3rd gear pop out? Anybody heard of that?
- Thread starter stockae92
- Start date
My Protege5 is one of the first made (in 2001), and I do not have such an issue. Like Dimitrios mentioned, it is likely that the 3rd gear synchronizer is busted if what you have described is happening. Then the synchro requires replacement.
There was a TSB out, however about 3rd gear. Go here to view it. So it is obvioulsly a problem on certain vehicles.
By far a more common problem though is 1st to 2nd gear shifting in cold weather. The transmission shifts hard for the first few minutes.
I had my transmission fluid replaced with BG Synchroshift, and the issue is nearly eliminated.
The general opinion is that late 02 and 03 trannies are a lot better.
There was a TSB out, however about 3rd gear. Go here to view it. So it is obvioulsly a problem on certain vehicles.
By far a more common problem though is 1st to 2nd gear shifting in cold weather. The transmission shifts hard for the first few minutes.
I had my transmission fluid replaced with BG Synchroshift, and the issue is nearly eliminated.
The general opinion is that late 02 and 03 trannies are a lot better.
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- MP5T / 944
Syncros
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- MP5T / 944
That would piss me off...
There was a TSB out, however about 3rd gear. Go here to view it. So it is obvioulsly a problem on certain vehicles.
Hi, I just bought a black mica 2001 Proteg ES and it seems that it does have the hard, grinding 3rd gear. What should I do about it? If the previous driver had the same problem for all these years, what is the condition of that transmission? I suddenly like my new toy a lot less.
Thanks.
Hi, I just bought a black mica 2001 Proteg ES and it seems that it does have the hard, grinding 3rd gear. What should I do about it? If the previous driver had the same problem for all these years, what is the condition of that transmission? I suddenly like my new toy a lot less.
Thanks.
Hi!yarx said:
Welcome to the forums! You should be able to learn a lot about your car here...I did, for sure.
So does your third gear actually grind? Or is it just rough sometimes? If this goes away after driving for a few minutes (i.e. after letting the tranny warm up), then it is okay, a lot of people have that. I get a crunch out of my 2nd gear and sometimes my 3rd gear when I take off in the morning (I have 20K on my car and I got it about 2 months ago, so I'm in a similar situation).
Today I finally found a mechanic that knows something about this. He said that some of the clearance specs are off from the factory, so there's not much you can do for now, except maybe to get some better fluid in there. And don't worry about it, just go easy on the shifting while the transmission is cold. There are a lot of people on this board who have the same shifting issues and they have a lot more miles on their cars than I do.
So to sum it up...is it a pain in the butt? Yes! But will you transmission break any time soon? Not likely!
Welcome to the forums! You should be able to learn a lot about your car here...I did, for sure.
So does your third gear actually grind? Or is it just rough sometimes? If this goes away after driving for a few minutes (i.e. after letting the tranny warm up), then it is okay, a lot of people have that. I get a crunch out of my 2nd gear and sometimes my 3rd gear when I take off in the morning (I have 20K on my car and I got it about 2 months ago, so I'm in a similar situation).
Thanks for the quick answer.
It is more than just a little rough. I am used to rough trannies since driving at -30C is pretty usual around here. I am talking about grinding with a hot engine almost as if I was not pressing the clutch at all. The problem only happened yesterday when I was driving back home from the car seller (50km). Since then I've driven a few more kms with it and I haven't had the problem. It pisses me of because the car is in suprerb condition...
So does your third gear actually grind? Or is it just rough sometimes? If this goes away after driving for a few minutes (i.e. after letting the tranny warm up), then it is okay, a lot of people have that. I get a crunch out of my 2nd gear and sometimes my 3rd gear when I take off in the morning (I have 20K on my car and I got it about 2 months ago, so I'm in a similar situation).
Thanks for the quick answer.
It is more than just a little rough. I am used to rough trannies since driving at -30C is pretty usual around here. I am talking about grinding with a hot engine almost as if I was not pressing the clutch at all. The problem only happened yesterday when I was driving back home from the car seller (50km). Since then I've driven a few more kms with it and I haven't had the problem. It pisses me of because the car is in suprerb condition...
Hm...how is going in other gears for you, especially reverse? Is it smooth then? If so, then your clutch is fine, it doesn't need adjustment (can someone second that?). Unless it is popping out of gear, it is probably not much to worry about. Having some synthetic fluid in your transmission helps quite a bit also, especially when driving mostly in cold temps.
I've researched this subject way too much, and to be honest, this is just the way these trannies are.
