2004 mazda rx8 6sp manual...

Now, sense the day I bought the car at 69k miles, (has 92k now) the throwout barring was making noise, and the clutch was a little weak, good but fading..

As some of you might know, I've been having transmission issues, like grinding noises during acceleration in 3rd gear, or shifting fast from 1st to 2ed...Also reverse popping out of place when trying to disengage it...4th gear syncro has always been bad sense ive had the car. 2ed gear likes to catch sometimes and is hard to put in..

Well, today, I went to start my car, started fine like always, and heard what sounded to me like my flywheel knocking...The shifter was stiff and it was hard to move it around while it was in "neutral"...as in, you know you have free play while its in neutral you can move it left or right with ease...well it was stiff and felt catchy...

Well, usually I could just hold reverse in place with force and it would pop in gear...well I went to go reverse and it wouldn't catch at all, went to go pull forward up my driveway after attempting to back up,......and nothing, grinding...lots and lots of grinding...

Now, I could put it in every gear with the clutch engaged, but once I tried to release the clutch while in gear, it would grind away...hinting off that my clutch was dead...Sounds like the flywheel is busted up...and knowing my trans has been having issues...I'm not real sure what the actual issue is.

Do you think my trans is still okay? Could it still be rebuilt? ...Or should I just buy myself a used transmission? With about 50-70k miles? (of course i'm buying a clutch and flywheel too)

 

Okay, I just checked out my shifter bushing and it was perfectly fine. I was trying to see if anything around the shifter was catching it, but everything looked good. I took a short video to show you guys just how its catching.

(okay so in this vid, notice how it moves freely in neutral...but If I put it in 1st gear, *and only 1st* then back to neutral, it will start to catch and its hard to move. I tried every other gear and it moves fine again.

SO, in this vid, I started out while it was not catching, then I put it in 1st, tried to move it around (catching) then I went from 1st to 2ed and it clears up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jow4gjKjw-Y


These are pictures of the me looking down the shifter housing.

Notice how the hole is offset to the right. Is it suppose to be that way?