My new quest: Fix my shifter

[digitalslacker]

My Problem:

My car has 171k miles on it. The shifting is not as smooth as I think it should be. Its a 5 speed protege5 that had the tranny fluid replaced 10k miles ago with mobile 1 synthetic. It seems like when I shift from first to second, there is a lip or something that catches on the way down to second gear. Its like I pull down, it goes into the neutral track then i need to put more force to get it into second. I would think it should be smooth going straight down like that. Its the same thing with the rest of the gears. There is a hesitation going from the neutral track to the gear, could be 1-2, could be 2-3, 3-4, or 4-5. I've owned 4 manual cars prior to the P5 and none of them were this notchy/hesitant. I don't think there is anything broken in the trans but I still wanted to ask. I installed a TWM short shifter this evening and that amplified the problem. I know my motor mounts are starting to get worn and they will be replaced in a few weeks, but will that really help all that much?

My Question:

What is causing this? What can I do to fix this?



I did some quick searching and came up with a bunch of people saying 'that's just the way this trans is.' I sort of doubt it was like that or people would have never bought the 5 speed new if it felt like this. With that being said I do plan on doing a bunch more searching over the next few days but wanted to post this up just in case there was an easy solution i missed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bgibb68]

Ill tell ya that when I put in stiff motor mounts(the medievil ones all around) it did clean up shifting a ton......I have 2 that were actually in 2 pieces at 110k miles

And is the clutch original? I know hitting 2nd and 3 right now is a b**** in mine but I know why clutch is on its last leg.....about to get replaced it is

 

[Flav]

Digitalslacker:
I can 100% guarantee you I know the problem, It's ironic that you've posted this because I had the exact same problem for a year and only now decided to fix it.
I recommend anyone whose reading this do this if you have a stiff shifter.

What you want to do is go buy some OEM (or aftermarket) shifter bushings (there's 4 in total, but i only did the 2 that are directly connected to the shifter rod)

Then follow this guide on how to remove your shifter rod (you don't need to every step, just up until you've removed the shifter rod) & (Thanks to TMW performance for this step by step guide)

http://www.twmperformance.com/manuals/Mazdaprotege-escort-mx-3manual.pdf

Once you've taken this apart, you'll notice that where the bolt that holds the 2 shifter bushings go there will probably be a lot of rust or dust etc.
Clean that out with some sandpaper or what have you, wire wheel the s*** out of the bolt, put the 2 bushings on and lube the hell out of any of those moving parts. (ie. bolt, bushings and where the bolt slides into the shifter rod hole...[thats what she said])

Then when you put it all back together don't tighten the nut on the bolt that is put through the bottom of the shifter rod (if you tighten it all the way then your gonna have a stiff shifter again.

Anyways I did this on thursday afternoon and honestly, I don't know why i spent a full year dealing with such a bad shift.

Other contributing factors can be your motor mounts as stated above.
But this by far will make the BIGGEST change.

Hope this helps you and any other's.





Ps. I hope that all made sense

 

[goodfornothing]

Great info Flav! I myself am on the quest to cure my stiff shifter. Definitely bookmarking this so I can give it a go in the future. I may even just get a short shifter as well .

Quick question, will the nut on the bolt come out of it's not tightened enough? What keeps it on?

 

[Flav]

^ It just threads onto the bolt.
So what I did was had my friend under the car tighten the nut, then I sat in the driver seat and had him loosen the bolt in very small increments at a time.
So I don't see the nut coming off, its not like its loose on the bolt, its just not tightened all the way.

 

[CheeseHelmet]

I'm pretty sure the TWM shifter doesn't use the stock bushings, from the pictures I saw it looks like they have a set of bearings instead (brilliant idea imo).

My transmission used to be just like the OP's and on cold days it still is (albeit not as bad as it used to be). Here's a list of what I did:

1. Changed the transmission fluid to Castrol Syntec 75W-90. This didn't do anything, in fact I think it might have made shifting slightly notchier.
2. Changed the transmission fluid to ATF. This also didn't do anything so I switched back to the Castrol stuff.
3. Replaced front motor mount and added AWR side inserts. This was the first thing that noticeably helped but shifting still wasn't that smooth.
4. Replaced the clutch and changed the transmission fluid to Pennzoil synchromesh. Sadly I did both of these at the same time so it's hard to say which one of them did the trick but it made a big difference. If I had to bet I'd say it was the clutch (my release bearing was shot).

