MS3 - 3rd gear miss-shift

[MS3077]

Has anybody else had a problem with 3rd gear miss-shifts? Asking because sometimes when I do a high rpm / fast shift into 3rd gear it doesnt go in and just grinds and I have to shift into 4th instead. This cannot be healthy for the transmission and now Im a bit worried about it. There doesnt seem to be anything wrong with my car but Im thinking there might be a problem in the future if this continues.

Shouldnt this be covered under warranty if transmission problem results because of this? I mean I fully depress the clutch before I shift into 3rd and everything and it still grinds sometimes, its not a drivers error. It feels like theres a gate and it doesnt let me shift all the way thru into 3rd and grinds.

Ive already changed my motor/ transmission oil to AMSIOL full synthetic but everything else is stock. However, I just think that Mazda should address this and cover it under warranty because I dont think this kind of issue should be happening period. I would like for Mazda to fully inspect my transmission for damage and fix/ replace it if need be because this is a defect in the car that probably needs to be addressed as Im pretty sure Im not the only one thats experienced this.

Advice / Feedback is welcomed!

 

[numbnuts22715]

a lot of people say the tranny mount fixes it. The TRZ dogbone is really nice.
Ive never had the problem with any shifts, and I shift pretty fast and hard, so I dunno.
Try the mount and see if it helps.

 

[elderlycoffee]

my car does this on third and second. at first i thought it was just bad driving skills that fxed it up but i don't drive any worse than most of the people with a speed 3 so i dunno wuddfxup wid that.

 

[Betelgeuse]

There's 263 hp/280 Ft/lbs sitting under the hood of your Fwd. Under wot the engine rocks back and forth, sometimes excessively. Yes the mounts (especially the rear) should've been a little stiffer from the factory . Third gear will be hard sometimes under these circumstances. If you adjust for that you will have no problems. If you can't, get the Corksport inserts or invest in one of the aftermarket mounts!!

 

[cashmoney93]

Plus in third, unlike 1st and 2nd, you have the full power potential of the engine, so it most likely rocks a little more than 1st and 2nd.

 

[MS3077]

There's 263 hp/280 Ft/lbs sitting under the hood of your Fwd. Under wot the engine rocks back and forth, sometimes excessively. Yes the mounts (especially the rear) should've been a little stiffer from the factory . Third gear will be hard sometimes under these circumstances. If you adjust for that you will have no problems. If you can't, get the Corksport inserts or invest in one of the aftermarket mounts!!

You make a great point about how the rear mounts should've been a little stiffer from the factory! And I'm sure there are some aftermarkets parts that can fix this issue. However, I believe it should be Mazda's repsonsibility to fix my transmission if a problem results from not having a stiff enough rear mount to begin with. I think they should have a recall and replace our mounts with stronger ones. Maybe it's just me but I think Mazda should've done a little more homework on this. (boom01)

 

[slikshoes]

I used to run into this issue a lot when I first purchased my car. Installing the TRZ rear mount seems to have cured it, since I have not had any issues since I installed it. I also installed the shifter bushings and changed out the tranny oil to Redline synthetic initially, but all my efforts did not bear fruit until I changed out the rear mount.

 

[MS3077]

BTW, I really appreciate all the insight thus far! It's really helping me understand why this is happening.

 

[D_Roc7822]

yeah this even happens on the Mazda 3 sedan. One of my previous buddies had a 07 Mazda 3 S and he beat the living hell out of it. And he would miss 3rd every single time. I used to make fun of him because of it. Then I drove it and only missed maybe 1-2 times. In my speed Ive missed 3rd just doing actual shifting, nothing hard or fast or anything. Its very annoying. Everything above makes a lot of sense actually. Ill prolly be looking into the aftermarket mounts myself. And mazda will replace the tranny for you if it screws anything up. Same buddy pretty much destroyed his tranny. Got to the point where he couldnt shift into 3rd without a s*** load of grinding and having to put all his weight behind it. He took it to mazda and they replaced it free of charge. Took them about a week or two, the tech @ mazda said that third gear was completely gone. It was all good though.. he got a 07 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi for a rental lol.. we had some fun in that thing!! Eats though gas like its going out of business though.

 

[MS3077]

yeah this even happens on the Mazda 3 sedan. One of my previous buddies had a 07 Mazda 3 S and he beat the living hell out of it. And he would miss 3rd every single time. I used to make fun of him because of it. Then I drove it and only missed maybe 1-2 times. In my speed Ive missed 3rd just doing actual shifting, nothing hard or fast or anything. Its very annoying. Everything above makes a lot of sense actually. Ill prolly be looking into the aftermarket mounts myself. And mazda will replace the tranny for you if it screws anything up. Same buddy pretty much destroyed his tranny. Got to the point where he couldnt shift into 3rd without a s*** load of grinding and having to put all his weight behind it. He took it to mazda and they replaced it free of charge. Took them about a week or two, the tech @ mazda said that third gear was completely gone. It was all good though.. he got a 07 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi for a rental lol.. we had some fun in that thing!! Eats though gas like its going out of business though.

