Is it just me or does anyone else experiance this issue. I spoke to Mazda about this and they said that it cant happen. While running my 8 hard sometimes when I go into 6 gear, the shift **** make a grinding noise and its because it was attempting to go into the reverse gear. Am I the only one to experiance this issue?

 

You are probably pushing down a bit when slamming it into 6th. However, I am imaging you going into 6th at red line or close to it so I imagine you are f---ing flying and shift at 120-130MPH from 5th to 6th! Hope no one is close to you at those speeds because you wouldn't beleive how ignorant people just suddenly change lanes on you ***. IMO the gears in these puppies are nice when operating them reasonable gentle but not slamming them in repeatedly. After a while, you are bound to loosen things up and not for the good of your gears. Take it a bit easier and see if its still there. If so, have them take a real look at the gears and mesh.

 

I have experienced problems with 6th gear on two occasions. The first time was similar to what you were experiencing. I could not shift into 6th gear without grinding, regardless of vehicle speed. I was definitely not pushing down at all on the shifter. I tried hard shifts, gentle shifts, rev-matching, varying clutch pedal depth, etc. Nothing helped. I parked my car in the garage that evening with the intention of bringing it to the dealer the next day. However, the next time I started up the car, everything had returned to normal. 6th gear was fine.

On the second occasion, I had just left the dentist's office. This time, I was completely LOCKED OUT of 6th gear. No matter what I did, 6th gear could not be engaged. I tried for about 10 minutes with no luck. Then, suddenly, everything was back to normal. I still have no idea what happened, but I'm sure that it was some sort of mechanical malfunction.

I haven't experienced any problems since, but I'm a bit worried that this problem could return in a more permanent form after my warranty expires! I made the dealer make a note of this behavior at my last oil change so it's at least on the record.

 

I don't know if this is related, but my 8 seems to have more trouble with the gearshift when the temperature is really cold. sometimes when i first start driving when it's cold outside i have a hard time shifting, mainly between 2nd-3rd and 5th-6th. sort of a stiffness and a definite grinding in the gears. but after the car warms up the issue seems to dissipate. anyone else experience this?

 

2nd - 3rd sometimes seems a bit hard, especially at low revs. I have a certain feeling that shifting works smoother at higher revs. Never had a problem with 6th though (well, after stopping to constantly confuse it with 4th at least). Also, the short shifter seems to help here, even though more precise shifting is required. The gears are more "snick snick" now.

 

Welcome to the tranny club.

 

Glad I'm not the only one this has happened to. And I admit this is my first manual tranny.