While I was doing the turbo swap in my 'vert (an '88), i did the drivetrain at the same time. I think the transmission was from an S5 tho, b/c the plugs were different than those on my S4 NA tranny (so i spliced on the old plugs). I also used the shifter from the S4 NA because I had recently put a new inner shifter boot on it, and it was in general less rusty/in better shape than the one that came on the transmission. Are the shifters from the S4 and S5 different, because I cant get it into 1st gear (with engine off, i still have a little work on the engine to do), and its a very hard shift into 2nd. I'm hoping that I dont have to rebuild the transmission or get a new one, but i'm getting a sinking feeling the more i think about it.

 

You probably put the clutch in backwards. Test the hydraulics first and if they check out, pull the tranny off and make sure the side of the puck with the springs sticking out is facing towards the flywheel.

Steve

 

ah damn, i hope not... I thought I followed the instructions with the clutch. it was such a PITA to get the tranny on the engine in the first place, and I only noticed the shifting problem once it was in the car. hopefully re-aligning it in the car wont be too hard when I need to re-install it

 

Could be something else too. Throw out bearing or clutch fork or something, but those also require pulling the tranny off. Check the hydraulics first, then you can worry about it. :P

Steve

 

i replaced the clutch and throw-out bearing when I was replacing the engine/tranny, and *thought* i followed the mazdatrix instructions that came with. well, one more thing on the list to do.

Thanks for your help