Notchy shifting into all gears
 

My '88 vert with 107,000 miles seems to be getting a little harder to shift into each gear. I put synthetic oil in the trans and rear about a year/1000 miles ago did not notice any change at that point.

Clutch seems o.k. no slipping but could even be original, I've had the car about 5 years.

It's always seemed a bit notchy when shifting into gear almost like a click when it goes into gear but appears to be a little harder now. Just starting to use it now, only drive the car a couple of times a month in the nice weather, about 1000 miles a year.

Any suggestions, think it's just the clutch going or pilot/throwout bearing?

Thanks

The pilot/throwout bearing normally make a noise (clutch pedal pressed = throwout, not pressed = pilot) if they're bad.

I would suspect the bushings.

Does anyone agree that shifter bushings causes the notchy/hard shifting?

I though the shifter got real loose and sloppy when the bushings were worn.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=notchy
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=notchy

That might help.

From a search it looks like new bushings seem to help, but synchros look like they're also to blame. Yay for mixed results from the Search button.

i have a similar problem in my car, I am fairly confidend that its the shift bushings

I do have a slight whirring noise when the clutch pedal is pressed down but that sound has not changed in the 5 years I've had the car. Clutch is definitely not new but no slippage.

I don't have any loose\sloppyness to the shifter.

I have put syth. in the rear and trans about a year ago/1000 miles, car is a nice weather toy for me.

So probably worth replacing the shifter bushings to see if that helps?

Yeah, it's an easy replacement.

Is the pilot bearing easy to fix? I get a whirring sound when my clutch is out and the car is in neutral.

sounds like throwout/pilot bearing. real cheap part but a doozy with the labor as the tranny has to be dropped. similar problem with my fc.

O.k. so the concensus is replace the shifter bushings since that's easy, then go for a new clutch? Or could the synchros in the tranny being going also?

What brand and type of fluid did you use?
Mazda recommends 75W90 transmission oil, and some people have mistakenly put 75W80 (i.e. thinner) fluid in there.
Also, did you use a proper TRANSMISSION fluid and not just a generic GL-5 fluid?


-Ted