I have a 90 TII and it came with a short shifter when I purchased it. I haven't really had that much experience with short shifter kits but I am finding it hard to go into reverse and sometimes fifth. The way the shifter goes into gear isn't smooth as it would be with a stock setup. Does anyone else experience this same issue or could there be a problem with my linkage or the way it is installed? Lastly, would I be able to remove the short shifter from inside the car or would I have to drop the trans or lift the car?

 

its probably your tranny syncros are worn out man.

you can remove the shifter from inside the car yes. pop off the cover, remove 3 bolts and pull up. if you have a stock shifter off hand you can always pop it in and find out if it really is the shifter. doubt it though. chances are you need a rebuilt tranny. at least from what it sound like to me. my 2nd gear is the only bad one i got. and i all the other gears are like butter.

good luck.

 

Yes, inspect or R&R from the interior.
I'd open it up and check the bushings, they could just be worn, broken, or improperly shimmed.

 

If it is the bushings here is a good HOW TO:
86-92 Shifter Bushings
Mazdatrix also has a video on short shifter install.

Now,just from experience,I have run all sorts of versions of short shifter.I went through a phase.lol.
Some of them would squish the bushings and shifter together so that the shifter would not move properly.
If you notice this,you can alleviate it by using a washer in between the shifter Plate(round thing with the 3 bolt holes to hold the shifter in) and the transmission top bushing area.
this raises the plate up and allows the assembly to move more freely.You will need to seal in between the plate and trans,so make a paper gasket or use a bit of rtv.(but NOT lots,as it will get caught up in the area you want free of any crud.)

 

I had to shim my lower bushing up, the pivot ball wasn't seating on it.

 

Nice! Thanks for the info! I'll probably end up seeing if anyone wants to trade me for their stock setup haha! I am a stock kind of guy with jdm taste.

 

Your Avatar is definitely NOT Stock..lol!
I'll trade ya,if you decide to get rid of it!.

 

So, "stock" + "jdm"= longer shift throw.
Good to know.

BTW, even a stock setup may require shimming the bushes.

 

Haha! You know it bro! JDM cosmetic taste for now. I'm not ready to modify the mechanical aspect as of this moment so I choose to have it stock. I have yet to determine which route to go with as far as hp goals or what I'm going to use my car for.

 

Mine came with a short shifter, I'm pretty sure it was from ebay. The shifts into reverse were really difficult; so I put the stock shifter back into it. Much better than that cheep ebay shifter.

 

How do you know it was "a cheap ebay shifter", they all look the same.

 

Well they kid I bought the car from bought everything he put on the car off ebay. Not to mention the fact that it was for an S4 in my S5. It could be a Rotary Shack one, but I really don't know.

 

I have a stock shifter you can have if you pay shipping. No shift **** though.

 

haha I have an ebay short shifter (miata ss kit) and aside from the two piece lever design I have no complaints. I have even had guys with name brand short shift kits tell me they preferred mine over theirs. Trust me I offered to trade but I paid like 15-20 bucks for it haha those guys paid closer to 80-150.

Personally I didnt feel much of a difference between name brand and "ebay crap," all I felt was whatever issue was in the tranny(hard second and reverse).

Band-aid solution to a pesky reverse gear Ive always done is with the clutch depressed put it in first gear then go to reverse. I have always made a habit of this anyways. People dont generally abuse first gear but will rape the reverse gear, you know the type who whip into a parking lot and grinds reverse till it clunks in.

 

Well I finally got my hands on a stock shifter assembly thanks to Driftology! I had a couple of questions on the installation. I removed the short shifter and found I couldn't fit the stock setup when I tried to assemble it. The shifter is out of an 88 fc and mine is a 90. From what I am told, the only differences should be the threading for the shifter ball. I placed them both side by side and noticed that both ***** at the bottom have notches for the transmission pin alignment. The short shifter has a white plastic bushing on it which the stock shifter is missing. Is this normal or should there be a plastic piece there? Another issue I ran into is the plastic bushing and wave spring was removed out of the short shifter but I had no way of installing it on the stock shifter because I believe it to be a complete one piece shifter. How would I be able to install the bushing and wave spring so that it sits over the stock shifter ball once it is installed? And finally, would there be a problem if the stock shifter plate with the 3 holes has the rubber boot torn from the shifter? Here is a picture for comparisons.