Can not shift into 2nd gear when I am in high RPM
 

Alright well i was in my local drift spot and on one of my runs I realized when i started to get around 8g's of rpm I could not shift into second gear. After the run I took my 8 for a quick run(not speeding or anything just driving around) and everything shifted perfectly. Then tonight while i was driving around I got up to about 8g's of rpm again and i couldnt shift down into second gear, it just starts to grind.

so my problem is when i am in high rpm i can not shift into second gear, it just grinds. Also when I am around 6 and 7G;s of rpm it grinds a little when i shift to second but it doesnt stop the shift.

if anyone has any ideas what is wrong it would be awesome :)

thanks.

i have a similar problem but shifting down into first. if I try to shift down into first when im above 3-4k, it grinds. It doesnt affect me much, i just stopped doing it lol... I thought at first itd be my clutch... but if its only with 1 gear wouldnt it be limited to your tranny?

How many mile are on your car? When I was near 50k I noticed I had trouble shifting into gears when at a high rpm....made me feel dumb, but it all had to do with my clutch pedal. My pedal assembly broke shortly after.

this seems more like driver error than anything else. Try rev matching when you shift down into first. It should help some.

I am around 63000 miles, my pedal had just broke recently so its pretty new still. but maybe its going down again. No other gear grinds so im not sure if it could be that.

thanks

sounds like maybe the syncros are going out???

sorry i took so long to reply, computer crashed, again.

anyway, maybe, i just got back from dallas so i am going to take my car in tomorrow to get checked out and see what it coulda been, also makin some squeeky noises when i am in neutral, hopefully nothing bad, may just need transmission fluid :P

I have similar problem, shifting from third gear at 9k to 4th my gear box grind like hell...

mine is at 63k miles, what do you mean by your pedal assembly broken? how do I go about checking it out?

I only have problem on high RPM also....don't have any problem shifting anything under 6k rpm

thanks in advance

Second is overrated as a gear really. Go straight for 3rd.


Sounds to me like your syncros are shot. Good luck getting a dealer to warranty them. Especially if you tell them you were doing drifting when you noticed. More then likely drifting falls under the "abuse" category

push down the clutch lol jk :)

like the other guys have already stated, it could be the synchros. Clutch pedal assembly has broken on many vehicles. I found most were right around 50k miles.

Right before mine completely "broke" I was noticing that I was missing 2,3 gears usually only when I was in the top r's which I was feeling like an idiot, cause it's not to hard to push a clutch in and shift a gear. About a week or 2 later I was stalled at a light with out a working pedal. Dealership warrantied mine. I was at around 52k miles.....GL in finding a solution to ur problem guys. Hopefully it's not just driver error....


Oh, and if you don't know how to downshift into 1st or better yet any gear, please don't. Not good for the car, and doesn't look good for you when you post up on the forum.

what's the rx8 warrenty limit at? I'm at 63k miles already, I wonder if my warrenty has expired already

yes.

There is a TSB for the early models that had problems with their shift forks and syncros. Go in and see if they'll replace the transmission.

Good look trying to find it. It's vanished off the face of the earth. I think it's a Mazda conspiracy.

Anyhoot, check out my story in Transmission Issues/Questions thread. Short story was: complained about grinding 4 different times during warranty period. Dealer said there were no problems. It got to the point where after warranty period, I couldn't stand the grinding and had them drop the transmission and they found 1-2-3 synchros, 1-2-3 gears and shift forks destroyed, input shaft wear. Since out of warranty, Mazda NA did not want to provide assistance and did a good job screening and ignoring all my calls.

Total out of pocket $3300 w/ new 2009 tranny. I am taking them to small claims court. I would have took labor or $500 in goodwill assistance and been quiet. I am almost certain this is an engineering problem and the old trannies cannot handle the high rpms.

Oh, and one more thing...

If I could have done it all over again, I would have just traded in the car instead of having Mazda NA try to help me out since I am out of warranty. Besides the cash, I was without the car for 5 weeks. It is all going to be out of pocket for you and a world of hurt and back and forth banter. The ignoring all my calls and voicemails was messed up and unethical but common for them.