gonna send mine in then and get it sorted while it's still under warranty... funny my only problems i've ever encountered have been going into 2nd and going into 4th guess i'll expect the same report.

 

From reading various owner reports on shifting problems in the MT, it seems like the most common gear showing issues is 4th. Perhaps this excerpt from an older Automobile Mag article has a clue for us here, "Once you get into the throttle, the rotary engine crackles upward to its 9000-rpm redline, and the gearchange seems supernaturally precise, especially if you pause for an instant in neutral to let the synchros do their work (there are triple-cone synchros for first, second, and third gears)." Pausing to let the synchros rev match is not in the playbook for the most optimized Zoom Zoom experience - 4th apparently does not have the triple cone design the lower three gears offer.

You can find the rest of the article at: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...rx8/index.html. It is a nice review of the RX-8 against competitors like the Z and the 330i.

 

Ill go check on my build date in a second. One thing i did notice is that there is now a ton of throwout bearing noise. When I let the clutch out and have the tranny in neutral it rattles like crazy and when I do it right after I start the car is actually moved forward a little bit. I know it didn't sound like this before I took it in.... sick of this damn tranny.

 

quick question you guys... is this considered normal for the tranmission/car... i drive the car on first gear and let go of the gas and it decelates to around 7mph... then the car starts to buckle... and same thing goes for second gear when it reaches 13-14mph. i drove many manuals and usually the car slows down smoothly.. but my rx8 gives this bucking incident. i'm not too familiar with manual transmission... so i wouldn't i know if this is consider "Normal"

 

100% normal. If this is your only issue with your transmission, you are the luckiest guy reading this thread.

In all seriousness, that's A OK. Normally you shouldn't let cars do that. Push the clutch in once you get to 1200rpm or so.

 

that makes alot more sense now. thank you.

 

thanks a lot . now i wonder about this other issue i have where i am driving i 4th 5th and 6th and i get this rattling or scraping noise when going above 4000 rpm.. but no prob with 1st 2nd and 3rd... i wonder if its the transmission or its the engine mount... gonna talk to dealer about it... its quite anoying..

 

Gotta problem that's been happening for a while. When I'm at a long light I usually put the car in neutral and let out the clutch. If I shift into first gear immediately after depressing the clutch, I get a clunking noise in the drivetrain. Could this be related to the Clutch Release Cylinder TSB? If not, what else could cause this? It didn't used to happen. I have an '04 MT with 67K miles.

 

I believe that is caused by not letting the synchros do their work (speed up or slow down to mesh with the gear).

Used to get that before. Now I put the transmission in 2nd before into 1st, seems to help prevent the dreaded clunk.

 

An issue that I had, and my dealer told me they are seeing this more often, is that the clutch pedal assembly bracket broke one of the spot welds it has. I figured it was from my ACT Xtreme Duty clutch kit which has a very heavy pressure plate, but it may have just been an inferior weld. It was covered under warranty but I am beginning to wonder if THAT has been a major cause of many of the shifting problems we seem to have around here. When the spot weld broke it did not evidence itself in the free play of the clutch, it only became apparent when there was pressure on the pedal. The symptoms of such damage would be failure of the clutch to fully disengage, difficulty shifting, and grinding gears. To check your own pedal assembly climb under the dash with a flashlight and push down on the clutch pedal a bit. Look to see any movement or separation of the bracket assembly from the backplate.

 

You can add me on hte list of transmission troubles, my friend is a mazda mechanic and he says that it is common for the synchronizer spring to go like that, also to fix the rattling in your door just roll down your window 1 mm

 

hey guys im sorry but i just dont feel like going through 21 pages so if the answer to my question is in this thread i apologize in advance. im new to manual transmissions and im not sure if this is normal or not but when im in neural the transmission feels great but as i accelerate it becomes harder to get it into gear.i figure that it should stay smooth. i feel like i have to put more effort to get it into gear. does it do this at the higher rpms? should it be smooth throughout? am i doing something wrong? transmission screwed? thanks

 

Couple of tips for helping with smooth shifting:

(This will take some experimenting to get good at)

1. Don't let off the accelerator before clutching
(let up on the gas at about half or quarter clutch)

2. Try not putting the clutch all the way to the floor shift out of gear at about half clutch and into gear at about 3/4 clutch. You'd be surprised at how much smoother it is.

