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Driving at 70+ mph, in 5th, all normal for 20 miles. Suddenly, trying to shift down to 4th, then 3rd, shift lever wouldn't move. Fortunately, if would shift into 1st and 2nd normally, but not higher gears, or reverse either. At home, with much more effort than normal, I can move the shifter into 3rd and 4th position, but not into 5th or reverse position.Clutch fluid level is normal ( flushed it a year ago,). Any ideas out there what could have gone wrong?
Sounds like an internal trans failure to me. Possibly a bad shift fork. A hydraulic issue or mechanical issue such as a faulty pilot bearing would prevent shifting into any gear.
If it were me I would pull the shifter cover boot and the rubber boots and take a look down in the hole where the shifter rests (remove shift **** and lever first). It could be something came loose like the little plastic shifter bushing and its wedged in there causing some sort of interference. Otherwise you will need to drop the tranny and open it up to see whats up.
This is with the engine running, correct? With the engine OFF - how does it shift? Clutch-in? Clutch-out?
The most common cause for this behavior with engine RUNNING and clutch-in (trans disengaged), is a grenaded pilot bearing on the trans input shaft. What happens is that the pilot bearing has seized and is transmitting rotational torque from the eccentric shaft to the input shaft of the transmission, even with the clutch disengaged. This makes shifting into or out of the higher gears difficult (1:1 in 4th gear, underdrive in 5th) because you have no mechanical advantage as provided by the gearing in lower gears (3.6:1 in 1st and 2.1:1 in 2nd) to overcome the force being applied by the failed bearing.
With the engine OFF and the clutch in or out, if the transmission shifts to all gears equally smooth (*you may feel some gear and synchro mesh notchiness) - then it's not the transmission.
If it's a failed pilot bearing - which it almost always is - then one of two outcomes;
A) Over time, the grenaded pilot bearing will gradually grind itself to dust in there, and one day you'll hear a horrible grinding noise anytime the clutch is disengaged, and then suddenly, magically, it will go completely silent. This is the point where all the bits of the pilot bearing have chewed through your grease seal and fallen into the trans bell housing. Afterward, you'll have a vibration in your driveline that only goes away with the clutch pushed in - because you've uncoupled the trans from the engine. This is not good.
B) You drop the trans and change the Pilot Bearing, Pilot Bearing Grease Seal, and clean out the Pilot Bearing hole in the eccentric shaft to be sure there aren't any grenade fragments in there waiting to kill all of your hardwork and initiative. Before you do anything - stop reading and go and buy the Mazdatrix Pilot Bearing Removal & Installer Tool and order the parts I mentioned above while you're there. I'll wait... (link: https://www.mazdatrix.com/product/eb...aller-remover/)
Now that you're back, that Pilot Bearing Removal Tool will make a messy, crappy, demotivating job a TONNE (*that's metric...) easier by turning an afternoon of grinding with a Dremel tool and cursing into a 15-second job. How much is your time worth? Also, that installer tool may not look like much, but it ensures that your Pilot Bearing is seated to the correct depth to prevent you questioning your installation method when you have the greasy trans balanced on your chest in your very best 'bear-hug' and you can't seem to get the transmission lined up properly for it all to go back together. Trust me on this, it's $$$ well-spent. Now get to it,
Oh, and don't over-grease the Pilot Bearing. Just enough is what you're after, because too much results in hydrostatic lock preventing you from inserting the input shaft...
If you are able to move shifter thru all positions with engine off,no need to push clutch in... push car slightly back and forth on level ground while shifting to all gear positions. If shifter goes into each gear normally,good possibility pilot bearing rough/heats up and seizes causing shift problems.In this case trans will need to come out for inspection as above. I think a different scenario at play here more likely cause. Usually when seized/grenaded pilot bearing is culprit,getting trans into 1st/reverse is near impossible with engine running
If this is 1st time this has happened,and trans isn't noisy,suspect shifter return spring in shifter turret is broken in a couple pieces preventing full throw of shifter. Remove shifter assembly by removing 3 10mm head bolts after you have removed the insulation boots. Liberally soak these boots with silicone,use heat gun to further soften them and a dull pick to release them and roll up onto shifter stem.
The last one covering top of shifter turret i like to use silicone and the pick and work boot down below top of shift turret and expose the 3 bolts,remove them and pull shifter straight up and out. Inspect both the nylon collar for cracking and the spring for being broken. It should look like the pic below,easy to see if broken. If it's broken,fish the pieces out and reinsert shifter and put 3 bolts back in and start car and move shifter thru all positions.
Should be able to actuate all gears normally,shifter will have a fair amount of slop as there's no neutral preload without spring. Drive car if you feel you need to verify,but not necessary. If you can smoothly move shifter thru all gear positions at rest with engine running and clutch in,replace spring. .
It can be done without taking trans out of car,it can be a pain but it can be done. Spring only costs couple dollars and still available at Mazda dealer. If spring isn't broken,trans will have to come out and apart to determine cause.
Some cautions,put a towel or blanket across dash/radio area before prying boots off/up. One slip of screwdriver or pick will scratch/gouge paint on shift surround or damage finish on radio stack,experience...
Definitely drain contents of trans into a container both to measure quantity and condition of oil from it. Fish a magnet around in it to check for metal fragments. BEFORE draining,1st be sure you can loosen fill plug on side of trans...
When reassembling,before reinserting shifter assembly,top up lubricant in shifter turret to just to bottom of block shifter ball inserts to. It will be low or could be empty altogether.
Part # for shift select spring M501-17-465B @$3.50
Last edited by GSLSEforme; 01-27-20 at 03:08 PM.
Reason: add part # for spring
Have you seen a fair # of those springs broken over the years? That's an easy thing to check, and good advice about using care and lube to separate the rubber boots.
At some point in the prior service on my -SE, someone thought it easier to just cut through the boots with a knife to free them up to drop the trans. Replacing those 3 boots with new parts (~$120) dropped the internal noise considerably. They provide a lot of sound and vibration dampening.
Hoping it's this rather than what I proposed above, as this is far easier to fix!
Have you seen a fair # of those springs broken over the years? That's an easy thing to check, and good advice about using care and lube to separate the rubber boots.
At some point in the prior service on my -SE, someone thought it easier to just cut through the boots with a knife to free them up to drop the trans. Replacing those 3 boots with new parts (~$120) dropped the internal noise considerably. They provide a lot of sound and vibration dampening.
Hoping it's this rather than what I proposed above, as this is far easier to fix!
Yes,many of them. OPs statement about being able to get into 1st with no issue makes me lean that way over pilot bearing issues. I have seen pilot bearings in early stages of failure allow somewhat normal operation until driveline parts come up to temp and act up then go back to "normal" on a cold restart only to act up again when hot,eventually failing. Not betting donuts,no longer allowed in diet.
Last guy with the battery fixing his problem still makes me think he found/fixed poor connection issue unknowingly by switching out battery...hard to diag cars on internet with info/terminology from owners postings at times...
01-26-20, 11:03 PM
