1st-2nd-R shifts use care, it's metal vs. plastic & plastic loses!

[SeanMSIII]

I noticed recently when shifting to 1st-2nd that the shifter was hanging up 1/2 way between like it wanted to go into R without pushing down on the knob. I pulled off the gearshift cover and found out why. The shift lever has a metal pin on the left-hand side that's designed to prevent you from going into R without pushing down. This pins rides up against the greased portion of the gearshift lever holder and should only allow you go into reverse if pushed down. Unfortunately, if you don't make a really deliberate effort to push all the way down, the metal pin will dig into the plastic and grind it away until you have a vertical channel worn into the plastic. And if you push to the left too hard when shifting into 1st-2nd, it will grind a horizontal channel into the plastic. I now have lots of shredded plastic down around the ball socket which I suppose could mix in with the lubricant and screw things up there too eventually.

The attached pic is pretty blurry, but if you look hard you can see the shiny pin and the channels that have been worn away. You can also see the pile of plastic dust that results, sitting on the ball socket.

Long story short is make sure you depress the gearshift knob fully before attempting to moving the gearshift over into R and be careful not to pull the lever to the left too hard when shifting to 1st-2nd. Personally, I think this mechanism needed to be designed to take a little more force without tearing up. This is a 6-speed, after all people will have a tendency to want to pull the gearshift to the left with authority to make sure they're not going into 3rd-4th.

 

[enganear]

I noticed this when I recurved my shift lever forward and to the left. Now I take care to push the shifter down and THEN to the left to enter Reverse slot so that I do not unnecessarily wear this area. I agree, one would think this mechanism would have been designed a little more robust. I would also like to see separate springs for left and right of center instead of the scissor spring that provides the same force in both directions. Having a lighter spring on the right side of center would sure make the 5-6 shift easier.
-enganear

 

[TheMAN]

sucks to have a plastic piece of s*** shifter base and adding insult to injury cable shifter on the 3..... wtf was mazda thinking? wait they weren't.... ford told them to do this.... the protege's rod shifter is WAY better

 

[blynzoo]

Wait....
the MS3 has a CABLE shifter?
Jesus.

 

[SeanMSIII]

sucks to have a plastic piece of s*** shifter base and adding insult to injury cable shifter on the 3..... wtf was mazda thinking? wait they weren't.... ford told them to do this.... the protege's rod shifter is WAY better

Yeah, plastic is taking over everything. I go to the dealer on Friday so we'll see what they say. Betelgeuse on M3forums says that he has 27k or some such on his, doesn't take much care to push down or be easy on the 1-2-R shifts, and it still looks pristine where the pin contacts the side of the shifter base. I then took another look at mine and the pin has kind of a rough surface on the end. I'm starting to think this is a defect instead of design flaw and mine should have a rounded or at least smooth end.

 

[killerMS3]

Betelgeuse on M3forums says that he has 27k or some such on his, doesn't take much care to push down or be easy on the 1-2-R shifts, and it still looks pristine where the pin contacts the side of the shifter base. I then took another look at mine and the pin has kind of a rough surface on the end. I'm starting to think this is a defect instead of design flaw and mine should have a rounded or at least smooth end.

yeah, and betelgeuse sits on his shifter for pleasure. back when i was posting about my shifting problems, he basically said it's because i don't know what i'm doing. it seems his car is just the best car mazda ever made, especially shifting and tranny wise... i know the last time i took my shifter apart, it showed a little wear in there, and i have 20k on my car. maybe i'll take a strip of stanyl and glue it in there. that will fix the problem!

 

[itzl0l]

yea i was thinking of taking a small peice of steel or something and putting it in there so the pin has something to "rub" on thats not soft like plastic....duh mazda

 

[SeanMSIII]

yea i was thinking of taking a small peice of steel or something and putting it in there so the pin has something to "rub" on thats not soft like plastic....duh mazda

If it was steel, you'd have to keep it lubricated. I like the idea of Stenyl, which I'm assuming is some sort of tough, anti-friction film. Would it be tough enough to hold up to some pretty good pressure?

So, Mazda is going to replace the whole unit. They suggested that I should have their short shifter installed for $500 instead since they apparently attributed the failure to rough use. I'm not buying.

 

[jville]

What they call rough use, is what we call spirited driving.

