Tranny/ Shift lever problem??? Sit down...relax..

Gasso · 08-10-07, 04:02 AM

Allright here we go....My car had been doing this...when pressing the clutch pedal to the floor and putting the tranny in first or anyother gear...with the pedal still on the floor the rpms would drop from 750 to maybe 200-300....I figured not too big a deal still drivable and replacing the bearings when i do my clutch/flywheel job may fix it....

Well...done changing out the flywheel and clutch and everything i got a RB lw steel flywheel and the act clutch kit....it still does the above but instead of 300 or so it just flat out dies....should this happen when changing the flywheel? There was something that said the idle may change with the new flywheel...however it idles fine when in the neutral position...I assume the idle would be different here as well?? Could it be as simple as adjuting the pedal?? perhaps i should check that out tomorrow.

I also have another issue with the shifter/tranny?? which may be related...maybe not....i took out my tranny with shifter lever still on it...i was carefull about bumping it against the car and it came out nicely...when it finally decided to...the friend that helped me put the tranny back in was trying to help and somehow was able to knock it out twice.....got everything back together and was able to get the shifter back in.....trying it out before i start it up running it through the gears to be sure....it got stuck in reverse...i had to undo the 3 screws and use too much force than should be necessary ....after inspection it looks like i need to do this which i will order everything tomorrow i guess

-- http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/shiftbsh.htm --

I took out several pieces of what was probably an old bushing or two ...when the lever was knocked out could there have been anything else that was damaged inside there? If there are more pieces still in there that i missed...could those pieces damage it in anyway when driving the car? Is that middle boot part needed? I did not even know it existed until i read the page above for I do not have one...maybe that is why it gets warm?. I will need to grab those parts listed....pump out the fluid and look for any pieces of things left floating around and change the bushings and add a middle boot piece.

Well I hope thats everything...drove it for 10 miles...Driving it again feels great!! (my clutch was worn to the point where ..well there was no more clutch...how i drove i do not know) ...shifting is fine through 1-5 somewhat loose but the bushings and such will fix that correct? but it hurts putting it in reverse.

Summary:
1. The weird lowering idle when still holding down pedal when its put into a gear.
2. Any ideas what this could be? Pedal adjustment? Will get that checked.
3. Lever got stuck in reverse...removed chunks...it goes now but it is hard to get
in and out of reverse. A little harder getting it out I believe.
4. Going to be changing bushings as soon as I get the stuff from mazdatrix.
5. Hopefully that will help fix the lever problem.
6. Glad I could drive again but this sucks.

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pfsantos · 08-10-07, 08:19 AM

OK, where do I start...the idle is dropping because you may have a problem with the BAC system, which compensates idle for loads put on the engine, such as clutch, power steering, electrical loads, etc. There are a few sensors and switches which tell the engine when loads are applied and the BAC compensates by giving it a little more air (and the ECU a bit more fuel). Check out chapter 4A in the FSM (see my sig. for FSM, parts fiche, and training manual - read!) My theory on the car stalling since the new flywheel is that the old heavy one was probably better at keeping the rotational inertia of the engine. Heavier flywheels keep the engine spinning longer/smoother in a way. BTW, adjusting the pedal won't fix this problem, so just adjust it to specs. and make sure it is engaging and releasing properly.

You probably learned this already the hard way...but...*always remove the shifter*. It's only three bolts and will make it much easier to pull the tranny and put it back in. It doesn't sound like you did major damage, since you can still shift gears and have bad bushings. Yes, the old bushing tend to disintegrate. I just got mine at Mazda after a couple of days on order.

My buddy was able to put the shifter in a funny position where you had to move the shifter in a "U" to get out of reverse when his bushings were gone, so funny things can happen with bad/non-existent bushings. Replacing these should fix things up.

Gasso · 08-10-07, 02:05 PM

hrmm ok ...i will check the BAC...I always thought that when the pedal is still pressed down the clutch is grabbed away from the flywheel so there wouldnt be any load on the engine yet....I guess its bad to assume things like this there is always other things....what all happens when you press that clutch pedal? Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

pfsantos · 08-10-07, 02:13 PM

When you push the clutch pedal, you're pushing the release bearing against the pressure plate, so there will be some load, although not much. What leads me to think the BAC is involved is the fact that the clutch switch is there and the idle is dropping when you push in the clutch. This makes me think it could be the cause.

Gasso · 08-10-07, 03:26 PM

ah ok...well i also have another question....does the bac work through back pressure from the exhaust? I was out driving in the family car and thinking about it....I didnt put that small pipe from the cat back on....and sure enough I get home and its sitting right there on the porch.

I had read on here the s5's had electronically controlled 5th/6th ports so I was somewhat confused what this was for....maybe this will help?

pfsantos · 08-10-07, 03:31 PM

No and yes and no....The BAC is just a solenoid that opens up more air for the engine by opening a passage for more air...don't know if I'm putting it the best way here.

The split air pipe comes from the cat to the back of the intake manifold to a passage in the ACV to the air pump. But when decelerating (assuming you have the ACV) the engine sucks in some air from that back nipple in the intake manifold, so you may have a vacuum leak here. Plug up that nipple at the back of the LIM where the hose from the split air pipe comes to. Also, on the S4's the tiny pipe off the split air pipe feeds back pressure for the 6PI system. Search for my post just minutes ago in reply to someone else here with some shit not hooked up.

Gasso · 08-11-07, 04:21 PM

Didnt have time to update yesterday but I slapped that pipe back on there and its working just fine now....no more idle drop. The only thing now is the hard shifting into reverse...hopefully the bushings fix that and I dont have some other problem.

Ill have to read more about BAC and such to see if everything is working correctly...even though its working. When I do the bushings on the shift lever....would 75w90 gear oil be ok??