MS3 Tranny Sucks. Need advice.

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dizzin9

Member
:
a generic red ms3
i only have 34xx miles so far but i had it with the transmission. ok, i'm not the best driver in the world; i ask myself why only at 3rd gear i'd grind gears. it happened 5 times in my 3 or so months of ownership and it happened on 2 separate occasions, grinded 2 times on some day and 3 times today.

i looked around the net and i noticed that other people suffer from this, too. and not only on ms3 - mazda cars in general. the only reason that i bought the STS and MM is to help aid my shifting (although the MM might be a bit loose which i will handle first thing tomorrow). now i need to buy a tranny mount? then change my tranny oil? oh yeah, don't forget the side engine mounts.

the shifter feels like crap. crunch, crunch, and more captain crunch. wanna go reverse? make sure you put it into 3rd or 2nd or whatever gear first THEN put it in reverse. how convenient! the only time the shifter is smooth is when the engine is off (of course).

OEM shifter, mounts, and all other tranny parts suck balls. is this not important? i don't mind crappy rims (10 spokes?), tires (140 utqg rating rofl), paint job (hello paint chips) but come on, we're talking bout the tranny here. which leads me to considering selling the car. right now i will make at least 2k out of it because i bought it for so cheap. i have a second car which is running excellent. don't know what to do. i don't want to continue patching up these manufacturer deficiencies. i should've done more research i guess. it's truly a fun car to drive but if i'm going to drive it like a grandma, i'd be better off driving my auto v6 altima.

:bs:
 
I'm very happy with this tranny. The only issue I've found is you have to be carefull going into fifth, you might find yourself in third!
 
my tranny is okay... not spectacular.
I have the SU rear engine mount and TWM shifter bushings for the tranny, which helped.
I still grind 3rd every now and then. I hate it when it grinds, but, oh well, what can I do about it now?
It seems like the tranny like to grind when the car is turning - even slight turning (i.e. not pointed straight-ahead).
Anybody else feel the same way?
 
There has to be something else here. I ran this car at the dragstrip just last week and the trans is no problem, even with that severe test. I think I can feel the TO bearing dragging just slightly when I let the clutch out in neutral when cold. Admittedly the clutch takeup is really narrow and really high and this contributes to a clumsy feeling at times but, when pushed, all seems well. It's never ground gears even once. I don't disbelieve you but, there, has to be an answer to your issue.
 
Want a bad tranny? Try a Civic Si, I would grind 2nd and 3rd all the time and the car was brand new.
 
I have around 2500 miles on the car and I've ground 3rd several times as well as 5th. It's like the trans refuses to let me engage the gear just out of the blue but it only happens when I'm really laying into it. I suspected it was because the motor and trans are moving around so much when you drive like this that clutch engagement or some other issue is coming into play. I was hoping a CPE rear mount would improve it.

More or less I think I'm developing a feel for how hard and fast you can shift this car before just makes you look like an idiot when you grind a gear. It really pisses me off when it happens though. I rarely had this problem with T5's or the T3550 I had in previous cars.

The 2/3 shift is probably the worst.
 
Since I got the CPE mount, I can't get this tranny to grind anymore. I know it sucks to have to spend money on an aftermarket part to fix a factory flaw but in this case 10 minutes of your time and 130 bucks and its night and day better.
 
by doing some net surfing, i came across quite a few cars that suffer the same thing - 350z, civic si, wrx, mustang, etc. and mostly caused by a bad synchro. guess i have to take off the twm sts and cp-e mm and visit the dealer next week.

i read something about a synchro fluid or something like that. did any of you tried it?
 
Synchros will wear over time but I would be surprised if this is the case at your mileage level. They're like little spring loaded pads on a ring that contact the inside of another ring and the effect is it spins up the two gears they are attached to so they are at the same speed. If you have worn synchros already then it's time to pull the trans and have them replaced.
 
15K miles on mine and have never grinded. This tranny is a Godsend compared to my '02 WRX.
 
I've had the car just over a year now and have never grinded any gear. It could just be that some MS3 trannies are a bit more touchy than others but I have yet to have any major issues with mine other than the fact that shifting wasn't as easy as it should have been without at least a motor mount. With the tranny mods I have, it's pretty darn smooth and I could shift pretty quickly with zero issues.

I suspect a driver mod is necessary...
 
I have 12k on my speed and this is my first car with manual tranny(never grinded the gears:) take NCZ13 advice...
 
I've grinded 2nd before, but that was my fault everytime. Just got to complacent with the clutch. LoL. The tranny is good. The mounts are what cause the bad shifting.
 
350z owner here, ive heard the same complaints from a few over on the z forums about 3rd gear. Never ever once had a problem with mine, maybe the drivers?
 
you might need to practice shifting, every car is different, I can't drive my roommates GTI the same way I drive my speed3...

if I grind a gear its because I didn't push the clutch in, are you pushing the clutch in? are you strong enough to put it into gear?...stop being a girlie man and shift already!!!LOL
 
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