Manual Transmission Shifting Issues

[pdexta]

I've been fighting some shifting issues with my 200k mile 2015 Manual CX5. It started with shifter movement with changes in acceleration and notchy gears and has been getting worse. It's totally out of commission now, I haven't been able to get it in reverse, 2nd or 4th at all now (this varies, at times it won't go in 1st/3rd, but reverse is consistently an issue). When cold, if I depress the clutch while in neutral the car will start to inch forward as if it's in gear.

Done:
Replaced all motor mounts
Replaced Trans Fluid
Bled clutch and verified slave movement (hydraulics seem to be working fine)
Checked shift linkage and bushings, all good
Disconnected linkage at transmission and I still can't manually put the car in 2nd/4th (I can feel the gate, but it won't drop in gear)

If anyone has any experience with this, or has any suggestions to look at please let me know. I'm assuming the transmission needs to come out at this point, hoping it's just a clutch, but the clutch has never slipped and I hate to just keep throwing money at it. Are these manual transmissions pretty robust or known to have issues? Thanks for the help!

 

[Mazdiod2]

Maybe the throwout bearing or the clutch plate.?

 

[pdexta]

Thanks for the input, I've been trying to convince myself it's clutch issue, even though I'm scared it's not. I ordered a clutch kit and I'm going to pull the transmission and see what it looks like.

 

[stickerbush]

Disconnected linkage at transmission and I still can't manually put the car in 2nd/4th (I can feel the gate, but it won't drop in gear)

The above leads me to believe that problem is internal to transmission rather than the clutch.

 

[Lazy2.5]

The above leads me to believe that problem is internal to transmission rather than the clutch.

Right. As quoted below:

Disconnected linkage at transmission and I still can't manually put the car in 2nd/4th (I can feel the gate, but it won't drop in gear)

If anyone has any experience with this, or has any suggestions to look at please let me know. I'm assuming the transmission needs to come out at this point, hoping it's just a clutch, but the clutch has never slipped and I hate to just keep throwing money at it. Are these manual transmissions pretty robust or known to have issues? Thanks for the help!

My suggestion would be to get a reputable and trusted mechanic to inspect it before you continue throwing time and money at this car.

 

[pdexta]

The above leads me to believe that problem is internal to transmission rather than the clutch.

I reluctantly agree, just grasping for hope I guess. Thank you.

My suggestion would be to get a reputable and trusted mechanic to inspect it before you continue throwing time and money at this car.

Unfortunately that type of job with a mechanic is going to cost close to what the car is worth. I can handle the work myself, I'm just not too familiar with the platform and wanted to see if anyone had experienced something similar, or had tips on things to look for. If I pull the transmission and it still won't go into gear I'll hunt up a used one to swap in.

 

[Lazy2.5]

I reluctantly agree, just grasping for hope I guess. Thank you.



Unfortunately that type of job with a mechanic is going to cost close to what the car is worth. I can handle the work myself, I'm just not too familiar with the platform and wanted to see if anyone had experienced something similar, or had tips on things to look for. If I pull the transmission and it still won't go into gear I'll hunt up a used one to swap in.

If it's not going into certain gears, I don't see how the clutch is related.

You should get this to someone who deals with manual gearboxes first. The right person will lead you to the actual issue far more economically than throwing parts at it.

 

[pdexta]

I appreciate the feedback here, just wanted to give an update.

I pulled the transmission (I had to drop the subframe to get it out) and it still wouldn't shift into 1st or 6th. I found a junkyard in Canada with a used manual that shipped it to Tennessee for $600 and I'm back on the road. My old transmission would pop out of 6th occasionally, so hopefully that issue is gone as well.

 

[bdc101]

I'm late to the party but I think that was the right call all along. If the transmission isn't moving, and the shifter cables aren't broke, then it had to be something inside the gearbox. Glad you got it working again and thanks for updating your thread with a resolution.

 

[jonnymopar]

My old transmission would pop out of 6th occasionally, so hopefully that issue is gone as well.

If you search around the interwebs, you'll see that this has happened to others with the Skyactiv manual. I've personally seen it happen at much lower mileage than yours - 2016 3GT with ~110k miles mysteriously started popping out of 6th gear and a few months later ended up towed home completely stuck in 5th. Same fix as yours: salvage transmission installed.

It does make me a little nervous considering I have two cars in the driveway with that same Skyactiv 6M

 

[Mazdiod2]

I wonder if it's a good idea to change the gear oil?

 

[bdc101]

If you search around the interwebs, you'll see that this has happened to others with the Skyactiv manual. I've personally seen it happen at much lower mileage than yours - 2016 3GT with ~110k miles mysteriously started popping out of 6th gear and a few months later ended up towed home completely stuck in 5th. Same fix as yours: salvage transmission installed.

It does make me a little nervous considering I have two cars in the driveway with that same Skyactiv 6M

That's super interesting. I have a 2015 Mazda6 with the 6MT as well (just under 100k miles) and have never had any issues, but I am curious if anyone's done a post-mortem and opened up their gearbox?

We had a Scion tC which at maybe 125k miles, we lost 5th gear. It would shift into all the other gears except 5th and sounded funny. I was able to pull the end cover off, exposing 5th gear, and discovered that the nut on the end of the output shaft had literally come loose. I tightened it up and put it back together and it never troubled me again.