Not sure if anyone who has done the S1 to S2 trans swap still checks in from time to time, but I'm in the middle of it myself. And I cannot for the life of me figure out how this plug comes out, the most simple thing is baffling me. I've already put some extra holes in the dust seal on the outside of the tail shaft trying to get it to come out, I don't know what to do at this point. Please advise.

 

Not sure what you are referring to. As of right now, this bastard of a plug, that seems to be melted inside the tail-shaft, is the most prominent problem. Heat gun is the next step, probably going to have to replace the tail shaft seal at this point.

I am aware that the PPF looks to be misaligned, but the engine isn't even in the car, and I never touched the rear end PPF bolts, so I assume once the engine is installed it will in fact line up better.

 

it was my bad; wasn’t really seeing what I thought I was the first time through.

well good luck with that
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Yeah I don't know, I'm kind of at a loss with this one. That yellow plug is completely melded with the output seal, almost like it's supposed to be there. But there is no way the drive shaft can spline in with it there, pretty frustrating.

 

I THINK this is the correct part to replace the tail shaft seal, but I cannot find a diagram or picture of it.

https://www.realmazdaparts.com/oem-p...eal-p61017335a

 

This isn't going well.

 

Well, after further exploration it appears that the yellow plug was put in first, then the seal was put over it. I cannot fathom how this happened, this is some Chinese sweat shop level of incompetence. Thanks Mazda!

I've already modified the harness to fit the S1 car, so I'm fairly certain I cannot return this headache of a transmission to Mazdatrix, so I think I'm stuck with it.

 

Just use a j hook and pull it out of there.... .

Make sure you get all of it and put in the new seal.

That is a pretty big mess though....

 

yeah, just pulling and replacing the entire seal assembly at this point is the only way to be sure

that is the correct part #, sorry for your troubles.
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Thanks. I pulled the seal, but it goes beyond that. I'm not sure how I can get this stuff out without disassembling the back end of the transmission.

 

wow, what the heck? I’d be on the phone with Mazdatrix demanding some answers.
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Yeah, I'm in touch with them, they know it's a tail shaft plug but it should've just come out in one piece. Unfortunately, Mazda doesn't have any other transmissions to swap it out currently, so Mazdatrix offered to pay for shipping if I can't get the remains out myself, they will attempt to remove what's left, then send it back to me. Unfortunately I don't have that kind of time. Will resume trying to get what remains out tomorrow.

 

Okay, so after a couple hours trying to get it out, I got most of it out, then disaster struck and the remaining amount got pushed inside further on the shaft, and is completely inaccessible without disassembling the transmission. I tried to snap a pic, but it's barely visible. It's not far enough forward where it would be entering the pan, I'm not sure given it's size that it could enter the pan.

If the remaining bits of plastic were to stay around the shaft, would you consider that to cause any problems? I'm not that familiar with the trans oil flow and if it would be obstructing anything that far back, or if oil even goes that far back at all. I don't like the idea of foreign bodies in the transmission, but this is also soft material in relation to what's on the inside of a transmission, and I'm thinking worst case scenario the plastic gets chewed up and drained out of the pan at some point, if it ever migrates that far.



If it can be assumed that it's not likely to harm anything, at this point I could put in a new seal and the drive shaft would be able to spline on the back of the transmission. Please advise.

 

Small bits likely won't cause any issues

They will get warm and likely softer as the tranny heats up as well.

i guess the people to ask would be Mazdatrix... as they would be the ones that you would have to deal with if you have a problem

 

It looked to me like maybe it was run/spun with the plug in and it got hot and melted

the one trans shop I use has a trans dyno where something like that could happen, not sure otherwise
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That actually makes a lot of sense. Though I don't know if they test these transmissions before sending them out.