i have an 88 gtu manual and when the engine is at normal operating temp the shifter gets hot. i can still touch the the lever but its almost to the point were i think it is too hot. so is it time to change the tranny fluid

 

Normal...but if you can't remember or don't know the last time the tranny lube was changed, won't hurt to change it.

 

The rubber shift boot may be all falling apart like mine was, when I replaced that the temp came down. I also switched to a carbon fiber **** which won't really get hot anyway. Before that the **** was an aluminum ball. After driving a while, then letting it sit for a bit, like saying, going out to dinner then heading home, the **** would almost be painful to touch.

 

yeah! the cause isn't the old tranny fluid, it's the old and cracked rubber insulators...

go on www.mazdatrix.com, they have quite a good write up about it

 

Yeah, but how will you know that it's time to change your tranny fluid without checking the dip stick? Would the engine shift differently? For example, take a long time to switch into the next gear. I have an auto, and I'm just curious.

 

I also had this problem and checked the shifter boots. Found mine melted or falling apart. Replaced them with the mazdatrix boot kits and also did the short shfiter switchout. I have had no more heat problems in the passenger cabin.

I doubt if the tranny fluid is the cause of the heat problem but if you don't know when the tranny fluid was last changed you probably ought to change it. This can only help the car. Right

 

The factory service manual contains change/flush intervals for the automatic transmission. This is also covered in the owner's manual.

 

Oh, thank you.