devildog1679

OK, so when I'm driving doing more than 50 mph in 3rd gear and I down shift to 2nd the gears grind in, even with rev matching. Is it safe to assume my tranny as an issue. It only does it when I'm above 50 mph though. Made an appointment for Monday

BoosTED

iTrader: (2)

Hmmm... do you down shift at that speed into second gear very often?

I did it on accident once going 60 mph from 6th to second when I was going for 4th into a cloverleaf. The back of the car jumped over about 6 feet and thankfully I had the stability control on because it did its job.

VOODOO8

Based on my experience I would say a tranny rebuild is in order. My issue was downshifting into fourth (which eventually expanded in to downshifting in to third followed by grinding on upshifting to fourth) at anything above 60mph. Rebuild for me (I'm well out of warranty at 75k miles) was a $3000 bill.

devildog1679

No, I don't ever do it on public streets. At ther track though I do downshift to 2nd at about 50-55 going into certain corners. 2nd is good till about 62 mph. Downshifting to 2nd second doing 55 as I know it should not cause any grinding. Hope I don't need a nerw tranny

devildog1679

Luckily I have 20K so I'm well within warrenty.

BoosTED

iTrader: (2)

If you keep grinding into second that will hasten the need for one.

devildog1679

The problem just started after my last track day

devildog1679

I just got back from the dealer. He said that the grinding into 2nd from 3rd after down shifting is evident. He said it's probably a slightly worn synchro (slightly because it only does it at high speeds). He stated that since its only doing it when I shift b/w 48 and 58 mph MNAO will more than likely not cover it under warranty. They classify worn syncros as abuse especially since I only have 20K on the car and it only does it when I downshift at high speeds. The dealer said that the owners manual says to downshift at a much lower speed from 3rd to 2nd (which it does) He said that if it did it at the lower speed then I may have a chance of having it covered but since it's only at high speed then I'm taking a risk. He told me they can take it apart and see what's wrong but if it is a worn synchro the I'm taking a risk of having to pay for it myself. He is a really good guy so I leaning towards believing him. The tranny is great otherwise, just that one small issue. Granted I hardly ever do it, mainly only at the track. His advise was to ensure I slow down bellow 48 at the track before I downshift, he said the tranny feels great and that he doesn't see a need to pull it for a small issue that can be solved by slowing down. According to him if he new it would be covered he would definitely do it for me but since it may not its a risk he thinks I shouldn't take. He also said that even though the RX-8 is a sports car the tranny is not built to take repeatedly high RPM downshifts, one bad downshift could of damaged a tooth or two on the synchro causing it to fail at high speed downshifts. Any thoughts on this guys?

Silvermister

Add me to list of damnificated shitty tranny owners. My 3rd gear started grinding slightly a couple of days ago on 6000 rpms or more. Now it grinds anything above 1000 rpms! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kushballah

I've had this problem for quiet some time. Been complaining with no results. They keep telling me I'm fine and asking me if i speed shift, which I don't. Can ANYTHING be done about this?

BoosTED

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately you may just have to wait till it goes then they can replace it.

That is what they did with mine.

But really it is good you tell them because then there is a record that there was an issue.

The times they have only replaced damaged gears or synchros the rest of the transmission went shortly after that so a partial is not a good deal which Mazda knows after several attempts at it.

I was a lucky one that noticed it acting up real early and by eleven or twelve thousand I was having a new transmission installed. Nice thing was I was within 2 miles of the dealership when it didn't want to stay in gear.

If you are close to your end of warranty call MNAO and discuss it further with them.

devildog1679

Yea, dacument your complaints about the tranny. If the dealership does not give you an invoice for when you took it to get checked out, I say e-mail them with the dates of when you complained about the problem and have them acknowledge it. This can be your written record. If your at the end of warranty they me be trying to stall you. They make more off of charging you than getting it done under warranty.

