Only 5th gear works? Uh oh.

[Gbourdon]

So tonight on my way home from work I went to down shift coming to a light. Could get fourth. Let out the clutch in neutral tried again. Nope. SO any way I limped into the dealership at 6:00 and caught the service dept just in time to get a Daewoo.

[Installshield 2]

You got your MBC out of the car right?...

[Gbourdon]

Umm yeah. I never installed it ;)
I had to go back after the dealership was all closed and what not.

[boostisgood]

Hrrrm, is this the first problem tranny on a MSP ?

[Gbourdon]

I dont know man the thing is I couldnt even center the shifter. I couldn't pull it even anywehere near the left side of ths shift gate. I thought maybe it was a part of the linkage that came apart. I didn't have time to look at it at all plus it was so dark out. I cant even get close to being in any of the other gears reverse nothing.

[jersey_emt]

Keep us all updated...hopefully it's something simple.

[boostisgood]

Sounds like a twisted shift linkage, or a busted fork. Hope for the linkage.

[Gbourdon]

Yeah thing is I thought the fork may have been going but not sure what to look for. The 5 into 4 shift didn't feel quite right before but I thought it was just me being paranoid.

[Installshield 2]

Originally posted by Gbourdon
Umm yeah. I never installed it ;)
I had to go back after the dealership was all closed and what not.

thats good...if someone would have seen that and known what it was, they could have given you some problems...

I haven't seen many problems with MSP's, but it is mostly the same G15M-R as every other 2.0L protege...in which case this has been some what of a problem...the MSP's internals only differ in the limited slip diff...

[Gbourdon]

Thing is I don't beat on the transmission. I always push the clutch all the way and never power shift it. I have owned several manual transmission cars and never had a problem before. We'll see what the dealer says tomorrow.

[jonnydoe48]

will pushing the clutch all the way in matter? the clutch is fully engaged halfway, anyway?

[PaulMP3]

sounds like the fork.. A bunch of mp3 guys have broke the shift forks. I know they did beef up the forks in the msp...

[Gbourdon]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too now. I was all worried about syncros because I tend to always rest my hand on the shifter but I have been breaking myself of that habit. What exactly do the forks do or how do they work?

[YellowSpeed1229]

well just be glad its under warrenty.

[GearSlammer]

same thing happened to me in my old BMW, hence the name, GearSlammer. turned out it was a clip and bushing that hold the rod in place. also happened on a downshift, but from third to second.

[Gbourdon]

So I just picked up my rental from enterprise. Buick Park Avenue. I'm going to go back after work and swap for an expedition. It's going to cost a little extra but its going to snow like a bastard this weekend.

I hope my tranny comes up under full warranty and they don't give a hard time about fixing it. This is the first real warranty issue I have ever had. I can't afford a rebuild or a new tranny. If they are going to replace gears do you think I could upgrade and pay the difference?

[Gbourdon]

I just reread my first post and I relized I kind of worded things wrong. The only gear I could even get into at all was 5th. I think I porbabl broke a shift fork and it jammed up the transmission. I am just waiting for the abuse charges to come my way.

[ONRAILS]

What exactly happens if you rest your hand on the shifter... that is a habit of mine. As well as pushing in the clutch all the way. I used to rest my foot on the clutch, but I am almost broke of that habit.

[Newf]

yeah, the mp3 guys went threw this quite a bit. Mazda released upgraded forks for the mp3. I do not know if they are the same ones that come on the speed to begin with though. ( (I would imagine they are )

[Newf]

didn't see that last post.

try not to keep your hand on the shifter either. It puts stress on everything and in "theory" could cause long term damage.

That being said, I've never seen this happen and I've been driving sticks for 11-12 years

[Gbourdon]

The fact that shifter wouldn't move past the center of the sift gate or anywhere but into fifth is what seems strange to me. If it was linkage it would move all around and I probably wouldnt get any gear at all. I don't know if when the fork breaks it can become lodged in there in a way that would not allow gear selection. Reverse and 5th use the same shift fork I assume so why could I get 5th and not reverse? It's driving me nuts because the dealership is going to be too busy to look at it and I am going to be without the car for a while.

