Ok...Car wont go into gear when turned on.
Goes into all gears fine when its off.
Thought it may be the slave cylinder so we replaced it...Wasnt the slave

Now think its either the throwout bearing or pressure plate. But some mazda tech guy says it might be the pilot bearing?? What the hells the pilot bearing got to do with the car not going into gear?? Please enlighten me

 

i don't know for sure, but this happened to me when i shattered my clutch plate, it would go into gears when the car was off, but not when on, and if i put it in gear and cranked it (wouldn't start up) it would slowly inch forward, so it might be your clutch plate or pressure plate

 

Just put the last mounting bolt back in for the tranny last night. My throw-out and pilot were both wasted (tons of slop and contamination from a bad rear oil seal - replaced that too), but it still went into gear. Not sure if I was lucky that it went in or not? Seems like it might be your pressure plate. My clutch was OK shape, but still not good.

If you are going to go to the trouble of replacing one (throw out or pilot), I would replace both. I would also replace the clutch, resurface the flywheel (if needed), etc.

 

bent clutch fork??
happend to me, but i couldnt really push the clutch down 2 good..

time to drop tranny and look arround

 

If you put the car in first and crank it, it will start.

 

I had the same problem Adam, and Mine was the pilot bearing. You could turn the car off and the gears would work fine but then when the car was on it was very hard to get into first and once I got it into 1st it was like the clutch was starting to engage itself, very weird. Definitly soiunds like the pilot bearing. A very small part but can cause a lot of stress. AND you have to drop the tranny to get to it..............oh well. If you dont have an aftermarket clutch nows a good time, and make sure the throw-out bearing is in good shape, but I would recommend changing it if its got a lot of miles on the original. ALWAYS think ahead and you wont be sorry.

 

Same problem here too. My cause was the fork. You can see if it is broken by taking off the small panel on the bell housing and looking in.. No matter the cause you will need to drop the tans though.