Got it back from Jim Ellis Wednesday. Turns out a rivit on the clutch hub had broken and the center hub broke loose releasing the clutch hub and springs. They stated to me that the clutch looked brand new and had no signs of abuse (which it shouldn't) and went to bat for me with Mazda and replaced it under warranty. They feel it was defective. An issue that I have always had was that third gear and reverse were always hit or miss it terms of sometimes hard to engage. That issue is totally gone. drives better than it originally did. Can't help but wonder if i had a problem all along and just lived with it not knowing any better. I'm very happy with the work and with Jim Ellis Mazda Service.

No grief from them on the mods. Just becuase they exist doesn't mean they can deny warranty work. They have to show that a mod caused the issue to deny (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act). They welcomed the car with open arms. It helped that they know charlie and that he did the mazdaspeed flywheel.

 

At ~7000 miles, I started to notice when at a dead stop with the car in neutral, when I put the car into 1st, there was abit of resistance, and then a thump when engaged. If I "carefully" tried to feather the car into first, I would not get the thump.

My previous "good" Service Manager told me to monitor the situation and let him know if it gets worse. Well 7000 more miles, the problem is starting to worsen, where it is now difficult to even "gently" place the car in gear from neutral without the thump.

Asked my "new, I really don't want to get involved in something I don't understand" serive manager to check it out. (Old "good" SM's dealership closed down) He sits in the car and dupilcates the problem "oh, yeah, I hear it" So, I ask him to check it out when my car is in for the PCM flash. When I go to pick up the car, his response "All the Rx-8's do this" ......Huh? Nothing even on the ticket to state anyone spent any time against it.

I've only driven one other Rx-8, and there was no issue with neutral to first. Before I go back in there to make an issue of this, do anyone else have this "condition"?

Thanks for the replys

P.S. I have no other transmission/clutch issues such as described in this thread.

 

I have this thump as well. If I step and hold on the clutch a little longer before going to first, it would go in without any sound. It felt like there's some lag with the clutch or something. I've read this before and the general consensus is it's "normal". Perhaps those who recently replaced their transmission can give some feedback on this.

 

I don't mind taking the time when I'm fourth in line a light or something like that, but when I'm the lead car, and the light turns green and you quickly put the car in gear, I can't avoid the thunk.....I'm just wondering what knd of damage this is doing to the car

 

my car just had its tranny rebuilt and i do can of still hear a noise going into 2nd so i just keep the r pms low until the car is warmed up after that no problem and i do exp the seems like its a wall when shifting but i do believe i have to break in all the parts since most of them are new like 80 parts or something crazy.

 

Well unfortunately, I'm now experiencing grinding into 5th gear at highway speeds. Seems to only happen on downshifting. It grinds a bit and the pops into gear, completely unlike any other gear

I don't know why I didn't get a new tranny from day one but I know I'm sending a nice little letter explaining ALL of my transmission problems along with ALL of my dissatisfaction with this miserable transmission.

 

I have had a time with my 8 in terms of the clutch/ transmission. I have had it in 5 times to remedy the thump in getting into first gear. Finally the dealer replaced the clutch and machined the flywheel. Now, it's obvious second gear synchro is not quite working. It will probably be another 5 trips. Any evedience of a TSB for 2nd gear problems? GH

 

I have the same problem with that 1st gear thump. Same symptoms too. If I wait a while no thump. I remember reading that the hydrualic line for the clutch fluid was rubber and might be expanding (by a very small amount but obviously enough to cause a lag). could explain why it doesn't do that if you wait a bit. I was thinking of installing a metal braided line to see what happens.

I also have the notchy shifting into 2nd and 3rd. Irritates me a bit. I'm gonna try putting some redline in the next couple of weeks. anybody taken the car in for this problem and had good results?

 

Man, that sucks. How many miles are on it? Was there any indication before the failure? Was the shift that killed it a particularly hard shift?

 

how do i know if I am having these problems? please help... dont know mcu bout cars

 

Build Date: 07/03
Current Milage: 22,000

1st Incident (15,000 miles): Second to third gear crunch and third to fourth grind.
Resolution: tranny rebuild (syncros and gears)

2nd Incident (21,000 miles): first to second crunch and second to first SEVERE grind (started at only 30+ mph downshifts, but gradually became an issue at almost 5mph).
Resolution: a second tranny rebuild for the syncros (and some other misc parts)

My take on the situation--replacing the same faulty parts with the same exact parts indicates emminent syncro failure, not that I expect them to already have engineered new syncros for the tranny.

Here's my entire list of issues:
15K - Tranny rebuild due to syncro issues
19K - Engine replaced due to severe compression loss (caused by premature apex seal wear)
19K - Check engine light flashing, no codes found
20K - Check engine light still flashing/on, codes for "Engine Misfire" logged and "Auxiliary Port Motor stuck". APM was replaced
21K - Tranny rebuild due to syncros again
21K - Check engine light still flashing/on with same engine misfire code, Mazda said to replace the coil packs (we'll see if this works...)

