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Lost 1-2 while driving - Ever happened to somebody else?
So i was driving with my girlfriend last friday, and when i went to put the car from 3rd to 2nd there was nothing. I stopped and tried to put the car in 1st or 2nd, nothing. I managed to get back home, if i was hitting hard on the shifter it would pick 1st gear. So i ordered new bushings for the shifter since the lower one was non existant and the upper one was so-so.
I picked them up today at my Mazda dealer, installed them, same thing. No 1-2, unless i hit really hard on the shifter. I'm gonna drop the transmission tomorrow, but i was wondering if anybody had the same problem before. 3-4-5-R goes in no problem, it's really just 1-2 i have problem with.
There seems to be some metal in the oil where the shifter is. I drained part of it, and picked up half of the return spring in the bottom. I was gonna drop the transmission anyway to fix the spring, so it's not that of a big deal. I'm hoping something like a lockpin has broken. When it does get in gear, it works no problem, so i'm pretty sure it must be something easy to fix
I was gonna say there is no return spring there so it could have fallen down and jammed the shifter block.
Seen plenty of guys have bushings break and jam in that spot,but your lower bushing looks good so that is making me lean towards the return spring theory.
Food for thought - 1st and 2nd are on the same shift fork. I bent 2 shift forks and lost 1, 2, 3 & 4th once. There are roll pins in those shift forks as well which can fail and the fork shift on its rod and jam up.
It is REALLY hard to go anywhere when you only have 5th and reverse, incidentally.
I have had pretty much every conceivable failure of an N/A transmission at this point. LOL
....hence a turbo trans swap coming.
Last edited by PinkRacer; Mar 15, 2016 at 12:52 PM.
The lower bushing was basicly non-existant when i got the car, and when i lost 1-2 i ordered all the bushings and replaced them all, that's why the lower one looks good from my first pictures. I opened the shifter portion of the transmission today and found the previous spring in the bottom of the shifter. Since 3-4 is flat, it wasn't interfering, and since 5-R is rounded, it was not interfering neither. But when you put 1-2, the square shifter is 90deg angle, so it was jamming on the spring. I was still able to push it with the shifter but is was just not going all the way.
After some cleaning, of the debris, air, and cleaning some more, everything is now working like it's supposed to! Every gears goes in perfectly, and are WAYYYY easier to get in.
Since i was already that far, i decided to give the transmission a good cleaning and painting!
Now all i have to do is wait for my damn M501-17-465B spring to arrive and i'll be ready to reinstall the transmission! It was 3 to 10 days delivery to my local Mazda dealer. It's okay in a way, it will give me just enough time to replace the rear main seal that seems to be leaking oil like crazy, since my bellhousing was full of old dry oil when i removed the transmission
and that part is for an S5 so it will not work.It has a bushing in the block and the s4 does not.
I believe it does work. I have an S4 shifter in an S5 trans with this S5 bushing and block. The inside diameter of the S5 plastic bushing is the same as the I.D. of the S4 block. This new bushing comes mounted in a new block. The roll pin retaining it is only accessible if the trans is out of the vehicle, perfect time to upgrade.
I changed the spring, cost 4$ at local mazda dealer. I ordered the bushing, but since i have a S3 shifter in my FC, the ball is bigger and the bushing is not fitting/needed.
not tying to hijack thread, but could this also be a problem for me when I go to put it in 5th and its like I have to force it over? and when I take it out of 5th I have to really pull it to get it out of gear and when I wobble the shifter to make sure its in neutral, theres no wobble and I have to shake it pretty hard.
rx7b13, for the time it takes to verify, you should really check it out!
Just remove the 4 bolts to the side plate, drain the oil, shoot some brake cleaner and check if there is any metal shaving or bushing leftovers in there, use gasket maker and seal the side plate, put some new oil and try again!
You won't even have to remove the transmission, should take you about 30min top to do!
I didn't reinstall the transmission yet since i'm waiting on my pilot and clutch bearing to come in (tuesday they should), but after installing the new spring and bearings, damn does the shifter feels solid and nice!
