well lately my tranny has been acting funny. i lost my reverse.. but it came back. but now on hard shifts from 2nd to 3rd it grinds. but on normal driving it works fine..

but the main thing is my shifter is very sloppy and has alot of play when in gear..
its not supposed to be like this.

what could be wrong with it??

im pretty sure this is the reason for such sloppy shifts and my tranny messing up.

 

I had a similar problem. Sometimes I'd have problems shifting into reverse and then one day lost reverse completely. Some bad shifts as you mentioned.... probably time for a rebuild.

 

Start by changing the shifter bushings and wave washers. Ray at Malloy will know which parts you need.

Unfortunately, the Mazda parts diagrams are sorta incorrect, so IMO Ray is the only solution.

Dave

 

will changing out the shifter solve anything ... such as one of the short throw kits?