Montym1

Anyone with advice on my trans. mystery, I would appreciate a response. This long story starts last August (06) when at highway speed my MT 6 speed jumped out of gear. I chalked the first occurrence up to not seating it all the way into 6th. Since then it has continued to pop out of gear at highway speeds (65-75). Dealership of course "could not duplicate problem". I explained to them that it seemed to only happen after being driven for a couple of hours when it was warm. Of course they were not going to do that. Then onto chapter 2 of this story:

This winter I began to complain about stiff shifting (mainly from 1st to 2nd) until it warmed a bit. One morning in garage I started car (in neutral), let clutch out and car started rolling forward like it was slightly in gear. Brought to dealership's attention and they said they were getting good results out of changing gear oil with Dextron ATF due to the lower-viscos. I have not seen a change in the difficult shifting and it continues to jump out of 6th gear (no warning and I can't tell how long I have to be driving before it does it). A 2nd dealer now has my car today because the other dealership was completely non-responsive. Any thoughts?

devildog1679

Well, the shift from 1st to 2nd is stiff especially when the trany is cold. That's normal, as for the popping out of gear that is not. If the dealer won't do anything contact MNAO.

mikeferz42

dealerships make more money doing warranty work than charging customers. at least that's the case when i worked for toyota and that's how it is for the dealership im currently working at.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Well, looks like I'm starting to experience some transmission issues as well.

- When upshifting at high RPM's (or downshifting), I am grinding into 2nd gear. It hasn't locked me out of the gear but now I find myself waiting for the rpm's to drop below 4,000 because I'm afraid it'll grind.

TeamRX8 suggested adjusting the clutch or bleeding out the lines. I know Charles recommends checking the spot welds so I'll have to do that when I get home.

Car Details:
July 05 build
30,000
Using RP 75-90 the past 25,000 miles. (replaced just last month)

n33nja

hey guys, this is technically post #1 for me, and I've read about 8 pages of this and lightly skimmed throuh a few more pages, does anyone else have a problem with 1st? from a stand still, clutch all the way in, when I try to slip into 1st, there is an audible clunk and the car jerks a little. take off is smooth, but the clunk/jerk is always there. I also noticed the whirring noise when in neutral. it goes away when I seperate like someone else mentioned.

i have an 04 gt, 41k mi and i'm the 3rd owner, but i have full service sheets pulled from the dealer. outside an engine mount, tranny mount, and computer flash, nothing much has been mentioned about the engine being serviced to any great extent. reply or not, I thought I would volunteer this here.

tksnobords

i have a 2004 black 6 speed GT. 36k miles. bone stock.

everytime i am driving in 3rd gear (close to redline) and i shift into 4th gear, the transmission grinds. its NOT a little grind and the shifter slides into 4th. its bad, i have to actually push it thru the grind to get it into 4th. i took it into Lee Johnson Chevrolet-Mazda in Kirkland, wa. i haven't changed the tranny fluid since i got it. I've had it about 15k. the service advisor told me that the fluid in the tranny wasn't full synthetic. he told me i had to put full synthetic in and the grind would go away. so they charged me $62 to change it or they were going to charge me $40 for an inspection if i didn't change the fluid. a mechanic at work told me that it doesn't sound like it's synching good. if they tranny fluid wasn't good enough, shouldn't it affect other gears as well? what do you guys think? i just got it back tonight. i am going to drop it off in the morning again.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

the manual does not state to put full synthetic. 04 an 05 manual stats 75-90 GL-4 or GL-5.
What he's telling you is that the fluids that mazda put in there aren't good enough...umm, that makes no sense.
Besides, isn't the transmission supposed to be flushed at around 60K? (off the top of my head)

In other words, you wore out the fluids (that are recommended for this vehicle) in HALF the normal time???

Time to break out the ------->

tksnobords

i talked to them yesterday because it was still grinding. and he told me that i didnt have a synthetic in it at all. and he put in a blended synthetic. the grind isnt as bad now. but i spoke to a mazda rep and he told me that if there is a problem with the tranny, usually mazda just replaces the whole thing. i asked the mechanics and service advisor at my dealership about this. they said the changing the fluid was probably bullshht. and he should want to change the tranny because it will generate more revinue for the service center. i am going to try to get it into the shop monday.

tksnobords

dam i wish we did mazda at my dealership...hahaha...

Gauge

Hmm My 3rd gear doesnt want to go sometimes, also it can be very loud shifting ito it. Can anyone help me on this?

tksnobords

My 8 is at Lee Johnson Mazda and Chevrolet in Kirkland, WA. right now. i havent heard what the diagnosis is yet.

Sparco8

Hey this may be a stupid question, but for us AT guys do you need to be stopped to switch to and from manual mode or can it be done anytime?

REDRX3RX8

Just pull it into manual mode at any speed and it'll keep the same gear. Then, up or down with stick or paddles. Even though I liked my RX3 manual, 2nd gear was a bitch then with only a 6500 redline. The auto brings unreal smoothnest and no noisy clutch throwout bearings.