Mazda transmission because I cant afford to swap transmission every year or so. Also since the rebuilt has 48k miles on it, it seems like i would be swapping my bad 48k tranny for a repaired bad 48k tranny and worry about how long it will last.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

What did they put in it for fluid? Did you check the level?

Kinda strange that it was OK...and this started immediately after a fluid change

I would swap the fluid out with known good fluid and see what happens

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Hmm... so your trans is making noise when shifting. What other problems/symptoms are there?

do you know what trans fluid they put in?

I think you're getting to excited. If you're syncros are on their way out, eventually you'll need to fix that...however...

In my opinion, you can get some more miles out of this transmission, especially if you take it easy on it.

Are there any other problems other than noise? Hard shifts, grinding? Not going into gear at all?

Also, what evidence do you have that your clutch need to be replaced? Are you having any slipping or does it stink like burning clutch? Any clutch feel out of the ordinary? Vibration in the clutch pedal? Any creaking/noise from your clutch pedal?

Either option is a lot of money to spend (especially if you don't really need to)... throw out some more information so others can help you before making this decision.

jdmulveyiu

Thanks guys for the quick response here are some more details


Notice: Took the car to a Mazda Dealership for this service. I wanted to have the work documented while I am still learning about working on my car so please exclude my noob car remarks!

Took car in at 47.5k miles for service listed above. No noticeable problems with my Transmission. Occasionally noticed lack of power when shifting into first or reverse from neutral from cold start (ie maybe 3 times in 7 months) I have noticed a burning smell from clutch maybe the same amount of times 3 in first 2 months, but more at the beginning since I hadn’t driven a stick in about 5 years when I bought the car and thought it was due to poor shifting on my part but haven’t noticed it in a long time.

Got the car back on 4/15 and drove the car home but did not notice any noise.

On 4/16 I started my car up to drive to work in the morning and with the car in the garage with the windows down and stereo off; I noticed that when I shifted into reverse, as I moved the stick shift, there was a noticeable metallic sound coming from underneath the car. After backing the car up, I pushed in the clutch and when I shifted from Reverse to 1st I noticed the same sound again. As I drove to work that day the sound was noticeable in the lower gears 1-3rd but not in the higher gears.

I drove the car again at lunch to see if I still noticed the sound and had 2 friends in the car and all of us heard the same problem.

After lunch I called the dealership and told them of the noise I heard. They said they noticed a problem as well and when they did the flush there were metallic pieces in the fluid. They then blamed the problem on me saying that it was probably the shifting fork from hard shifting (which I know is BS) or from other user caused problem.

They said that there might be a larger issues causing the problem and set up an service time to take the car in on Monday 4/19.

I got a call that same day stating that they noticed the same metallic sounds in the lower gears but not in the higher ones and recommended a swap or new transmission. They said that Mazda might be willing to offer help since my car is under the mileage for the power train warranty but they would have to take the transmission apart ($285.00) to determine the problem but couldn’t guarantee that Mazda would provide assistance and based on the service manager trying to blame the problem on me I know they would tell me that it was caused by my use…

I declined and picked up my car.

The next day again, the noise when moving the stick shift was much less noticeable (meaning it had to be a quiet environment like my garage) to hear it, but when I push the clutch down while the car is in neutral there is now a similar metallic sound, but only when I push the clutch in and not when I move the stick shift.

I scheduled an appointment with a 3rd party (another Mazda dealership in Indianapolis that I had conduct the Mazda 100 point inspection before I purchased the car about 12k miles and 7 months ago came back in perfect condition)

They claimed that they noticed grinding in the gears and that the transmission and clutch kit needed to be replaced.

They said it would be impossible to cause internal transmission damage by just doing a transmission flush since all they do is hook up a machine. They also confirmed that fluid levels were correct and said that with 48k miles it would be nearly impossible to be able to prove that damage was caused to the car by the dealership.

I picked up the car from 3rd party yesterday 4/21 and still notice the sounds with the clutch and slightly when moving the stick shift in lower gears.

I have spoke with the Dealership VP in charge of about 4 different dealerships and he says they have done nothing wrong and I asked about why I took it in the first time I received it with a transmission problem and then the second time I received it with a clutch problem.

He said that the car had a problem before they received it and that they never diagnosed a clutch issue so they said it could have been caused by driving with the damaged transmission (not true).

