Syncro-mesh problem on a P5

[MP5driva03]

I was just wondering if anyone else had problems with the syncro-mesh on thier 5-speed MP5's. My syncro-mesh for my 3rd gear is always making shifts difficult, and everytime I throw her into gear under medium to heavy acceleration, she makes a loud "grind-pop" sound, and it is sometimes easy to miss the gear alltogether. The fact that my car was a demo model for so long could explain this, but I dunno. Any ideas?

 

[azeli73]

you're under warranty... take it to the dealer

 

[herbieP5]

I had the exact same problem about two weeks ago and had the parts replaced under warranty. it fixed the problem perfect. I also spent the little extra money and put synthetic gear oil in to help with smoother shifting. I find it made a big difference. Dont let the dealer screw you though, mine tried to tell me it just needed new gear oil. I told them to f!*k themselves and replace the parts. when they got it apart they could see visible damage to the synch and 3rd gear. so be tough with them.

 

[msubullyfan]

Dude, don't EVER just negotiate a payment -- negotiate the cost of the car. $250 for 60 months? That's $15k assuming that you really are getting o% APR -- you gotta see it in the paperwork. Plus, you need to figure out what you're getting for your truck in trade.

You need to negotiate the vehicle price you're buying and then your trade-in value of your truck. Only then will you ever know if you're really getting the deal you think you are.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/78386/page001.html

check that link out... it'll teach you more about what you need to know.

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[uclap5]

lol. somebody is confused.

yeah, sounds like warranty time.

 

[Matthew]

(lol) what the **** are you talking about fan? must have two windows open at the same time like a true protege5.com junkie!

 

[Coqui258]

Can you guys fully describe this problem? I wanted to know so that I can see if it's my car as well. THANKS!

 

[seth]

so are you saying that when you tried to shift into 3rd under hard acc some times the tranny wouldn't even let you in the gear and you would completely miss the gear all together?
hmm sounds like my tranny... can't mazda just give us all new tranny's or just me because I hate the one it shipped with.

 

[Matthew]

you might want to check it out, but a lot of people grind those gears in a p5 even after years of driving other M/T vehicles...for me, i think it was just the crappy ass stock shifter, but rican i see has a new shifter and bushings, and when i got them, my problem stopped...if you are still having the problem, i would suggest taking it in, or at least calling the dealership

 

[Coqui258]

This is what I notice... when I shift into second gear, it doesn't go in smoothly... instead, it sort of "clunks" into gear. And when shifting into 3rd, it does the same thing, but lighter then second. What do you think?

 

[20ESGUY]

i just had my whole trans rebuilt for that about two weeks ago. it's pretty common, usually the synchro hub and gear will need to be replaced. ended up i had the beginings of the problems in second too so that got replaced. take it in ASAP otherwise you find wait too long and do more damage than necessary.

 

[Coqui258]

Can you explain IN DETAIL exactly what was happening to your tranny? Cause I don't want to look like an (_(_) when I go in...

(I see you don't have a P5... that might be different)

 

[KYMP5]

mine does that too. is that really under warranty?

 

[20ESGUY]

Can you explain IN DETAIL exactly what was happening to your tranny? Cause I don't want to look like an (_(_) when I go in...

well what i was experiencing was when you up-shifted into third you could actually feel the gear change through the shifter and it would almost grind, not quite, just made a kind of a "blurp" sound. after a week or so it started to do the same thing on down shifting unless i heel-and-toe'd it perfect. it was almost all under med. to heavy acceleration, ie above 3k rpm, sometimes below 3k towards the time i took it in. as far as the what actually happened, i could only speculate since i didn't see any of the parts torn down. i know that the root cause was the second and third gear synchros. BTW the p5, sedan, and mp3 all have the same tranny so mine shouldn't be any different than yours.

 

[duMb KeoLa]

you think the dealer will warranty a tranny if i put an aftermarket turbo on it? i highly doubt it but just asking....i think imma have some problems with the tranny later, and i can feel grinding already when i go from 1st to second sometimes....thanks

 

[flat_black]

*sighs* Man, I've heard more about this issue and it's starting to bother me a lot. I've had a 1 to 2 clunk since I bought the car, and a 2 to 3 grind, intermittantly. It's really annoying the hell out of me, and it bothers me that there's not even been an informative TSB on the issue. The dealership wouldn't rebuild my transmission because, "it's an inconsistant problem". It's definitly inconsistant; It only happens every three or four shifts. I've already spent over $600 on gear oil, bleeding the clutch, the whole hydraulic system, and the suggested short shifter installation to see if it helped at all. Nothing's remedied it so far, but the gear oil is something of a band aid for the issue, not really fixing it, but allowing me to go another 3-5k before having to change it AGAIN. At 35k on the car, now, it's really becoming an irritation, every day driving back and forth to work. The clutch'd been replaced under warranty due to issues with it when I purchased it, which I'm totally thankful for, especially they even changed it for me AFTER the 12k limit on the warranty for wear items like the clutch and brakes. But it still didn't solve the synchromesh issues at all.

I called Mazda Service just moments ago and spoke to Brian (x1260), and will be trying to get some information through him, and hopefully something will get resolved. If it comes back as 'They said they wouldn't change the transmission or rebuild it.', or the like, I'm going to try and talk to a tech there and see if I can get them to take a look into it, and try to address this issue, as the G15 transmission isn't exactly uncommon; It's in many cars, both AWD and FWD. If it's a major issue, it needs to have a TSB. We'll see if I make any head way. I'll keep you all posted.

- Eddie

 

[Vaarky]

I've got almost 11,000 miles on my P5. I always have clunky, startled shifts when I first take the car out, but I've always attributed that to the mechanicals just being "cold". The problem smooths out as I go, so I might be worrying unecessarily.

How many miles were on your vehicles when you started noticing problems with the synchros? If what I'm experiencing is the beginning of a worse problem, I want to take the car in for service right away.

 

[bradman]

I've only got 1700 kms on my 2003.5 p5 and i haven't had a single problem with my clutch/tranny. Only grinded once but it was my fault because I was moving my seat position while shifting. Other than that, the box has been smooth and clean.

 

[azeli73]

just to be clear on this, having a short shifter and bushing isn't going to make the dealer refuse warranty right? I changed my tranny oil to red-line and only noticed a small difference. But I too have the 1st to 2nd clunk and a mild "pop" into third.

 

[ghetto waggon]

The dealer can refuse service to the transmission because of the stress the SS makes on the synchros (sp?)