Purchased car in Oct 03 from Bill Cook Mazda in Detroit. Almost immediately noticed pronounced whirring-rattle from transmission when in neutral. Depress clutch pedal, it goes away. Complained to dealer, they said all RX8's do this. After 6000 miles, no change and no worse so i guess not a problem. Can anyone tell me what it may be?

Gratefully

Tom
tcurranreedy@aol.com

 

The Bad

I just got my car back from the dealer today after over 2 weeks.
After putting the transmission in and out 6 times and help from Mazda it was found that 6th. gear had siezed up.
They refused to replace the gearbox like the other known 15 cases.
So the surgery began, replaced 1. hub clutch 2. 6th. gear 3. and 9 other parts.
When inspected the first time there was no sign of metal shavings or any visible problem. 6th. gear just would not engage.

The Good

The car shifts as good or better now.
The "NOISE" that all the dealers say is normal (when you let the clutch out in neutral) has went away and is now quiet. This is a biggy for me.
They also gave me a RX-8 to drive for the last 2 weeks that I really abused (the 8 is tougher than I thought)

The Spin

We found out that you do not need to replace the trans. fluid with synthetic because it comes from the factory with it.
Any person needing help with this issue I can help as I have all the part numbers and now the answers.

The Ugly

It could happen in any RX-8, mine is a later build date and several have been early ones..........

The End

I love this car even with all of the quirks.

 

Our 8 has done the same thing since day one - i just assume it's the clutch release bearing (throwout bearing). I'm not too concerned about it. I'm a mechanic and can swap parts whenever i need to. When the "problem" (if you can even call it that) gets any worse or causes any drivability problems i'll make sure to post whatever i come accross upon any kind of inspection. However, i won't go tearing into the car until there is significant reason to :-)

Ray

 

yea,
mine does it also. it is the throwout bearing. going to relax and not worry about it for a while.

have 2k on the car right now.

not sure where baller is coming from.

beers

 

Hey beers,
Mine was doing the same thing (I also had a 6th. gear failure)
but it is fixed now and the transmission is quiet as can be....

 

hey baller,

i guess my point is that a throw out bearing noise and a gear failire are more than likely unrealated.

what happened with 6th??? grinding syncros???? how did it start. curious.

beers

 

Beers,
It just went out (6th. gear) with no warning.
I also believe that they are not related, but that the "noise" that a lot of us hear (idle ,clutch out) is not normal and can be fixed...mine was.

 

You are correct when stating that it is NOT normal for that noise to be there but i'm not the type to get overly concerned about small stuff like that. odds are that they replaced the throwout bearing when they had it all apart - i know i would have, and probably not even told you only because it's just standard procedure to replace it.

Ray

 

GT Ray - thanks for your words of advice. I`m not sure about the noise, frankly it pisses me off a lot because it is an obvious NVH issue which any self respecting platform Chief Engineer at Mazda should have made right before production. Its what we call a "customer ****-off factor"....you know what i mean.

I`m hoping that Mazda will make a 'running change' for those future owners....

Meantime, I too am very interested to know what happened to the sixth gears we are reading about.....any details anyone?

Tom

 

Mine started making the noise at about 600 miles. Now it has gotten much louder...before, you couldn't hear from inside the car, now you can...it's loud.

Also, the synchros are all screwed up. It grinds going into 1st, 2nd and esp. 3rd. 4,5 & 6 are difficult and very "notchy". It has always been like this and I hate it! This car is no fun to drive anymore. I actually dread it...because of these issues and a slew of others. To drive this car right now, you would think it has 200,000 miles on it!

Will

 

Mine does the same thing.....This is interesting

 

This is very upsetting to hear. While i have heard that the gear roll over noise is very common in 6 spd transmissions it is something i myself can not tolerate at all. It is the primary reason i never drive my 95 Cobra anymore. It went from being my pride and joy pre-6speed install to being a car i was ashamed to drive as soon as the 6-spd went in. That six speed tranny sounds like a freakin deisel motor at idle until i push the clutch in. For those that have this problem is it noticible right away from the day you got your car or did it build up to the noise. I def wont accept mine from the dealer if there is even a hint of that noise on delivery. I am just concerned that it will occur with time.

 

Mine has done it since day one. It isn't very loud or obvious.. a passenger would likely never notice unless I pointed it out.

 

I have the noise like everyone else. Mine does'nt seem to be getting louder with mileage. CJ

 

I noticed this noise soon after I got the car and I have 400 miles on it now. The clutch in/out noise is noticeable from inside the car. Searched the forum and found out that a lot of people are getting the same noise. I also noticed some noise at slow speeds 15-20 mph in 2nd or 3rd gear with the clutch pressed to the floor.

Went to the dealer and had the tech ride and drive my car. He said he had driven lot of 8's and mine seemed just fine. I told him the shifter feels notchy and his response was that its just like all other 8's and that it was okay.

I wasn't satisfied and asked if I could drive another 8 on the lot. So we drove off in another brand new 8 with just 1 mile on it!!! That one had exactly the same idle noise, same level of nothiness in the shifter and same low speed noise with the clutch 'in'.

Finally the tech said that its just the way it is and there is nothing to be fixed. I dont know what to say now! May be just forget about it and enjoy so many other good aspects of this car!

 

i felt that the transmission whine was part of the overall sports car experience....i mean, how cool is it when you can hear your clutch engage/disengage when you step on your clutch? the rx-8 has a great transmission, albeit not the quietest or easiest to shift gears but it is a true sportscar transmission with firm engagement into every gear, a great snick-snick while shifting a the nice transmission whine. maybe im not experiencing the same problem as you guys but i love all these noises from my 8.

 

i don't think the transmission in the 8 was designed for the power levels of the Renesis motor - it was made for a miata!

if mazda builds a high powered renesis (forced induction) don't expect to see 6 forward cogs in the transmission. i would feel just fine if they went back to the TII of FD gearbox with only 5 forward gears.

hell, i RARELY use 5th gear in mine anyways, if i'm going to cruise i just go from 4-6. which brings up another point - if you're going to have 6 gears why not make 6 gear a BIT taller. if you need an accelleration gear on the highway 5th can bring you up past the 120 mark. i just think that 4000rpm at 80 is a tad high for top gear - even for a rotary. this thing should be able to chug at 2500 doing a sustained 80mph!

Ray

Ray