downshift

I felt the same for the 2nd-3rd shift on the first 600 miles. After that, the 2-3 shift is smoother now. I attributed that to breaking in the transmission. My 4-5 shift is kinda notchy too, but I think it's still not broken in yet since I don't do 4-5 shifts as often as 2-3. This might be different than your case, but if your car is still new, you might want to keep this in mind.

9-K Rever

I am going to copy and paste my posts on this issure. Right now as it stands..they are debateing to replace the tranny in my 8 due to that noise...Here they are...


I am glad I read this thread. Just recently I have been haveing a hard time getting into reverse. All the other gears are fine. But, I am going to make a appointment for my 8 for next week now.

I see another substandard Mazda rental car in my future..

Okay guys..I need to vent! I Just got of the phone with Cap Maz..and my normal rep who I have been working with is on vacation... I told them I would like to bring my car in to get the reverse checked out. He was like well..u have to double clutch it to make it go into reverse..its a close ratio six speed transmision and reverse takes a little bit more to get into. I was like...man, I dont' have to double clutch my car..THATS WHAT SYNCROS ARE FOR...two I had my car since AUGUST and I have never had this problem. Make my apointment check out my car AND DON'T TREAT ME LIKE AN IDIOT!! Argghhh.... man, I knew I was in for some bull when he told me my rep was on vacation.


This morning the same thing happend. Clutch in, push down on the stick, over to the right..ease of gas..MISS.

I had to grab the stick with two hands to get it into reverse this morning.

I am convinced now that something is wrong. I have 11k on my 8 and this is my first REAL problem.



None. I parked in a level garrage.

I went to lunch with a co-worker and the same thing happend.

So, when we got back I rushed the car to the dealer... and of course I couldn't re-create the problem. So I am not one to cry wolf..period. But, the agents from Ford who were covering for the Mazda people thought I didn't know what I was talking about.

Why must Mazda be in bed with Ford????

Anyway..I wanted them to give me a rental for the weekend so they can work out this issue with my 8 and they were like no..you have to bring it back in Monday..

Very frustrateing.

9-K Rever


Okay, I get my care back from the shop and they say there is nothing wrong with my tranny or clutch. They didn't even take it out to see if there could be an issue. They just shifted it a couple of times and since it didn't act up on them, they figured it was fine.

I am kinda pissed about it. But, hey, all I know is Mazda will be eating a warrenty claim if something seriously f-ed up happens to my tranny due to their neglegence.

9-K Rever

Okay guys and gal (Elara) check this out. My chick and I go up to CAPITOL MAZDA this morning to drop off my car. First thing I see is my favorite Mazda team there and ready. No need to talk to the Ford people... Pull up, they greet me with my name and I tell them the issue. I give them the keys, and the Mazda mechanic was there, and he was like let me take a peek at it. Got in my car...ran through the gears..and walla....NASTY GRINDING NOISE IN REVERSE comes up. He was like...ahh...now thats a issue. They couldn't give me a ETA because they said they had to call Mazda to see what the issue may be. So, I could be w/o my 8 for a minute. The Ford side of the shop..didn't even do that much. So, hopefully I will hear something by the end of the day.

Wednesday my 8 goes back into the shop. I am makeing them take the tranny out to see if there is a problem, also makeing them check the clutch.

aAweird driver side wind noise has appeard and I am going to have them look at that plus replace my passenger side speaker.

Looks like I won't have my 8 for a couple of days...

But, they better not give me any BS this time.

9-K Rever


Okay kids... I got a call from Cap Maz..they said that they have been on the phone with Mazda and trying to figure out what would be the best way of approaching my car. They admited that they never taken out a RX8 tranny before, and the mechanic wanted to get the manual from Mazda and study up before they took it out and started to mess around. So they gave me the option to take my car home untill they were comfortable with working on the tranny. I was like take your time..I don't want my car to be a guinne pig.... Scary stuff guyz...

NAVILESRX8

iTrader: (1)

My tranny is fine...shifts clean and smooth in all temperatures...but the diff...man that thing is whining like crazy. I drove with a mechanic and even he said it's fugged up, but it's been in the shop for 3 days now....not one word from the dealer on anything yet. I get to drive a really cool Escort sedan in the meantime. I call the dealer, and I get the runaround....I'll give them 2 more days...I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they have looked at it and have ordered any nessecary parts...

went_postal

I had a similar experience with my Fiero a few years ago. Basically the problem was the linkage. The linkage on the Fiero connect to a plate that has a slotted hole... We adjusted the link in the slot and it has never had another problem.

Not sure if there is a similar issue with the 8....


You could also try double clutching... =)

9-K Rever

Check this out from my earlier post.

Well, my RX8 goes under the knife (socket wrench) next week. Talked to the mechanic...and they said..theY will.. 1) REFLASH ECU WITH "L"FLASH...(they did not do that before) 2) Replace front breaks 3) Adjust driverside window 4) Replace passanger side speaker 5) Inspect transmission for damage 6) Check clutch.

