Hey, took my 8 into the dealer because I can't shift into 4th with RPM's over 6000

They said that I may have a bad shift fork, and they're working with mazda to see what they want to do about it..

I'll be without my car for a week or so because I may do m ore damage if they give it back to me.

Can anyone give me a technical explination of what could have caused the problem, and what further damage could be caused by driving with it?

 

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

 

Thanks for the link.. I'm already aware of what it is and how it functions. I was wondering what could be wrong with it for it to cause my problem..

 

They are going to get parts to repair it.. they don't know when the parts will be release by mazda.

 

oops...sorry, I was a bit too quick on the trigger. hope they give you (and then us) a decent analysis.

 

Torque from the gears pushing back on the shift fork is one of the more common causes of shift forks bending/failing. I'm not a transmission pro, so can't explain the details.

Shift forks do break/bend (been there, done that) due to abuse, like ramming the car into gear when the gears aint ready (not synchronised). It can also happen with a good driver though, when the loads in the transmission exceed the load the shift fork can bear. This is what may have happened in your case. The reason may be because the fork was too weak, or the load in the transmission was too high - that will be for Mazda to decide.

Hope this helps.

 

Mazda replaced my shift forks under warranty.. it drives like a dream.. anyone having shifting problems like mine should go to the dealer!!

 

The same damn thing happened to me the other day. i was flying and headed to fourth gear and missed slightly only to run into this problem.'

It felt like there was an extra half gate between 4 and 6. the shifter skewered iteslf on the point and got stuck. I had to let the clutch out a bit and push pretty hard on the stick to get it free.

 

Don't worry guy..you are not alone.

I had my worked on two weeks ago.

They also fixed some issues with my clutch. Ever since then I swear to god my car drives better than when I got it. I have 14k on mine. I let some other RX8 owners on the forum feel it and they said my transmission and clutch feels much better than theirs.


9-K Rever

 

So many tranny probs with the manuals? I thought the auto trans was the weaker of the two?? NO??

 

Well..its all reletive. I knew the 8 would have issues when I got it just for the simple fact that its a NEW CAR. All new cars have issues. So, I don't get pissed at anthing that comes up. I take it all as part of the experience.

But, yes, I have had trranny issues. Keep in mind the RX8's tranny is brand new for Mazda..so there will be bugs to work out.

9-K Rever

 

I don't know why they're telling you they "don't know what mazda is going to do" or the fork isn't released yet. That makes no sense...its a part, like any other part. Its not even that expensive, its the labor that's costly. I broke one in my ex (FD) and replaced it. It was a pain. I couldn't get the clutch to engage while the car was running at all when mine was broken.

jds

 

I think he means, if the fork is a big problem..should they re-call it or just put out a TSB... They are trying to figure out what to do.

 

That's fine, but they should fix his car ASAP in the mean time. Maybe I misread what he wrote, it sounded to me like they were keeping his car trying to figure this stuff out.

jds

 

Gotcha! I will scan and post my work order to the forum so people can be wary of this.

But, I don't think people should worry. It was easily taken care of.

9-K Rever

 

I am posting my work order that I had on my RX8 tranny. Just to let every one know that they may have the same issues. But the dealer took care of them PERFECTLY. I have no complaints or ill words to say about the job they did.

Issues taken care off, car drives like new.

9-K Rever

 

what were your symptoms before the service?

 

Grinding.;. I had the same problem, replaced shift forks and gears..


I jsut got my car back yesterday.. however it now rattles&squeals...

 

They were going to keep my car, then they just let me drive it.. and repaired it about 1 1/2 weeks later after getting parts.. I have some rattle/squeal issues when under throttle now that weren't there before.

 

Realy now? Where are they coming from? Have you notified the dealer?

 

Rattles are coming from exhaust.. i created a new thread for that.. the squeals were bad gas.. (detonation) i think!! The squeals went away.