Maybe it's just that I have an early build date... One day she'll be right...hopefully...

 

interested in buying a 8...but hearing these transmission problems makes me worry....

does this problem occurs only to d early build models??

has this problem been solved for d 05's? but with "whatisapiston"'s build date at 10/04 i m really worried..

can anyone give me an insight.....much appreciated..

 

mazdaspeedgirl, did you get the tranny fixed under the warranty??? because they are giving me a bunch o crap. also all these incidents are happening on early build mines its 08/2003 etc
im really about to give up and just pay for it myself cause i havent got my car for a month and a half.

 

Now don't take this the wrong way, but it's a sports car with sports transmission which is built to take 10000 revs and 250 hp, which inevitably has an impact on usability compared with a < 100hp town car.

It IS ok to downshift into 1st if you rev match and/or double-dc. OTOH it's hard to shift into 1st in pretty much any car if you DON'T do that. (And you need to do this in Alpine passes, trust me.) Remember 1st is good for almost 40mph when driving hard, and also remember this car doesn't like revs below 3000, which is too fast for merging traffic queues in 2nd and is too fast for some steep inclines, so sometimes you gotta. (Especially when you're following a truck crawling up a pass at bottom of their 2nd gear. Rather climb at 4k in 1st than lurch lurch lurch at 2500k in 2nd.)

Also the car has so little engine braking you need to do descents in 1st if travelling anything less than 25mph.

I time upshifts and downshifts, and I use heel and toe and/or a blip, and I never ever have any of these problems. Coincidence? You decide... but when deciding remember my car has standard lube and is used on the track.

I don't double dc except going from 2nd to 1st at low speeds, and getting into 1st, and don't think this box has the need to do so either.

Now the problem I DO have - going across the box (say 6th to 4th or 4th to 2nd or 5th to 3rd) can be tricky physically - I think the gate or engine is moving slightly under torque so it's not quite where I expect it to be. I'm going to invest in a torque brace for the lump and see if that helps. (5th to 3rd is standard practice for an overtake on UK single carriageway roads>)

 

I hate to have to add to this thread, but now I'm having to take my '04 in for problems shifting into 4th gear. I was driving around this weekend and it did not feel "right" going into 4th....sort of like when the shift lever was pulled all the way back it still wasn't all the way back. Anyway....driving along, shift from 3rd to 4th.....GRINDING NOISES..... Later, when shifting into 4th, a little hesitation, a LOUD clunk, then into 4th. The next day I was driving...all seemed mostly normal (still felt not quite in gear when in 4th). Then my wife has to take the car out for errands and comes back telling me what terrible noises she heard when shifting into 4th gear! So no, it's not my overworked imagination either.

I'm not an MT newb. I've been driving MT for over 20 years (never really liked AT) and never had any tranny probs. I don't race it, I don't abuse it, and it barely has 11K miles.

The dealership's service dept. opens at 7:30 am and I'll be there today dropping it off. They've always been pretty good to me about getting me a rental while the 8 is in the shop. I'm also going to tell them about my squeaky front brakes and request the latest computer re-flash. I'll update you all on the prognosis once I get more info.

Oh....and I picked up my 8 in August '04 (early VIN).

 

what kind of oil do I use to put in the 8? I started using the synthetic oil because thats what the dealer told me but when I took it for my 3k oil change they said that Im not suppose to put synthetic on a rotor engine.please help!

 

Why is this in a Transmission thread? Please delete your post and do a search for "synthetic oil" You will find about 1,000 posts on the subject.

 

Just a quick update. The dealership just called. Their tech verified that there is a problem with the MT and they will be pulling the transmission tomorrow. They will update me again tomorrow as to the severity and how long the repairs might take. At least they are springing for a brand new Pontiac G6 rental car (only 7 miles on it when I picked it up). It's not an 8, but it's not bad for a rental. Also while I was driving it to the dealership this morning 3rd gear started crunching/grinding when shifting up from 2nd. I'm a sad boy :-(

 

I went by U Mazda here in Seattle that just opened a new buiding yesterday, and said "I should stop in sometime" that being said made my way onto the freeway heading home, I shift through all my gears, and go to get into 6th, and it wont shift into 6th, no grinding, nothing, its like its a 5speed with no spot for 6th for the shifter to go into... so i pull off the next exit in 5th, to a parking lot, go through all my gears at a stop, 1st - 5th work, reverse works great... its like it was normal, no 6th. like something blocking the shift. I guess I *WILL* go see the U Mazda place... I had their tech drive it, same thing, so first thing this morning, Im dropping off my Rex to be diagnosed =(

Just Dropped it off, also with printouts for the heat recall, R Flash, and Balljoint issue, he's like, can I just have those papers? lol.