ill get straight to the point. its an 88 SE and the shifter is horribly loose, i can put it in gear but once its in gear it moves back and forth like its in N, i pretty much wanna know whats broken, loose, how to fix it, where could i find a short shift kit possibly, or just another OEM shifter.

 

The bushings are old and need to be replaced. Check out mazdatrix.com I think they sell em for like $25 or something.

 

yea mazdatrix should have a step by step instructions on their website with pics, as well as links to the parts you need to buy. I just did this about a month ago I believe my total was around $30-$40 with shipping and everything. It's not that complicated but my shift **** was stuck on from not being removed for so long... it was pretty hard to get off. Other than that I didn't have any problems with it.

 

yep its your shifter bushings..might as well change all the rubber boots while your at it.

http://mazdatrix.com/g4.htm

 

Would that cause it to be loose in gear? When my bushings were bad I had trouble getting it out of gear unless I held it at a certain angle. Some more details might be helpful in determining if it is the bushings (which is always a good idea to replace) and something a little more severe. If you can pull straight up (not into gear, but tangent to that and the floor) and there's alot of play then you deffinatly need new bushings. If you can't move it up and down then your bushings might be okay and it might be something wrong with the fork. Just a thought. As of right now, I say the bushings as with everyone else.