[Gbourdon]

So I just called the dealer to see what's going on with my tranny. The tech got the thing shifting somehow and he is out driving it right now. Won't know more until later when i get to the dealership. Hopefully a simple fix. Even if it is working now I don't want to get stuck again

[instylz]

Yes make sure those Slimy Snakes test it 100%. Don't except a band-aid as they sometimes try to pull knowing you have a warranty. You don't want to be stuck again. :) Good Luck

[Gbourdon]

I stopped by the dealership on the way home from work and they had the transmission working fine. Said it shifted ok. The tech who got it working was gone so I couldn't talk to him but they never took it apart. I left it for the weekend though they were waiting to hear from mazda if there was something else that they wanted to do with it or if there had been similar problems in the past. So I got the park avenue for the weekend from enterprise. I didn't think I was old enough to drive such a rediculous car but it beats walking.

[jersey_emt]

Glad to hear it's fixed (sort of)...I guess we'll see next week if it's really fixed :)

[instylz]

Damn Stealership always trying to fuck the customer over. Screw em tell them you want a full teardown to make sure all parts are in working order. Demand it you do have rights. Especially since it was messed up when you brought it there. I can see them denying that if it was not messed up and you had just claimed it happened at some point.

[Wiggles6983]

Originally posted by Gbourdon
Reverse and 5th use the same shift fork I assume so why could I get 5th and not reverse?
There is a lockout in the tranny that will not let you go from fith gear into reverse without centering the shifter first.

[Pure Insanity]

Originally posted by newf
try not to keep your hand on the shifter either. It puts stress on everything and in "theory" could cause long term damage.

That being said, I've never seen this happen and I've been driving sticks for 11-12 years I have seen the damage it causes. It aint pretty. :eek:

Whats happening is the shift forks are what moves the different gear clusters around to select your gear. Its really kinda hard to explain if youve never been inside a tranny as to how it all works. When you are resting your hand on the shifter you are keeping pressure on the forks causing them to be loaded and always in a wearing condition. Not good.

Alot depends really on the angle of the shifter and how heavy your paw is. The way the shifter stands up pretty straight in the MSP would make the problem less likey to happen, but it IS wearing. To quote my dad, its a shifter not a hand rest.

This also goes for resting your foot on the clutch pedal. Your always preloading the throw out bearing. Same for resting your foot on the brake pedal. Your always adding a little pressure to the brakes. (not to mention your brake lights always being on screws w/ the person behind you since they never know when your really gonna stop. Till they rear end you that is.)

[BlkZoomZoom]

Originally posted by instylz
Damn Stealership always trying to fuck the customer over. Screw em tell them you want a full teardown to make sure all parts are in working order. Demand it you do have rights. Especially since it was messed up when you brought it there. I can see them denying that if it was not messed up and you had just claimed it happened at some point.




Sad....so sad.

[Mr. Win]

? was the radio workinh?

[FSRbikr98]

IF your car was stuck in fifth and u had to drive it back to the dealership, make sure your clutch isnt to badly burnt, my friends BMW got stuck in fourth gear and he had to huff it back to the dealership and made them replace the clutch, because of the wear he had to do to it starting the car in fourth

[122 Vega]

My Corrado VR6 had this problem, three times in 14 months.

Britt

[Gbourdon]

Well my car is fine apparently. The service manager said they drove it quite a bit today trying to duplicate the problem and it was fine. They think I got a shift fork hung up and it was just stuck somehow. I also told them I was worried about the clutch wear since I labored the car in in 5th gear. They said that they documented it all and they will not give me a hard time if I have any premature clutch wear. So I have yet to drive it which I consider to be the true test. They don't drive it everyday to know what it should feel like.

[rocketspeed]

Make them put it in writing. They'll try to screw you later if you bring it in with a bad clutch. Just have them note something describing that you had to lug it around in 5th to get it there.

[DeputySherif]

speaking of gear fork, when I shift from first to second, when the gear slides (yeah I said slide ladies) into the respected fork location, it is significantly loader than all the other gears. Sort-a sounds like it slams the back of the fork? Any ideas? Suggestions? Happen to anyone?

[Gbourdon]

What happened was I twisted the linkage and got it stuck together. On the 4 - 5 shift the linkage didn't get back into center for the 3 - 4 linkage. But I was able to get into fifth. When I tried to downshift the 3 - 4 linkage was in the way. This is also why I couldn't get into reverse because the shifter needs to center before going into reverse because of the lock out on it. At least that's what I'm assuming. They sid they just used a prybar and the linkage popped right back into place.

I did make sure it was all documented and I have the reference number that they got when they called the mazda tech line.

Back in business! New bushings going in on wednesday and they are fixing my rear bumper trim at the same time.