Well, I'm hoping you're right about Mazda not giving us a problem if our transmissions get damaged. I would be pissed beyond words if they did, I mean like wtf it's not like it's our fault, the car apparently has too much power for the stock mounts. I think we should continue to address this issue just incase in the future it becomes a problem later on down the road.

 

[speed3shon]

the thing is the shifter in the car is mounted to a fixed position (the car body) and the transmission moves with the engine. when the engine rocks on the mounts, the shifter isnt aligned with the transmission correctly.

stiffer mounts will help this...

 

[staples187]

I installed the short throw shifter and the bushings and I've missed one shift into third since I've installed it 4 months ago.

 

[Betelgeuse]

You make a great point about how the rear mounts should've been a little stiffer from the factory! And I'm sure there are some aftermarkets parts that can fix this issue. However, I believe it should be Mazda's repsonsibility to fix my transmission if a problem results from not having a stiff enough rear mount to begin with. I think they should have a recall and replace our mounts with stronger ones. Maybe it's just me but I think Mazda should've done a little more homework on this. (boom01)

I'm not going to take credit for that. Tru-boost, a knowledgeable member posted about the engine rocking issue a long, long time ago. Even I had doubts at first but since the mount seems to cure it, that had to be it.


It's highly unlikely you damaged your tranny unless you're grinding it constantly. In time it'll happen less and less as you get used to it. But I agree somewhat, Mazda could've done a better job on the mounts. The good news is, the fix is very very easy to do and cheap (if you go with the corksport inserts).

 

[MS3077]

Yeah I've only miss-shifted like 3 maybe 4 times and heard a grind for short time then quickly shifted into 4th. I would hope it would take more than that to destroy my transmission. Corsport inserts are defiantly on the "To buy" list! Maybe even a short shifter. Other than the very occasional miss-shift I actually enjoy the shifter for the most part. I had a 07 civic si sedan before I got my 08 MS3 and my MS3 shifting action actually feels a little more direct in comparison.

 

[DusterAZ]

I have the SU mount and shifter bushings and that made a big difference. I still miss 2nd/3rd every once in awhile but that is probably just me being sloppy. I plan on switching to Red Line MT-90 soon which I hear also helps.

 

[MS3077]

I have the SU mount and shifter bushings and that made a big difference. I still miss 2nd/3rd every once in awhile but that is probably just me being sloppy. I plan on switching to Red Line MT-90 soon which I hear also helps.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Red Line MT-90. And yeah I think almost everybody screws up shifting sometimes (especially when you're driving home from a long day at work and you're really tired) This car definitely isn't one of the easiest manual transmission cars I've driven with the short gearing sometimes vague shifter and aggressive clutch action you really gotta be paying attention..

 

[USAF_TRobertson]

There's 263 hp/280 Ft/lbs sitting under the hood of your Fwd. Under wot the engine rocks back and forth, sometimes excessively. Yes the mounts (especially the rear) should've been a little stiffer from the factory . Third gear will be hard sometimes under these circumstances. If you adjust for that you will have no problems. If you can't, get the Corksport inserts or invest in one of the aftermarket mounts!!

+1

 

[builthatch]

http://www.mzspd3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123696551

it's probably a timing thing you need to get used to, however, i can tell you that either the insert set as mentioned (like i have) or a rear mount upgrade will help your issue. but seriously, i'd be willing to bet it's timing as well.

currently, i am running the corksport inserts, TWM shifter and TWM bushings. i made a small adjustment in timing for 2 to 3 shift and everything has been gravy.

 

[MS3077]

Timing: It only happens when I WOT shifts (aiming for the fastest acceleration) I have no problem shifting when I'm just driving around the block granny shifting, etc.. It's just frustrating that this car sometimes will not let you shift into 3rd when your shifting fast at WOT. My point is this.. A stock MS3 will have trouble with the 3rd gear shift at WOT causing it to miss 3rd, nothing to do with timing but with the motor rocking, etc.

I'm absolutely positive that I would be running 13.9 - 14.1 in the 1/4 stock if this didn't happen. I ran a 14.44 with a really crappy 2nd to 3rd gear shift (I most likely lost like at least .5 tenths because of it.

 

[camrycev6]

I miss third gear like Brittany Spears misses her sanity.