Thoughts on the process? I'd like to hear from some people that have done it before and if it's a total nightmare or not. I've got a spare transmission to play with, I'd like to try it myself, but I want to know what I'm getting into before i rip apart my turbo transmission.

-Mike

 

I looked into it and I found that you need a lot of special tools and/or access to a hydraulic press to be able to remove the gears and bearing from the shafts. Whether or not its in the scope of a weekend mechanic depends on whether the mechanic has a limited amount of special tools like myself, or if he is John Force's crew chief.

 

its going to cost you more than a good rebuild just to obtain the proper tools to do it yourself. this is one of the few things best left to the pro's

 

i've been thinking about this and have a worn s5 transmission sitting around. any idea how much a rebuild would cost?

 

its complex, theres a lot of little parts and you have to know what to looks for. the na trannies are an easy tranny to lean on though

 

I was thinking about doing it my self too but i haven't got to getting a spare tranny yet. Any ways you could call the mazdatrix guys to see what you might need, and they are pretty friendly people.

 

Yuo can usually find trannys for cheaper than a rebuild! Used ones... but if yours is in major need of one, I'd bet a good condition used one is much better.

 

I've bought a total of 3 transmissions for my car and they have all been clunky. None of them shift right.

Question: Are s5 transmission just smoother all-round then s4? and can s5 gearboxes be swapped into an s4 bell housing?

I've noticed they are usually much smoother and spongy feeling then s4.

 

S5 tranny doesn't need an S4 Bellhousing. Its a straight swap. Only time you need to swap tranny parts is if you take a 1st gen tranny and put it in a second gen car. Then you need to take the 2nd gen tail housing off and put it on the 1st gen tranny so the stick will reach the hole in the floor on the second gen car.

 

my s5 tranny is the definition of clunky. my girlfriend had trouble getting it to shift gears because it took so much force.

 

I agree with above. with all the special tools needed, it'll be more cost effective to have someone do the job. I've had the trans "rebuilt" twice in my '89TII. First time the Mazda dealer under warranty $1160 (Pulled trans and rebuilt). Second time when I was having an engine installed at KD $475. Syncros and a couple bearings.
Easier to pull and take to have rebuilt.

 

You will need a big box end wrench for a nut (maybe 1-1/8"?) on the end of the countershaft.
I fab'd a puller with cut & drilled 1/4"x2" bar stock & some long threaded rods & nuts.

 

You guys with trouble with your trannies, I would recommend looking into some redline MT90 tranny fluid. I thought I needed to have my tranny rebuilt last summer, because I was under the impression that my 2nd gear synchro was toast. But, I figured it would be cheaper to try a new tranny fluid first.
So, I put in redline fluid and after driving for 500 miles, my tranny is smooth again!

 

Yup. You don't need all that many fancy tools. A standard 3 jaw puller with some barstock added to make the jaws super long and a huge box end wrench are the only tools I need to add to my collection. Rebuilding the Rx-7 trans was much easier than rebuilding a Nissan maxima trans.

Rebuilding the trans was the best repair I have ever done to my car. Just be careful and don't be in a hurry.

 

So a wrench for the nut on the coutershaft and a jaw puller (same as gear puller)? You said a standard 3. Is that 3 inches or do they measure them by some other system?

 

The S5 is a straight swap, but a bit stronger. You can buy stronger gears and syncros to make it that much better.
But since you don't have any experience with this, I recomend you send your tranny to a builder that can beef it up for you. It will be a little more than a standard rebuild, but cheeper than a new one from Mazda that will have the same problems later on.
If you change the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate, you can fit a TII tranny which is considerably stronger for an n/a.
If you decide to do it your self, you can rent some of the tools you need, borrow some of the others, and the ones that you can use for other projects, you should purchace.
good luck.

 

sorry to dig it back up but anyone know the normal price range to rebuild one ?

 

sorry to dig this back up
but anyone have an idea what would a normal tranny rebuild cost ?

 

Parts and labor can take you to $500+ easily.

 

I was quoted 800 by a shop here in Fort Walton beach florida. This included all parts and labor ( new syncros) as well as removing the transmission and reinstall it.

 

I have a 88 TII tranny which I had a friend of mine rebuild (30+ years with Mazda). All he wanted was new bearings, but I went and bought all new bearings and Syncros which cost me appx $350 (if I remb right) ... he did not charge me, but took him awhile in his spare time.. he has since passed away ... if it were me I would go to Pineapple Racing ... his web page has a rebuild for $495 which seems pretty fair ...

 

holy
i thought it was gonna be like around 300 some bucks
um... i'll just leave my Tii tranny alone while it looks fine ...

 

495 seems low, is that just a labor charge? or is that labor and parts?

 

I have just finished a rebuild. It is actually not that hard. The trick of course is to know all the 'tricks'. For reference, I recommend that you visit miata.net. Somewhere in there in an article about rebuilding the tranny. The Miata Tranny is basically the same as the S5 unit, except for the tail and nose pieces and some gear ratios.

I also recommend that you at least look at, if not purchase, the book called "Mazda Miata MX5 Enthusiast's Shop Manual" by Rod Grainger. They have an entire chapter on rebuilding a tranny with ~15 pictures PER page! It shows a lot of the 'tricks'.

The key thing is to keep everything organized. Parts that look similar may not be, so keep them in order (Use an old broom stick to slide gears and other parts on to when you remove them from the shaft).

Of course, I should point out that I also had access to a bench press, which made things easier. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm still having a problem with the tranny that I'm trying to work out:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=278939

And one last peice of advice... check out Mazdaformance.com to get your bearings. I saved 45% going through them than my local dealer. It is incredable what the markup can be on parts.

 

Tried looking for the book Mazda Miata MX5 Enthusiast's Shop Manual on Amazon and it seems to be out of print.

I did find this book: Mazda Miata 1.8 Liter Enthusiast Shop Manual

Is it the same one?