is the shifter supposed to be THIS notchy? it takes a little force to put it into gear (not that much force)...but it feels like im hitting a wall or something.

what can remedy this?

oh yeah, i ahve a mazdatrix short shifter in.

 

I double clutch when I downshift, so the shifter moves between gears as smooth as silk. The only problem I have with upshifting is second gear, which is more notchy than it should be. I'd say my syncros are a bit old, 155k miles is a lot for a part that was designed to be replaced every so often.

 

Mine is hella hard to shift, i know my bushings are shot. Today I looked under the boot OMG it was full of gear oil is something else wrong? Does the short shifter help with shifting at all?

 

The RX-7 is one of the hardest/notchiest transmissions ive ever felt in my life.

 

Ever driven the 88-93 style Cavalier Z24 (or Sunbird equivalent)... the V6 cars.
Fieros have the same tranny/engine.

DEFINITELY the notchiest shifter and transmission I've ever used.. nothing even comes close to being as bad as them!!

 

My 84 fiero (RIP) had the hardest shifting tranny I've ever seen. 2.5L I-4 I was expecting to wake up lopsided one day from the additional strength needed to shift that car.

Drunk ******* coward ran a red light and kept going. 3 people caught his plates and we found him (a 43 yr old pharmacist) at his mothers house hiding from the cops. Took 2 years of physical therapy to get me close to normal. Still have the bad back and hernaited disc from it 9 years later.

He was "in a hurry."

 

You guys are talking about 12+ year old sports cars. If nothing else the transmission isn't going to feel the greatest because they're old and have a lot of miles on them... then don't forget how long ago they were designed.

Try some Redline transmission fluid, and if that doesn't help enough consider getting your transmission rebuilt with fresh syncros. The FC gearbox should feel notchy, but it shouldn't be overly difficult to shift. Maybe I've got the FC *wonderbox*, but I love the way it feels and shifts. I've gotten so sensitive to it that I can feel the syncros meshing and gears their thing through the shifter.

 

My tranny shifts like it's made of butter except when it is very cold outside. And there is supposed to be gear oil under the shift lever.

 

I just replaced my transmission with one that was rebuilt ~10k miles ago, fresh redline in the tranny/differential, mazdatrix shortshifter and mobil 1 synthetic in the shifter ball joint (yes this should be filled up just past the cup where the ball of the shifter rests.

This should help it a little, if not fill that tranny up with some redline. make sure all your bushings are fresh and replace the rubber boots around the shifter (46 bucks at mazdatrix). It feels notchy, but with a little bit of force you should be able to hit the next gear. If your grinding while shifting, you need to shift slower, These transmissions are not made to shift fast (imho anyway) example: I can take off hard in first, go up to about 5.5 grand, shift smoothly, break the rear end loose, take it up to 6 grand, shift, and chirp the rear end, all without grinding or forcing the shifter into the next gear.

Shifting at high RPM is gonna take more time for the synchos to mesh with the next gear, Adding to the "notchiness" of the tranny.

(s4 N/A tranny 88GTU)

 

i have failing synchros on the 1st 3 gears and redline really helped. no more cold shift problems either.

 

I've also got redline in my tranny, but the extreme cold (20°F) stills causes some notchy shifting. After about 10 shifts it seems to loosen up though.

 

Ill reitterate my answer It is the hardest pressure driven transmission to shift... The fiero is probally the hardest cable driven transmission to shift.

 

My trans shifts ok with 55K on it. Except shifting down to first, that takes a bit of effort. oh, and theres a LOT of play in the shifer for some reason. I replaced all the bushings and theres still about 2 inches of play in the lever when in gear.

anyone know about converting a trans to a semi- or full crashbox for clutchless shifting for racing?

 

There is another small bushing on the internal shift rod, where the ball nosed tip of the shift lever goes in.
I fitted mine with a collar made from .090" aluminum.

 

i've got the mazdatrix short shifter and it definately got notchier when i switched. sometimes it shifts smoothly, but most of the time it's notchy.

john