 

[killerMS3]

I like the idea of Stenyl, which I'm assuming is some sort of tough, anti-friction film. Would it be tough enough to hold up to some pretty good pressure?

Stanyl, as far as i know, is glass impregnated nylon. it is some tough stuff, and it has a relatively low coefficient of friction... it's not like delrin or teflon, but it is very tough stuff. In my CNC programming days, i use to use the stuff for making prototype cam chain slides. So if a car company thought that this stuff can take millions of miles of chain draggin on it, i'm sure it can stand up to the shifter. this is expensive stuff tho, so i can see why they wouldn't use it. i just happen to have a lot of it laying around my house (rockon)

 

[SeanMSIII]

yeah, and betelgeuse sits on his shifter for pleasure. back when i was posting about my shifting problems, he basically said it's because i don't know what i'm doing. it seems his car is just the best car mazda ever made, especially shifting and tranny wise... i know the last time i took my shifter apart, it showed a little wear in there, and i have 20k on my car. maybe i'll take a strip of stanyl and glue it in there. that will fix the problem!

Stanyl may be a very good idea. Got the new shifter assembly installed and I don't think that my original shift assembly was defective. It's just a bad design. The tip of the metal pin on the side of the shift lever is machined flat. This means that with any substantial sideways pressure while shifting between 1-2, you'll be scraping into the plastic surface of the shifter base. The only thing preventing this is a little grease which should be quickly scraped off. Once out of the warranty the cost of repair should be in the $300-$400 range. I'm curious whether the short shifters out there do anything differently. Just rounding off the end of the pin a little would probably make a big difference in terms of avoiding wear.

 

[Oneurt]

So I'm curious to know if anyone has done anything to this poor design? I just check mine and already noticed that the grease is all been pushed to the sides and that small plastic shavings have already started showing. My car only has 2600 miles on it so far! I haven't done any spirited driving with the car due to our lovely -30 to 0 temps the last few months. so if under 'normal' driving just how long will this plastic piece really last for?

I'm going to add some more grease to it to see if this will help prolong the wear.

Just seeing what you guys have decided to do to fix this flaw.

 

[clos561]

im going to check mine in a fe wminutes and see what going on. I never noticed shavings on mine, just the bundled up lube.

 

[Betelgeuse]

So I'm curious to know if anyone has done anything to this poor design? I just check mine and already noticed that the grease is all been pushed to the sides and that small plastic shavings have already started showing. My car only has 2600 miles on it so far! I haven't done any spirited driving with the car due to our lovely -30 to 0 temps the last few months. so if under 'normal' driving just how long will this plastic piece really last for?

I'm going to add some more grease to it to see if this will help prolong the wear.

Just seeing what you guys have decided to do to fix this flaw.

28k / lots of hard driving here and it still looks pristine - no shavings whatsoever. I'll check it again in a few thousand miles. I wonder if people are forcing these shifters?

 

[Oneurt]

28k / lots of hard driving here and it still looks pristine - no shavings whatsoever. I'll check it again in a few thousand miles. I wonder if people are forcing these shifters?

I'm usually pretty nice to the shifter, but after noticing the small shaving I'm now being very gentle when I shift from 1st and 2nd.

 

[Double Dspeed]

i fixed this problem in my car with a piece of titanium i had at work cut it to fit and actually super glued it in place. while i was at it i cut my shifter down and re-welded it Caution: do not attempt if your not a certified welder i want no one saying i gave an idea and someone's shifter broke between shifts

 

[bykeryder4life]

If it was steel, you'd have to keep it lubricated. I like the idea of Stenyl, which I'm assuming is some sort of tough, anti-friction film. Would it be tough enough to hold up to some pretty good pressure?

So, Mazda is going to replace the whole unit. They suggested that I should have their short shifter installed for $500 instead since they apparently attributed the failure to rough use. I'm not buying.

WTF??? I never heard of a short shifter for the Speed3 that mazda offers. Is this true or is it just for the regular 3.?? where can i find it if so..

 

[clos561]

28k / lots of hard driving here and it still looks pristine - no shavings whatsoever. I'll check it again in a few thousand miles. I wonder if people are forcing these shifters?

same here, no shavings, mine looks fine

 

[Captain KRM P5]

WTF??? I never heard of a short shifter for the Speed3 that mazda offers. Is this true or is it just for the regular 3.?? where can i find it if so..

they don't. its TWM or not at all right now.