Ok ever since I bought my 88 se back in early june of 05 the shifter has been extreamly slopy. And it didnt return to center from the left. So for the past few weeks I've been reading up on changing my shifter bushings. It seemed like a realy easy thing to do, so i went to my local mazda dealer and and had them order me a complte shifter bush replacement set. This was over thanks giving break and I had to go back to college b4 i could get the parts and theres no mazda dealer close to my school. So i had my dad pick up the parts for me and he told me that they changed my order to "the bushing that wears out" acording to them. so when i got home for xmas break i took a look at the bushing and they only gave me the blue bushing that was it. Me being stupid belived them about the one bushing wearing out so i thought that i could just reuse the springs <--? i guess is what there called but if not the little metal pices that snap on to the bushings. well in pulling the bushings off the shiffter the "spring" broke. So i changed out the fluid in the tower and put it all back togather with the new blue bushing and no spring on top. So sorry for all the back story but my questions are is it ok to not have that spring till I can get new bushing set? *Probly form mazda trix* and, Could it be the top "spring" that is causing the shifter to not return from left to center? Since it still returns from right I only asume that that is the case. I appreciate the help and again sorry for the long story.

 

If the you're referring to the spring washer, the answer is no. The return springs are not a part of the bushing assembly, and it's my understanding that they have to be replaced with the transmission out of the car.

 

thanks

 

lots of old cars will lose that particular spring. The spring on the bushing is just to keep the bushing pushed firmly on the ball of the shifter but it will probably be fine without it. More of a wear issue, and yes the spring to return the shifter to the center must be replaced with the trans out, as far as I know.

 

As you have already found out, Mazdatrix sells the bushings and fittings either separately or in kits. They also have good write-ups at their site about shifter fittings and curing slop in the shift mechanism. You can't believe how many boots and bushings are in our shifters and if all of them are replaced new and correctly installed, it makes for a tight trouble free shifter.

Oh...and as a suggestion for future posts, use a descriptive title rather than "please help". You'll get better responses and less possibility of getting seriously flamed.