RX8 Gears grinding-Clutch?
 

My dad's RX8 has about 65K-70K miles on it and everytime he tries to shift into 4th, 5th, and sometimes reverse it does not go into gear and it grinds. Is this the clutch worn out(he is a good stickshift driver)? or Does the transmission shifting need to be adjusted? Please let me know if it is somethind else or what not.

Its likely the syncos are worn out. This will most likely require a transmission rebuild at the very least.

well we have the extended warranty from the dealer, and the one issued from mazdausa.....it better be covered.

Is it a 2004? Some early transmissions 04s and some 05's i think had a poorly designed shift fork which would increase the problem.

Usually the fix is to dismantle the tranny put in the updated shift fork and new syncros

Here:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission3.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission.htm

yes its a 2004!!! haha..when all the recalls existed haha...i can take it to the dealer and they will fix it under warranty right?

also, iits been grinding for a month maybe and is progressively getting worse..how badly do you think the transmission may have been affected by this?

oh wow, thats interesting links. Thanks, i hope there is not too much damage and i hope the mazda dealer is honest if they have to replace the transmission. Galpin Mazda in Van Nuys is horrible for all who live near there. I have had a bad experience with my wheels and tires with the. Horrible.

Yeah it does that.

The only way I would think it was the clutch was if the clutch disengaugement point was significantly different that the factory spec. try to wiggle the clutch pedal up and down with your hand. It should only have maybe 2-3mm of play, if there is any more then it may be your clutch is mis-adjusted. I'm skeptical of this and pretty positive its the syncros though.

Well the gears dont actually grind, its the syncros that are grinding. Worst case scenario the syncros would shatter and lodge in the gears destroying the whole transmission, as it stands right now I think only syncros 4 & 5 and the reverse collar are affected.

will this be covered under warranty?

Yeah it will most likely be under the 04's extended powertrain warranty.

It will most likely go like this:

1. They will probably ask you for their diagnostic fee of around $100 just for them to personally find out what the problem is :lol:
2. They will find out its the syncros
3. They will call mazda regional headquarters and ask them if they will honor your warranty.
4. mazda regional will ask you or the dealership for poof that you performed at least 1 manual transmission fluid change on the car.
5. They fix your car (takes about a week maybe two if they cant get the parts right away)

it should be...if it just the clutch, then no...thats wear and tear

Oh and:

6. They will try to sell you a clutch and probably some other replacement stuff.

Alright. Well I hope the dealer will fix it. They better give us a rental car too haha.

Alright. Well I hope the dealer will fix it. They better give us a rental car too haha.
Also how often does the clutch wear out? We drive it hard every now and then but not every day or something like that.

It really depends, on the clutch, on how good of a driver the person is, on if they drive city or highway a lot, if they race it. I've seen anywhere from 12K to 120K miles.

Honestly if they offer you to replace the clutch for like $400 I would do it, the labor should be covered under the warranty transmission replacement, usually clutch replacement is $1000 to $1300 with labor.

would a worn out clutch make the grinding noise only for 4th and 5th gear all the time. And to restate about the reverse, its not the fact that it grind going into gear, it slips into the spot but misses the gear so when you accelerate you dont move and it makes a wseird noise., sorry for the misunderstanding. also the grinding has substantially gotten worse over the last 2 weeks. A clutch cant wear out that fast can it? by the way, we mainly do city driving to downtown la

It sounds to me more like a worn out clutch/pressure plate based on the mileage and city driving. Have the clutch/pressure plate/release bearing/pilot bearing replace and flywheel resurface. :eyetwitch

but with a worn clutch why would the gears grind when trying to shift ONLY into 4th and 5th. As my dad says the transmission in 4th and 5th is "grind em and find em".

Bump

I don't think driving with the "grind em and find em" attitude is the best to do

um its not an attitude. Its the fact that, that is the only way you can drive the car unless you skip to 6th gear.

It's probably the clutch pedal bracket tearing itself apart (do a search in this forum). It's kind of hard to destroy the 4th, 5th and reverse synchro all at the same time unless you just drove the 24-hr of Lemans.