That’s when I received the replacement quote listed above with parts at cost and he said he gave me a deal on labor as well (5 hours for new tranny and clutch install)

While in gear with my foot on the accelerator there is no noise or problem at all. It only occurs in lower gears while shifting or pushing the clutch down.

I have no problem at all shifting into all gears, no hard shifting or anything like that.

Clutch feels completely normal, no vibration at all.

Only symptom is sound coming from outside of car.

My Dad has great knowledge on cars as well as a close friend of his but not specifically with this car(both in Texas so can’t help right now) and they said that the typical sounds of the transmission going out are not apparent and that it could probably last for a year or so as long as I drive it safe and conservative.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

dude --run as fast as you can away from these dealerships. They are trying to rope you in. Metallic fragments in the drained fluid? God.
The sounds you hear may be just the clutch needing adjusting, it may be that the ppf is loose
etc. Ask around the forum for any other people with rotary cars that will recommend a good independant shop.
Your car is also under warrenty and you can contact the regional rep since the dealerships are giving you the run a round.
I dont see how some "Service managers" can live with themselves. Some are real good and fair---others are just crooks.
OD

jdmulveyiu

Car is no longer under power train warranty, its an 04 car that had a 4 yr 60k powertrain warranty.

Man I agree that it seems like they are trying to screw me, I have a couple of independant places that I can try as well...

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

+1... Inspect and then adjust your clutch pedal first... its free and a good place to start.

jdmulveyiu

Will do, thank you very much!

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Sorry I was just seeing the miles on it. My bifocals shifted!
OD

Never L8

iTrader: (5)

What a scam...

I'm pissed, and it's not even my car. This is EXACTLY why I do as much work as I can do myself. In the future, the how-to section here has a myriad of information, so do what you can and save yourself the headache.

Where do I start? First off, why the F-CK is your car in worse shape since you got it back? A fluid change would not prompt a sudden onset of issues, unless they did something to it. If there's metal shavings in the fuild, I would inquire why that is. They will tell you they don't know, but the only logical explanation is that the gears were grinding upon themselves or making contact with other components, such as a broken shift fork. If you say you have not done any hard, power shifts (as I like to call them), then I can't imagine a reason for the metal shavings.

I would carry out the advice of checking the clutch pedal position and make adjustments if necessary. A complete rebuild or trashing of the tranny seems to be unnecessary at this point.

As a side note, I have my '04 tranny out and cracked open right now. I had FAR worse issues, i.e. wouldn't shift into reverse, then 1st, then 3rd, then was grinding constantly. I expected to see stripped gears and mad issues. So far, the only thing I found was a cracked retaining piece on the drivetrain portion of the tranny. I still have to check the shift forks, but as of now, that seems to be the ONLY problem. I know exactly when that piece broke...I was racing someone and shifted it like it was my job, and not in a nice way. I learned my lesson, but the point is that my issue presented FAR worse than yours and so far, the problem is minor now that I'm inside of the tranny (my car part...not a cross-dressing she-man). Good luck and please let us know what happens.

jdmulveyiu

Thank you sir!

I agree such a crooked situation.

They have been trying to say that the problem existed before they got it and that the flush made the problem more noticable.

I am taking the car in tonight to a very respectible independent shop that works on exotic cars and has some experience with the RX 8.

After having a talk with their tech he agreed that something must have happened while it was there such as someone taking it for a little road trip and skipping gears or something like that.

He is going to do a flush to see if there is in fact any metal shavings or if dealer was making it up and make sure to put the correct fluid in my transmission. I also noticed that on my service receipt that they used 80w90 tran fluid instead of the recommended 75w90 so I will have to talk to them about that.

I do plan on using the DIY forum information and this has completely motivated me further to learn more about my car and cars in general. It was one of the reasons why i bought the car, to actually have a car I enjoy enough to learn and take care of myself.

Tomorrow the tech will test drive the car cold to see how it shifts and to hear the noises I complain of and then drop the oil once its warm.

So I should hear back early tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your help!!!

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

if you need to get another transmission, i'd consider switching to an rx7 transmission. you can get it to fit with little modification. and it'll probably cost the same for a tuner shop to do it. ~3k.

the upside is that an rx7 transmission is 1. waaaay stronger and 2. cheaper.

you do it once, you wont have to replace it again.

i replaced my transmission. a few months later, it was grinding again. i should have just gone to an rx7 transmission in the first place.