In the process of rebuilding my 7 I've found that the shifter only springs back to the center when push over to 5/R, not in the 1/2 gate. I did tons of research and read all the threads on this shifter return spring but it seems like only one spring is talked about and that's the one you have to drop the trans for. It's for sale on Atkins and there's a couple write-ups for it so I assumed it's what I needed to replace but this morning I saw mentions of a second trans spring? When looking through the 4 bolt access cover I see the spring around the shifter block but I don't see part of the spring up top like in the pic. Does this mean mine is broken? I'm just confused on which spring I should be replacing here and if a second one even exists. I'll include some screenshots below (I'm on mobile sorry if this doesn't format great).

Thanks for any help

 

if you don't see the spring covering the center of the thing, like in your pics, its broken

M501-17-465B, its $4.62 Mazda list, although Mazda USA doesn't have any

 

Ok good to know. I've found some here fairly cheap that I'll probably end up getting https://www.atkinsrotary.com/store/8...-17-465b-.html

So what exactly are the people in the other screenshots I've posted talking about? Does a second spring exist and is it responsible for the shifter returning to centre from the 1/2 gate?

 

there is a spring that centers the shifter from the 1-2 gate, and then another one from the 5-R gate. the 5r gate spring is a normal coil spring, which is why it doesn't break. the miata, switches to using that style of spring on both sides, because it doesn't break

 

Hmm ok so the 1-2 gate spring is M501-17-465B?

 

yes, its the one you can see in the pics

 

sweet, thanks for your help j9fd3s