I talked to this mechanic today and he said that he would be able to fix the factory defect for me. Even though Mazda did come out with updated parts (which are stronger, supposedly), the problem may still develop later. So if it ever becomes a huge problem down the road (which is unlikely), just have your tranny rebuilt by someone who knows what the heck he's doing. Installing a brand new one or a used one won't work, as he said. He said the rebuild would run about $800, which sucks but isn't going to kill me. I still like the car a lot, even though it's not perfect. At some point, however, I was really depressed about this.
Hope this helps you a little...to alleviate the pain. Good luck with your car.
I've researched this subject way too much, and to be honest, this is just the way these trannies are.
I talked to this mechanic today and he said that he would be able to fix the factory defect for me. Even though Mazda did come out with updated parts (which are stronger, supposedly), the problem may still develop later. So if it ever becomes a huge problem down the road (which is unlikely), just have your tranny rebuilt by someone who knows what the heck he's doing. Installing a brand new one or a used one won't work, as he said. He said the rebuild would run about $800, which sucks but isn't going to kill me. I still like the car a lot, even though it's not perfect. At some point, however, I was really depressed about this.
Hope this helps you a little...to alleviate the pain. Good luck with your car.
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All the other gears are fine, smoother (when hot) than what I'm used to.
Ill do some more testing tonight and tomorow. If the problem persits, I can return the car without charge and get another one. I really dont like that option since I might end up with another color than black mica and with a shot suspension (Montreal have the worst roads of all North America, this car came from the Toronto area).
Ill do some more testing tonight and tomorow. If the problem persits, I can return the car without charge and get another one. I really dont like that option since I might end up with another color than black mica and with a shot suspension (Montreal have the worst roads of all North America, this car came from the Toronto area).
Let's see...A lot of people on this board have tried Redline MT-90. Some like the results and some do not notice much difference. Some members have tried much thinner fluid (also by Redline) but I wouldn't do that...because it is not the specified weight. Redline MT-90 is the same weight as recommended by the manufacturer (i.e. Mazda). I've got BG Synchroshift II in my transmission right now, and it is quite a bit better than the stock fluid.yarx said:
SuperWagon502
Member
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- 02 Mazda P5 / 03VW GTI 1.8t
Ok well My Pro5 is an early 02 model AND I've had all kinds of trouble with the 3rd gear. And it continued AFTER my shift forks broke and the tranny was replaced/rebuilt by dealer. I've had Hard SHifting from 1st to second in hte cold, I've had trouble going into and out of 1st in the cold, I've had trouble Quick shifting into 3rd due to grinding, Its gotten stuck once, And it gets caught trying to engage third. I was able to reproduce the grinding on the quick shift, and the getting stuck trying to go in on both the 1st-2nd shift, and the engagement of 3rd. That was before The forks broke, and It still continues after they were replaced. I t was also written on the sheet i filled out that was needed to list all the info about what was wrong with the transmission. What'd you reccomend. The MT 90 is the best result producer? My 3rd gear cries when I'm trying anything but granny shifting into 3rd now. And I know ALL the sync's were replaced as it was added onto the invoice for what was done by the dealer. <All under warranty I might add. Thank you Mazda USA>
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I haven't actually tried any of the Redline products but it is a synthetic fluid. If you live in a colder climate, it is sometimes recommended to use 1 quart of MTL and 2 quarts of MT-90 (MTL is a little thinner). I'm pretty happy with BG Synchroshift, which is also a synthetic fluid, although it is a little more expensive than the Redline stuff. In any case, a synthetic fluid is definitely an advantage over stock...SuperWagon502 said:
So how was the transmission behaving right before the shift forks broke? Did it get stuck in gear once they broke? I don't really want that to happen because then I'll be stranded somewhere. I might just have it rebuilt once it starts to go.
Why isn't Mazda recalling this? There're obviously a lot of failure cases. I guess there's not even a fix for it if they just put the same parts back in.
SuperWagon502
Member
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- 02 Mazda P5 / 03VW GTI 1.8t
The TSB is kinda like a recall but it's not made public. It may not be so much of a fixable PROBLEM as it is that they just chose a weak material for the syncro's if that makes sense. So what they'll do is use carbon sync's as replacements. As for how it acted before the forks broke, It was only grinding into 3rd. Like i said before It would grind unless I did a granny shift. I didnt notice the 1st-2nd hard shifts because it was Georgia summertime at the time.
Horseshoe Crab
Member
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- Protege 5
SuperWagon502 said:
Yea i had problems with the 3rd gear grinding at around 30,000 miles and the dealer told me it was because i wasnt driving stick right.WTF???? NOT DRIVING STICK RIGHT?? (pissed)
