loose stick shift!
 

so i've been noticing more and more that my stick is a little loose. at first i thought, alright maybe thats just hwo the rx-7's are, but i dunno i think its pretty loose though. i mean im just saying like even when the car is off, and w/o pushin in the cluth just like wigglin it around in neutral it feels like its got way to much movement than it should. any help or advice would be awesome!

You need some shifter bushings.

It should have some movement side to side and as it get close to the gates but excessive play or rotation is not so good. That is a sign that you have worn shifter bushings. It is a common occurance in our cars and not a big deal to change out.

You can get the new bushings and springs here. There is also an step-by-step installation guide a little further down the page as well.

Could possibly be the shift brushings. Check http://www.mazdatrix.com for replacements.

Ive got to replace mine too. im about to place the order on mazdatrix, but I dsont know whether I should get the new shifter boots or not..

my current ones are torn, but will it make much ofa diff If I dont buy new ones?

Old shifter boots that are torn or have holes in them will allow more heat and exhaust fumes to seep into the car. If you do not like that situation then you would need to get new boots to prevent that.

when you take the bushings off check to see if the 3 bolts that hold the assembly in haven't vibrated loose. Mine almost fell out on me the other night!

There was a thread about this somewhere where it was not the bushings that caused the movement but the little ball on the end that fits into the tranny.

Mine is like that aswell, I am going to order bushings first to see if that helps.

this is all you need, i did it last year... it's TIT! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW
oh yea just like a race car now

I like how all of our answers were within 1 minute of each other.

yeah we're cool

ive ordered the topa nd bottom bushing kits from mazdatrix. ill let you all know hwo it goes

Only the S5's have that plastic bushing in the horizontal selector rod.
Also the S5's have a plastic insert in the pivot ball to keep it from spinning.

http://208.62.166.66:82/guest/pics/shift.jpg