If you say your motor mounts are shot I'd start with replacing those (rockauto has them for a reasonable price) or give the Pennzoil Synchromesh tranny fluid a shot since it's cheaper.

 

[Flav]

^ yeah the bushings are different but I only posted that how too as a general guide to remove the shifter
It's very simple to see where the stock ones go when you get to that bolt

 

[Ride92]

Look at the corksport bronzeoil bushing kit for the stock shifters. If you have the TWm one you would only need one set (2) bushings that connect to the front of the shift linkage. The bronzeoil material is self lubricating as oil is infused into the material. They are way better then the stock plastic things that mazda used. I made my own short shifter and installed these bushings, it was a bit stiff at first but once it wears in it has worked flawlessly for me.

 

[digitalslacker]

I ordered the corksport bushings today, we'll see if they help.

 

[Daisy Vestry]

For me, the stock shifter was far and away the single worst feature of the whole car. Our 3rd car is a Miata, so I know what a good shifter feels like and the ones Mazdas stuck in the P5's are . . . . junk!

We bought our silver '02 in '03 with 4500 miles on it and I installed an aftermarket short shifter the second week we had the car - I forget the brand (B&M maybe?) but I paid about $125 for it and it was all stainless and bronze and it made the car a joy to drive. We still have the car which now has about 120K on it

When we bought the yellow '03 last year, I bought a $30 short shifter on eBay and installed it, again about 2 weeks after we bought the car. To be honest, you can't really tell any difference getting out of one P5 and into the other - The $30 shifter shifts every bit as nice and smooth as the $125 one

I'm sure the new bushings you bought will make an improvement, but for what an entirely new shifter sells for these days, I wouldn't bother wasting any time or money on the stocker - My opinion of course, your likes/needs may be different

Don

 

[digitalslacker]

I got the front bushings replaced yesterday. My stock ones were corroded which made getting the pin out a huge pain in the ass. I had to lightly sand the pin to get it to fit in the new bronze bushing... Then file the inside of the yoke coming off the trans to get the bushings in. Once it was back together i went towards the back and retightened the bolt on the short twm short throw. The engagement is smoother but i have a feeling the issue is in the trans. Maybe ill do clutch and trans goodies in the spring if the rust in my engine bay isnt too bad.

 

[digitalslacker]

Another thing to try would be a heavier shift knob. You said going to a short shifter made it worse. With it being shorter, you have less leverage, a heavier knob will compensate for that. Try one of my brass or stainless steel knobs, and if it doesn't help or you don't like it, send it back and I'll refund your money. www.SweetKnobs.com

I have a mazdaspeed knob right now and that bad boy gets cold in the morning. If you had a leather wrapped weighted one id think hard on it.

 

[goodfornothing]

Digitalslacker, I have a hard time shifting into first and second sometimes. I changed to corksport bronzoil bushings as well and it didn't help much except tighten the feel of the shifter. I'm going to try changing the master and slave clutch cylinder and if that doesn't work, I'll be having clutch/transmission work done. We might have bad clutch forks and throwout bearings. I notice when It's in first with the clutch in and I let off the brakes, the car creeps forward without adding gas or releasing the clutch, so that means the clutch isn't fully disengaged and I'm messing up my transmission lol.

 

[digitalslacker]

Digitalslacker, I have a hard time shifting into first and second sometimes. I changed to corksport bronzoil bushings as well and it didn't help much except tighten the feel of the shifter. I'm going to try changing the master and slave clutch cylinder and if that doesn't work, I'll be having clutch/transmission work done. We might have bad clutch forks and throwout bearings. I notice when It's in first with the clutch in and I let off the brakes, the car creeps forward without adding gas or releasing the clutch, so that means the clutch isn't fully disengaged and I'm messing up my transmission lol.

Hmmm. Mine doesnt seem to do that.