Is there anything connecting the shifter to the transmission, or does it just slide into place and the bushings keep it secured down. The movement in the shifter was still present after replacing the bushings. So I wobbled it some more and made a new discovery...the movement is like the see-saw effect. Both ends, shift **** and joint with the tranny move while the center point stays solid in place.

Fixable?

 

It just pops into place and is held down by the 3 10mm bolts.

I am confused on the see-saw thing. I thought the shifter needed to see-saw to shift.

 

There is supposed to be a spring down in the socket where the ball end of the shifter sits into the tranny.. this spring keeps the shifter in the 1-2 slot when the shifter is in neutral. When you let go fo the shifter when in neutral it should stay in this position.. if it flops around really easy, that spring is missing or broken.

That see-saw motion is how the fulcrum operates.... when you push the shifter to the right, the ball end in the tranny is actually moving to the left. But the big ball in the middle of the shifter is where it pivots and that should be held in place by the mounting rings and bushings....

 

Here is what's inside:

 

i think the "bushing overlooked" is my problem because in that space where the ball sits it wobbles around...up down left and right....i didn't notice mazdatrix carrying a replacement bushing for down there or the replacement springs because the shifter swings back to the center, when pushed to the right but when pushed to the left it just stays there itself

 

its been already covered recently, there isn`t this bushing in FC transmission

 

so i have to live with the movement? comes wobbly like this from the factory?

 

nope, check FC FSM for parts which are supposed to be there.....picture here is from first gen manual

 

ok, thanks

 

yeah, weird. I just replaced my bushings, top and bottom, from mazdatrix, and it's solid as anything now. If yours is still loose, perhaps the actual shifter is having issues? (as in, one of the two ***** is worn down)

 

FSM calls them the "change lever bush set"...which is what you were talking about JGard...no other mentioning of something that would hold the bottom shifer ball in place

 

That "overlooked" bushing was destroyed in my old NA, so I hand made one from a CPVC plumbing fitting.
I found a fitting that fit the ball on the end of the lever, then filed the OD to fit in the selector rod pocket.

 

how is it working for you now?...cause if i can't find any other solution i'd like to try your idea

 

if your shifter moves up and down then you either didn't replace both upper and lower bushings, or didn't install one or both springs(each bushing has it's own spring). the shifter is supposed to flop from center to left, but has a return spring to center the shifter from the right.

 

Video demonstration

 

i went to a mazda dealer and they had the bushing and spring in stock. like $6

 

Whoda thunk it!

Ok Ok - I confess. I have actually purchased parts from a Mazda dealer.

 

whoa whoa...mazda has the "bushing over looked"?

also by looking at the fsm the spring that returns it to the from the left to the center...the one i think your talking about, can not be installed w/o dropping the tranny?

 

I'd try it from the top first.
Use a short box end wrench to reach under & remove the cap plate.

 

oh ok, well i went to the mazda dealership and they had no idea about the "bushing overlooked"

i know its such a small detail but its the detail that bother me and make the driving less enjoyable

for example

the pinging on the dp...which sounds like an exhaust leak
crusty steering wheel
loose tranny mount
wobbly shifter
etc

 

that "bushing overlooked" was only on the FB (79-85) RX-7. You don't have it, so don't worry.

 

ok, but i still gotta worry until it stops wobbling around...bugs the hell out of me

thanks for helping guys

 

it's gonna wobble from left to center, get over it.

 

^what was the point of that?...sure isn't technical, maybe sarcastic?

if you take the time and read youd know the little things bug me, and that is why i am asking