Needless to say, I won't have my 8 for quite some time....

9-K Rever

RPIRX-8

Well, still haven't heard from that MNAO rep that was supposed to come out and investigate. I have to take my car in to try and get the L flash soon, so i am going to have them look at it once more.

CzechsMix

I just took delivery on my new RX on 4-29-04. I noticed the grinding when upshifting from 2>3. I also notice the clutch throwout bearing is making a noise when the clutch is out and in neutral. The noise goes away when the clutch is in. I have 1000 miles on her now and I've not really gotten too agressive in my driving. This is very disapointing. I'll report back when I talk to my Mazda tech.

Also has anyone noticed the following problem? When I put the clutch in all the way and put the gear in 2 or 1 when coming up to a stop light I hear the gears whine like they are engaged. Is this normal?

9-K Rever

Congrats on the new 8. Just to let you know. The throw-out bearing noise is now considerd "NORMAL" by Mazda. No point in telling your dealer about that. The whiring noise is just the 6 speeds tripple cone synchros synching up. No proplem there either... Choose the battels you want to fight with your dealer wisely.

9-K Rever

RPIRX-8

Well, I took it in, got my M flash, and talked to them about the grinding. I try to be honest with my dealer, so I don't do any parts swapping when I take my car in for service. They gave me the M flash while my K&N intake was installed, no problem. When I talked to them, they did try to blame it on my replaced shifknob saying it was too short. When I explained to them that my original complaint was with the stock shiftknob, they recanted. They are still trying to get that MNAO rep to come out, but I am thinking that isn't going to happen at this time.

zoom44

sorry to lazy to read the whole thread. did they check your pressure plate bolts to make sure they were all torqued to spec? there have been some issues wiht those bolts backing out because of not being tightend properly at the factory. this could cause gear grinding

9-K Rever

My car has been at the dealer for the past week getting my "Ice in Blender" noise looked at. They dropped the tranny to see if they could find anything... So far nothing..but the dealer and I are on agreement that we don't want them to crack opean the tranny and look around...

So, they said they will check the clutch and the rest of the drive line.

I should have it back on friday.

9-K Rever

9-K Rever

My car has been at the dealer for the past week getting my "Ice in Blender" noise looked at. They dropped the tranny to see if they could find anything... So far nothing..but the dealer and I are on agreement that we don't want them to crack opean the tranny and look around...

So, they said they will check the clutch and the rest of the drive line.

I should have it back on friday.

9-K Rever

myredrx888

I had touble with my tranny at about 7000 miles. It would not shift into 5th and1st to 2nd was grinding. They pulled it out and said it was full of metal chips. They replaced it but now I have about 11000 and now the clutch is acting up

9-K Rever

Guys..

Got my car back today..and I have to say I am impressed with Capital Mazda.

They found a bur on the reverse gear that was giveing me problems with shifting into reverse.

The also found some burs and funky build up on the clutch. They took them down and now my transmission feels AWSOME.

I was FLOORED in the feel of my tranny and clutch. ALL the gears shift much better now. Much stiffer and more accurate. Now clutch is gripping and feel like a new clutch.

WOW...WOW...WOW...

The mechanic said that he talked to Mazda and they admited they are haveing problems with revers so I suspect a TSB to be relased regarding this.

9-K Rever

winbluerx8sport

i get it from 4th to 5th.... BADLY and a lot of it...and some time to 2nd to 3rd i got probs yet i havnet gotten it to the dealer thinking that it'll pass...im wrong for thinking this though...

xrider

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to see if the original poster had his problem fixed. I have 8600miles on my 8 and am having the same problem, anytime I shift from 6th to 5th I get a grind I feel in the shifter. Regardless if I downshift fast or slow it grinds. This is around 60-70mph, about 4k-4.5krpm. Now, if I am in 6th and let the car slow down to 50-55mph and downshift to 5th it doesn't grind but still feels alittle sticky going into 5th. Anyway, I have an appointement Wed. to have the dealer look at it. Installing a RB flywheel wouldn't cause this would it? I had it installed at the dealer but it started to happen several thousand miles after that.

xrider

Here is an update of what my servise advisor at my local dealer has told me about my 6th to 5th grinding issue. They called Mazda, and they told them to dump the original trans fluid, and refill with automatic trans fluid. I don't know what the diff is, the tech said it was alittle lighter weight. I asked them to keep an I open for any metel in the old trans fluid. Guess I'll find out here in a few hours after they drive it to see if it makes a difference. The only thing I can think of that would have caused the grinding in the 1st place is when I had another dealer install my RB flywheel, they had changed the trans fluid. I looked at the receipt and it says they used 75W90 Mobol1 gearlube. Grinding didn't occur for several K miles after that though.

xrider

Yet, another update. The service advisor called me at 5pm, he said that Mazda instructed him to drain 1qt. of manual trans fluid, and add 1qt of atf fluid. Low and behold, it didn't work. So they put another call into mazda, to see what to do next. Looks like they might be pull'n my trans. Atleast I got a big Lincoln town car loaded with 50 miles on it for a rental. I have to give props to the dealer so far, kepping me updated, They are doing the proper steps I suppose, before they have to pull the trans, and I'm sure they have to get permission from Mazda before they pull it, since it's a warranty issue.

custom8

This morning the same thing happend. Clutch in, push down on the stick, over to the right..ease of gas..MISS.

