I was just thinking, now that you mentioned it , how would a consumer go about getting a tranny beefed up for a resonable amount of dough??

 

Well we can't really, Mazda needed to due it up front through the overall design, what we have is a enhanced similar version of the Miata manual trans

 

So there are no companies that will take a core and return it to you, nitrided, or cyrotreated? I realize this would cost more than a new tranny, but it would be tougher. I really dont even know where to start looking.

 

40,000mi and still not right...

Took the 8 into 128 Mazda again about the 1st to 2nd grinding. Told them it was worst when cold. Left the car overnight for them to check in the morning (about 30F).

They admited that there was a problem (finally), but said that Mazda NA just told them to put in different fluid!

Very frustrating!

 

You could try Werner (old Talarico) or Tulley up the road from you or Autex out in Keene but I think your going to get the same basic response. Since dealers don't have full access to each others service records info you might want to try for the heck of it. Once MNAO makes a pronouncement, the dealer (128 Mazda in your case) will be towing that corporate line.

Mine has 60K plus on it now and have had exactly the same experience as you when first heading out with a cold tranny. Since the condition resolves itself fairly quickly once there are a few miles of driving on it I've made the mental adjustment to compensate for the cold condition quirks.

ps - my '93 twin turbo RX-7 performed in exactly the same manner when cold.

 

Thank you for the reply and advice.

I just can't believe this condition is OK.

In 25 years of owning Manual Transmission cars from VW, Honda, BMW and Audi I have never had one that would grind like this RX-8.

I though this was supposed to be a close-ratio, performance transmission, but the recommendation I see repeatedly is to shift slowly or double-clutch.

I'm not racing, and I rarely run the engine up to the "beep", there's no reason I can conceive that this transmission should grind when cold and be generally notchy and stiff in general.

 

Oh my, I have some of these problems myself. From day one I felt that there was a problem with the cluch. Very rattly in nutral with the cluch pedal out. Dealers said it was normal. (I have a 05' with just over 4k). Sometimes it sounds chunky and very stiff when I'm shifting into 2 on the fly aswell as when I'm sitting at a light. The sound we all hear when it's in nutral, I hear at high rpm when shifting into second but intensified. A rattle sound. When I'm turning into my parking stall (turning left a very low speed, 1st gear) I sometimes hear a clunking sound aswell as rattling. It sounds like something moving around that should'nt be. All these things are all inconsistant and dont happed everytime I'm in the car but they seem to be happening more often lately. I have to be honest here and say most of my shifting happens around 7-8rpm. I take it to the beep maybe once a day unless I'm really feeling racey. Like others have stated, the car is made for this type of performance. As far as oils and lubes go, I've used nothing but the recomended oil to top it up and have had only one oil change since the car was new. If the month of production is important I'll get that info, On the door you say?The next time im in for service I'm going to iquire about these things a see what they have to say.

 

Mt 2nd gear really is gringy/clumnky when its cold for the first 15 minutes. Its driving me nuts. Everytime I bring it in to the dealership, they claim not to hear the grind. That's because its relatively warm when they try it. I'll have to leave it at the dealership overnight in their parking lot and then drive with him in the morning to prove it.

The only way to avoid the gring is to shift slowly between 1st and second. Kinda like pull it out of first, pause, then put it in to 2nd.

As for the rattling with clutch out, I checked that with a brand spanking new RX8 at the dealership. It did the exact same thing. I guess you have to live with the noise. It hasn't gotten worse over 30,ooo KM's for me so I don't care so much and just live with it.

 

I have been complaining to my dealership about this issue for 2 years now (41kmi now). They have tried various MT fluids without improvement and I used RedLine MT-90 with slightly better results.

I finally left the car overnight for the dealer to check when cold. They admitted that the transmission was "stiff" from 1st to 2nd and after consultation with MNAO they just changed the MT fluid again!

They claim that the transmission is "performing within design specs".

 

What a F...king joke. Not sure if I can live with this anymore if they don't fix it. Too bad the car feels, rides and looks sodam good. It makes it difficult to trade for something else. I'll do the dealer thing one more time, and let you know if I made any progress.


