Stiffen your Mazda 3, Speed 3 shifter - for $4
I noticed on my Mazdaspeed 3 and there is some sloppiness in the shifter. I read a post on how to change the "sponge bob" rubber bushings with TWM solid aluminum ones. It will cost you something like $26 bucks for the solid aluminum mounts and $12 shipping (what a joke).
I took the cover off the shifter and played with the shifter to see what I could find out about the cause of the slop. The sponginess is caused by soft rubber bushings.
It appears that the whole assembly can be stiffened up easily by filling the air gap around the soft rubber bushings with epoxy.
I had an extra tube of 6 min. epoxy left over from the "Stiffen your Mazda 3, Speed 3 rear engine mount - for $4" project so I decided to give it a go.
Here are the bushings (circled in red):
Time required: The whole project takes about 25 min.
What you will need: 2 part 6 Min epoxy - Lowes $4 and an applicator:
I used 6 min epoxy, but you have to work too fast, so use the 20 min stuff.
Note: Don't use 6 min. epoxy for this - you will be sorry (sets too fast) - use the 20 min stuff and life will be good.
I got the applicator from an ink fill re-fill kit.
If you take the shifter assembly out of the car you wont need the applicator, but I was too lazy to take it out. Use the applicator and you can do the whole project without taking anything out of your car.
I mixed the 2/3 of the tube of epoxy and poured it into the applicator. Take the applicator and fill the air gap around each of the 4 mounts. Only fill up to the top of the washer - don't get any on the nut.
The epoxy gel flows just right and entirely fills the gaps.
Where to fill:
Fill like this:
Finished (all gaps filled with epoxy):
Now put the cover back on the shifter and you are all done!!!
In about 3 hours it will be rock hard (let it setup in a heated area) so wait at least this long before you test it out.
I think this solution is actually better than the solid shift mounts because the solid mounts will offer no isolation and therfore will probably transmit some vibrations to the shifter. This mod makes it stiffer, however you still have rubber for isolation of vibration.
For $4 this is a great mod. You can do this on the Mazda 3 as well.
This also saved a bunch of time not having to take the console out and remove the entire shifter assembly, ( if you are going to use the solid mounts you will have to take everything out).
Just took her out for a spin - wow she shifts a lot "crisper" now. The entire shifter feels more "solid" now. Definitely less sponginess. Sponge Bob is now gone! Awsome.
Sorry for the multiple posts on this, everytime I hit submit I got an hour glass, so I kept trying ended up with like 5 posts.
I noticed on my Mazdaspeed 3 and there is some sloppiness in the shifter. I read a post on how to change the "sponge bob" rubber bushings with TWM solid aluminum ones. It will cost you something like $26 bucks for the solid aluminum mounts and $12 shipping (what a joke).
I took the cover off the shifter and played with the shifter to see what I could find out about the cause of the slop. The sponginess is caused by soft rubber bushings.
It appears that the whole assembly can be stiffened up easily by filling the air gap around the soft rubber bushings with epoxy.
I had an extra tube of 6 min. epoxy left over from the "Stiffen your Mazda 3, Speed 3 rear engine mount - for $4" project so I decided to give it a go.
Here are the bushings (circled in red):
Time required: The whole project takes about 25 min.
What you will need: 2 part 6 Min epoxy - Lowes $4 and an applicator:
I used 6 min epoxy, but you have to work too fast, so use the 20 min stuff.
Note: Don't use 6 min. epoxy for this - you will be sorry (sets too fast) - use the 20 min stuff and life will be good.
I got the applicator from an ink fill re-fill kit.
If you take the shifter assembly out of the car you wont need the applicator, but I was too lazy to take it out. Use the applicator and you can do the whole project without taking anything out of your car.
I mixed the 2/3 of the tube of epoxy and poured it into the applicator. Take the applicator and fill the air gap around each of the 4 mounts. Only fill up to the top of the washer - don't get any on the nut.
The epoxy gel flows just right and entirely fills the gaps.
Where to fill:
Fill like this:
Finished (all gaps filled with epoxy):
Now put the cover back on the shifter and you are all done!!!
In about 3 hours it will be rock hard (let it setup in a heated area) so wait at least this long before you test it out.
I think this solution is actually better than the solid shift mounts because the solid mounts will offer no isolation and therfore will probably transmit some vibrations to the shifter. This mod makes it stiffer, however you still have rubber for isolation of vibration.
For $4 this is a great mod. You can do this on the Mazda 3 as well.
This also saved a bunch of time not having to take the console out and remove the entire shifter assembly, ( if you are going to use the solid mounts you will have to take everything out).
Just took her out for a spin - wow she shifts a lot "crisper" now. The entire shifter feels more "solid" now. Definitely less sponginess. Sponge Bob is now gone! Awsome.
Sorry for the multiple posts on this, everytime I hit submit I got an hour glass, so I kept trying ended up with like 5 posts.
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