I put in the Miata short shifter mod into my car and it was pretty stiff when I first put it in. After a while it got better but I thought it needed to be a little tighter so it didn't rattle around as much. I put in the small spacer that came with the bushing and now it feels like it's very hard to shift and it kinda sticks in the position you put it in instead of being fluid to shift.

My question is this... Can I put some sort of lube on the higher pivot ball (larger one) inbetween the two bushings so that it doesn't rub so bad between them. I was thinking like white lithium or vaseline. Do you guys think this lube will destroy the rubbery plastic bushings or is this what you are supposed to do?

 

I believe your supposed to 'lube' up the pivot ball on initial installation. I just installed a bushing kit and started shifting and it was hard as hell. Lubed up the ball and smooth like butter.

 

Try to find some molybdenum disulfide grease...


-Ted

 

So I threw on some PJ1 chain lube with Molybdenum disulfide grease plus synthetic sperm oil and it's pretty smooth. I guess I'll have to wait so I can tell you the long term effects because PJ1 is not so thick.

 

in my stock TII the shifter doesnt flow smoothly through gears

it feels like it blocks during shifting and when i really push it trough fast, there's a sound like when you try to shift without the clutch or something like that...
my clutch releases all the way so that isnt the problem!

could it be worn shifter bushings, or is the tranny due for revision?

 

Well I was saying that the shifter itself was being a little sticky and would stay in one spot if I pushed it there, Like left to right more than forward to back. I actually have the same problem of having the stock T2 tranny and it doesn't shift very SMOOTH at all. In fact it's kind of choppy or "blocky" going through the gears. I would also like to know if changing out the transmission would make the shifting butter smooth like a new car or if all Rx-7's just have choppy transmissions.

Also if changing the transmission would help, where would you find an OEM replacement or swap from another car (like an FD)?

 

This is tranny problems or clutch problems, but most likely tranny problems.