Regards,

 

had mine towed today.....wont go into gear any more

 

I was having grinding in lower gears, especially when down shifting. The car has 15K miles and I have been using Royal Purple since about 3K miles. I took it to the Mazda dealer for a flooding issue (different story) and they confirmed that the tranny was not right. They have had the car for a little over a week ordering parts and trying to rebuild the tranny. On Friday they gave up rebuilding it and will be replacing it with a new tranny after their Mechanic talked to Mazda. I asked why they were sending it back and was told that Mazda wanted to look at it for further study.

Hopefully I should get the car back by Wed/Thur. of this week - keeping fingers crossed.

 

Bones, keep us posted. Curious to see how the new one goes.

 

Got the car back from the dealer with the new tranny. I have to give some kudos to University Mazda as they put in Redline at no cost.

Impressions - shifts are nice and smooth, sometimes it feels a little sticky when trying to shift into gears, but it may just need to be broken in a bit. The best part is that it no longer grinds when downshifting.

I also had the dealer put in the MZ flywheel while they were swapping the tran. All I can say is that I should of done this as my first mod. What a difference. It puts a smile on face every time I step on it.

 

i got 15k mi and rattles are execeseve.the only grind problem with grinding i have is when it cold it wont fully go into reverse and grinds when clutch is released.and some time when shift in to 3rd but never into 2nd

 

Hey. I also have the same problem with my tranny. I thought it was just me but I see now that alot of us has the same problem. I may just go to the dealership on monday and see if they can fix it. I hope they pay for the problem. It's not my fault my tranny actin up. I have about 26,000 or so on my car and had it since May '04.

 

Hey all. My transmission makes a scrapinng/grinding noise at high RPMS. From 6k to 9k rpms, there is a scraping sound at about .5 second intervals. This applies to gears 1-3, i haven't tried 4-6 yet due to legal speed issues. So, I took it into Mazda, and they said it was just bearing noise that every Mazda has. I dunno, that sounds kind of fishy to me. So, is this a legit problem with my transmission or is Mazda right and this is just normal?

 

That's strange, but my sinchros grind in high rpms from 3rd to 4th shifts, and I may have a silicone seal leak cus sumtimes after I drive it smells like burning rubber, not clutch, and underneath the car is like 1 or 2 little black dripplet spots.

 

ok welp i just noticws that my cae grinds second upon an aggresive downshift even if i rev match now if i let rpms drop it will go in smooth. i don't get it i'm gonna try the ss clutch line. than i dunno wut to do. any ideas?

 

Is that Mazdaspeed Stainless Steel Clutch line a solid line or a braded line? I ask because I'm bringing my 8 to the dealer tomorrow and if he finds any filings in the gear oil (which I'm sure he will) he said they will just replace the tranny with a new one,,, but if the clutch line is a contributing factor in the problem I will pick it up and have them install it while the tranny is out.

 

OK,,, Heres the skinny on the roomer of a TSB for the second gear trouble; U will not find this under a TSB. only mazda deareships can get this because it need a code or something. But,, it's under the heading of MTOL-4254 Dealer Repair Information 'HARD TO SHIFT, NO SHIFT 1-2, 2-1'. and states that there are some MT's that experience shifting concerns in and out of 2nd to 1st. and that the cause may be a cracked or bent 1-2 shift fork. there was a list of things the dealer has to go through like verification of problem, checking PP bolts, before taking the tranny apart for visual inspection and so on... There was also something about a stroger shift fork to be installed. So, I don't think they will give U a problem if U have a mod exaust and cold air but again that all depends on the dealer.
Grey

 

Here's the info in pdf form.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...d_to_shift.pdf

 

today when i was trying to shift from 1st to 2nd at around 7500 rpm, it was stuck in neutral until it dropped to 4000 rpm. i know there is something wrong because its the same as my reverse gear. you would really have to put a lot of force into it to get it into gear. anyways...i tried it a few more times at 8000 rpm from 1st to 2nd and i really had to use a lot of force to get it into second gear. the problem is that i went to the dealer like 2 weeks ago and told them my reverse gear is very hard to get into and they said its normal. they told me if it happens again i just have to go in and out of the reverse gear. in my mind i was like bullshit!! so this time im just going to go back and tell them my 2nd gear and reverse gear are acting the same. i dont know what else to do if they still tell me its normal because the problem doesnt occur all the time. it occurs most of the time though.

 

Yo SiLVeRE8,, go here.......https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ork#post1055735