3. Be patient when shifting grinding gears doesn't make a car faster.


Some other things that can heighten your shifting experience and you will notice everytime you drive your car.

1. Get a Axial Flow Engineering short shifter (solid short shifts).

2. Change your transmission and rear diff fluid over to synthetic.

3. Install a stainless steel braided clutch line.

4. Change out the brake / clutch fluid with something like Super Blue brake fluid (they share the same fluid) Speed bleeders help a lot when bleeding the clutch and brakes.


Hope that helps snipaz2420. Your 8 is not screwed it takes time and shifting in this car is different partially because it has a hydraulic clutch.

 

awesome thanks a lot for the help i thought something might have been wrong with the car. i realize that i do those things when i shift(getting off gas and going to the floor with the clutch before i shift). thats how i was taught so i assumed i was doing it right. it just seemed odd that it would only do it when the rpms were up. but thanks for the tips and hopefully it will smoothin out.

 

Before you do all of that, take a look under the dash of your car at the clutch pedal assembly, particularly the welded bracket that holds it together. These two spot welds have been known to break and cause the problem you are asking about. You'll need a flashlight and you'll be trying to look for separation of the welds. It may be hard at first but I bet you'll find your bracket coming apart. There is also a Mazda TSB regarding the same issue but they believe it to be from problematic slave cylinders but I would look at the bracket first.

 

Charles, first of all, its been a long time since I seen you post. I know you have been back for a little while and hope things are back to normal for you and your family.

Not to be a royal pain, but if you have a digital camera, can you snap a shop and indicate what we are looking for because I have the same issues.

Welcome back.

 

Shamble, thanks for the sentiment, and things are back to normal. I'll get them up as soon as I can.

 

I just took my 2004 RX-8 to the dealer to get the transmission fixed. Reverse is gone on the car and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th make noises when your driving the car.


the car has 19,000 km on it as of right now.

 

I brought mine in to have the mechanic "experience" the grinding going in to 2nd gear and in to 3rd. It only happens when its cold for about 10 minutes. So I have to drop it off on Monday (downtown mazda) for them to apparently drop the transmission and look at what's going on. Mine is a 2004 with 41,000KMS.

 

I am having the same problem. I thought it was because I just had my fluids switch to redline and maybe they did not fill it up properlyl??? Gonna call the dealer tomorrow.

 

Closing the loop here, got my 04 MT with just over 70K miles on it back from the dealer. One month without my car and $3,000+ out of my pocket for a tranny rebuild. No signs or claims of abuse. Only good thing to say is that Mark at Werner Mazda in Manchester, NH did his usual fine job - all issues with grinding and synchro issues in 3rd & 4th have been resolved - at least for now. Have to see how long this major repair lasts now (along with the engine replacement at 58K miles).

 

I bought my car used its an o4 and it came with 34 k miles and when I hit 45k I heard a whining noise in forth gear. A couple of days latter the car would not shift into reverse. I took it into the dealer and they said that I craked the thrust plate. I asked to see the transmission and there was a large crack in the transmission housing and thats what was causing my reverse problem.

 

A an update, 3 master mechanics at the dealership felt something was wrong, but Mazda Canada said this is normal. So, guess what? We're going to war. I can't beleive these monkeys.. I'll keep you posted if I make any progress.

 

Using Royal Purple or RedLine oil by chance? When the lube is cold it doesn't allow the synchros to spool-up as quick as it does when the transmisiion is warm/hot. To counteract this slow down the shifter motion when shifting a cold transmission. Also, be sure to have the mechanics check the spot welds on the clutch pedal bracket assembly. The tend to separate.