I had to grab the stick with two hands to get it into reverse this morning.

I am convinced now that something is wrong. I have 11k on my 8 and this is my first REAL problem.

I had the same problem with my 8 last march, it did it a couple of times and i proceeded to go to the dealership and while en route i was on an exit ramp and started slowing down to stop at the top of the hill to cross the overpass, i proceeded to shift down into 3rd after slowing down to approximately 45 mph as i proceeded to shift from neutral to 3rd the tranny started to grind badly as if i had not pushed the clutch in <keep in mind that i had only had problems with it staying in reverse without kicking out> as soon as i heard the grinding i said to myself "oh no..." sure enough i held the clutch and the shifter in neutral and stopped at the stop sign then tried to shift into 1st to turn onto the overpass, grinding again, could not find the gear for nothing, i rolled the window down motioned for the people behind me to move over and let the car roll and steered it to the shoulder and called the roadside assistance, got the car to the dealer, <19 so no rental for me> had to call parents to come get me < fortunately my dad kept my old F-150 for me to tow and such so i had something to get around > they took the tranny apart the whole gearing assembly had fell out, they were not torqued to spec and loctited "what they told me anyway" anyway they ordered another tranny <took 2 weeks total in and out time> and sent me on my way, only problem i seem to be having now is the relative grind some of you are talking about while upshifting, except mine occurs from 1st to 2nd at 7k+ rpms, its almost as if it's a missed shift <i'm no expert with a stick but rest assured im no noobie> i have seen that someone said something about pulling slightly too much to the left when shifting into 2nd, i think i'll try shifting by just pulling straight down instead of diagonally left and down.. any comments?

xrider

Well, my Mazda advisor called me Tuesday, and told me to bring my 8 in on Monday, to have the trans pulled so they can take a look inside. He said parts would be order before hand, which I doubt since they don't even know exactly what is wrong with it. So I suppose they will have it for a few weeks also.

Tbone

Quote" Okay guys..I need to vent! I Just got of the phone with Cap Maz..and my normal rep who I have been working with is on vacation... I told them I would like to bring my car in to get the reverse checked out. He was like well..u have to double clutch it to make it go into reverse..its a close ratio six speed transmision and reverse takes a little bit more to get into. I was like...man, I dont' have to double clutch my car..THATS WHAT SYNCROS ARE FOR...two I had my car since AUGUST and I have never had this problem. Make my apointment check out my car AND DON'T TREAT ME LIKE AN IDIOT!! Argghhh.... man, I knew I was in for some bull when he told me my rep was on vacation"


If I am not mistaken, reverse gear does not have syncros. You always have to ease a car into reverse or it is a bit hard on the tranny. I've had several cars where I put it into neutral, and then carefully put it in reverse, or even ease off the clutch a hair to help things align as I slip into reverse.

xrider

Yeh, I had a 01 Protege, and sometimes it would drop down in reverse, and sometimes it took alittle work. I don't think there was a problem since I had over 50K on it. On my 8 rarely there is a time where I have to try a couple times to get it to go in reverse, seems like it's more when it's real cold. I think it's reverse in general, on manuals, atleast with Mazdas. Atleast we don't drive in reverse all the time. :D

xrider

Yet another update.... So they pulled the trans opened it up, and don't see anything that is obvious. So they decide to replace the syncros? and some other things, without mazdas' consent. Versus replacing the whole trans. Advisor said there isn't a PN listed for the whole unit, right.... anyway they said the mazda rep is coming out on friday. This sucks 2 days before I put it back in the shop I put wheels and tires on. Now I have a set of Tein s-tech springs sitt'n in my garage. I figure I won't get it back until the end of next week, that will be 2 weeks total. Oh well better safe than sorry.

xrider

UPDATE! My advisor just called me and told me that Mazda gave them the O.K. to order a new unit(transmission). He didn't have an ETA, but said he could give me one on Monday. He also said that the shipping of the unit will probabley take 4-5 days while putting it in will take just hours. I give him props, he has called me every evening with an update. It's nice to know that I have a new car that I baby, already needs some major warranty work.

poomaster5

I just got my 8 out of the shop. It was grinding with quick shifts from 1st to 2nd. They said that 2nd gear was chewed up and replaced it & some syncros. I only have 3k miles on it. Now it shifts just fine.