Ok, I got a 04 RX-8 today with 25k miles on it, and 1 major problem... IT WONT
GO INTO 6TH GEAR. Has anyone out there experianced this problem? Fix? All
other gears are problem free, including reverse. Cluth operation normal. Will not
shift with car off or on... Let me know if you have seen or heard of this...

 

never heard of that before; i may be wrong, but i think you are just not used to a 6 speed shifter; when you are ready to go into 6th dont pull down on the stick as that will take you back to 5th; make a concerted effort to push the stick down and to the right at the same time; the first few times i did it it felt weird, but you get used to it;

 

pushing down, then right, and pulling back will put the rx-8 into REVERSE!!!!!! please do not attempt to do this at any speed. please only do this from a standing stop.


if you just got the car, dont even think twice, take the car back to the dealer where you bought it, or any mazda dealer for that matter if the one you bought it from is not conveient for you, as you still have the balance of the factory warranty

 

had it happened to me once. i had to pull off the road shut the car down. then i shifted throught the gears with car off, still did not work.

started car put in reverse. then shifted through gears and fine.

dont know why, there is a note in my dealers folder about it.

been fine since.


beers

 

Once in a while when I hurry a shift, the box refuses to let me into the next gear. I back off, let the revs fall a bit, try it again with a little rev matching, and it usually goes. Only in 4th, for some reason, and 1st above 10 kph.

 

I think he meant when shifting from 5th to 6th, pull the lever back towards the rear of the car while at the same time applying a bit of pressure towards the passenger side of the car. It should go right in if he does that. But yes, pushing down is not recommended unless you are stopped dead.

 

Holy crap that's MY RX8! You're in Hurst...Right?

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...=1#post1141959

See that thread. I've tried contacting the original poster and haven't received a response yet. So this isn't a 'new' problem...someone else has experienced the same thing.

 

I'm pretty sure the original poster is the technician working on my vehicle. I purchased the car brand new in September of 2003 and have never had any major problems with it. There were no symptoms leading up to this problem. In fact I'd driven home from work and used 6th gear just fine Monday evening. Then when I got in my car and headed to work Tuesday, I could not shift into 6th gear. Tuesday morning I put the car in reverse and backed up, went from 1st gear through 5th gear onto the highway. Once I was up to speed I went for 6th gear and it absolutely would not go into 6th gear. Once I arrived at work, I tried killing the engine and shifting into 6th gear without success. I even tried going into reverse again and then back to 6th, but still no success.

 

kind of taking a guess here ... there's a plastic cup on the tranny end of the shifter arm, when it wears the car won't shift properly, you might try replacing it either with a new OEM plastic part or there are metal replacements used in racing just to avoid this problem, I've driven an RX-8 on the street that had the metal replacement installed and there was no negative side effects that I could tell, MazdaSpeed Motorsports sells one, I think it is made by SpeedSource, I've seen if for sale from other suppliers too if you don't have access to MSM

it could also possibly be a bent shifter arm or something more major like a bent internal shift fork, you might try to swap the shifter in from another RX-8 and see if the problem is resolved, it's a pretty easy thing to do. It might be as simple as changing the fluid out with a good quality synthetic that meets the Mazda tranny oil spec if the original fluid is in really bad shape.

 

Try looking at the spring inside the shifter too. When I changed out my stock shifter to RP, the spring came unsprung and the shifter was stuck in the "down" position, not allowing me to go to 5th or 6th since the car thought I was pushing it down (i.e. for reverse).

 

Hey Blue,
I had the same experience (see the original thread). When mine wouldn't shift into 6th I had no problems shifting into 6th earlier in the day. I was on my way home when it happened, just drove straight to the dealership. Not to restate everything I said before, the chief mechanic took it out to test with me in the car. He kept working at it while moving and it eventually dropped in (he pulled pretty hard, not something I would have done for fear that they would try to say I damaged it). My work sheet on the repair only said that they changed the trans fluid to synthetic (Redline). I've put more than 25K on my 8 since without it recurring. Hope it works out for you.

 

check on the transmitions recalls. Mazda has a few prombles with it.