Can't seem to find anything through search, so I'll just ask. Lately I have a sticky shifter when the car is warmed up. Like when it's in neutral, the shifter won't return to the center, so it's a bit annoying to shift, especially down from 5th to 4th - sometimes it won't line up with the gear slot and won't go in. I know the springs are fine, because when the car is cold, everything works and the shifter returns to the center on its own (I also know they're fine because I just took the shifter housing apart and everything looks good). Tranny fluid level looks good and the fluid itself looks alright. I only changed it about a year ago.

Any ideas?

 

Puzzling! What weight gear lube did you put in it?

 

Don't remember but it was standard weight suggested in the FSM. I think it was RedLine or something like that.

Since this is temperature related, I'm guessing as things heat up something expands somewhere and binds. Most likely a bushing or a seal. No idea which one, though, and no idea how to test or fix. Is there a bushing or a seal inside transmission that the shifter rod passes through? Or are the bushings and seals inside the shifter housing the only ones?

Also I don't know if this matters, but I'm using the Mazdatrix short shifter. Had it for a few years though, while the problem is recent.

 

You have a short shifter? Those exert more pressure on the slot and can wear it out faster than stock. This is due to the greater length between the two pivot points (*****).

Pull the shifter lever and check for wear in the slot on the big ball, on the pin, in the cup the big ball rides in, the big ball itself, and also check the small ball and its cup. Make sure you have oil filled to half capacity in the housing. If yours leaks, an easy fix is to pack the small ball with grease.

How is your shift return spring? Still intact or did it break and is now jambed, binding things up?


You have to pull the tranny to change the shift return spring... unless you have command over the 4th dimension. I'm not quite there yet, so I have to remove the tranny to change the spring.

 

Yeah, when I noticed the problem for the first time, I thought my spring broke, but I was wrong, the spring is intact and functions. It's pretty new, I replaced it when I serviced the transmission 2 years ago. I also took great care to seal the shifter housing side cover so it doesn't leak, it still has plenty of oil in it. It's true that the short shifter has more resistance to the spring due to a higher pivot point, but the spring can still handle it just fine when the transmission is cold. In fact when it's cold everything works beautifully. It's only when warm that things start binding up. It's a gradual transition. At first the shifter kind of centers, then less and less and eventually just doesn't center anymore. It's not a lot of resistance, but apparently enough to overcome the spring. And I'd say it probably takes a bit more effort to get into gear. Once again the effect is probably amplified due to short shifter's pivot point.

I'll take another look at and it maybe grease up all the ball and pin contact surfaces.

 

Yeah, at least examine all the surfaces for uneven wear. You might find where it's binding.

 

Looked it over. Everything looks fine. I cleaned it, greased it, made sure it's all smooth, put new oil in the housing. Took it for a test drive, same thing. In fact once I got the tranny hot enough, it got pretty hard to shift. Moving the stick in neutral had a lot more resistance, and there was a lot of resistance going in and out of gears. There was no grinding or noise, didn't feel like the synchros weren't catching, it just felt sluggish and heavy, like shifting through clay, if that makes sense.

 

I remember putting my spring in with the trans in the car. IIRC put trans in a pull rearward gear, pop the side cover, unbolt the cup, slide it out, r&r spring, reinstall removed.

 

If it's tight side to side in neutral it's in the ball seal or the shift tube. I don't recall there being much of a bushing. I'd try shooting some PB Blaster along the rail from the shift tower.

Worst case you might be able to unbolt the shift cup and then unbolt the tower from the tailshaft and slide it off or out and get some lube in there.

 

I don't think there's enough room to remove the tower off the tailshaft with tranny in the car. I really don't want to mess with it right now, especially since I don't even know that what I'm doing is going to make a difference. Guess I'll just put up with it until it gets really bad.

 

I just popped open my spare tranny to see if there's anything in there that could bind up, and it looks like there's nothing. Not in neutral anyway. Almost certain something's binding up in the shift tube. Ugh, I hate dropping the tranny.

 

Sticky situation...