Hey All -
I posted this on another Mazda site. Lots of looks, but all I heard back was crickets...
My stepdaughter has a 2001 ES with 175k miles on it. A month or two ago, it started randomly popping out of 3rd gear. I did some searching around, and found that it could be the rear motor mount. Sure enough, the rear was toast, so I replaced that and the front one.
It kept doing it...
So I replaced the OEM shifter bushings on the transmission end. The ones on the shifter end looked good, and actually not even the black plastic, but maybe a poly type. Kind of green. Anywho....Still popping out.
I had a look at the LH & RH mounts. The RH was replaced when the timing belt was done by the PO. Looks pretty new and fine. The LH side looks OK from what I can see, but can't be sure unless I take it out.
Here's the scenario when it usually pulls this:
- Rolling through a slow sweeping turn (either direction)
- Possibly shifting a little early.
- Either in the curve/turn, or not long after that, while still in 3rd.
- When it doesn't do it, you have to pull pretty hard to make the shifter pop out of 3rd.
Most people immediately assume it's internal in the tranny. If it were, it should be doing it just about every time. It's infrequent, and hard to pin down and make it do it. I just refuse to believe that a Mazda with less than 200k miles has suddenly had an intenal problem in the tranny at 175k miles.
The only things left other than internal would be the LH side mount, the fluid, and adjusting the clutch.
I've heard the fluid level can affect this, but it doesn't look like it's lost any.
The mount is a maybe, but can't be sure, as I can't get a good look at the existing one.
On the clutch, the pedal does seem to grab in an odd spot. Maybe it's worn to a point that in certain situations, it's not getting in gear all the way, and allowing it to pop out?
When it doesn't do this, I actually have to apply quite a bit of force to physically pull the shifter out of third without depressing the clutch.
Should I just go ahead and replace the LH side mount? I don't mind, but kind of tired of guessing here, especially if that doesn't fix it. I don't know what else it could be if it's not that. It seems that the engine is moving one way or another and causing it to pull it out of gear.
I'm at a roadblock on this. A new, or even used transmission is probably more than the car is worth, and hoping to get this one to last at least until she graduates college in December 2017.
Thanks in advance.
J
I posted this on another Mazda site. Lots of looks, but all I heard back was crickets...
My stepdaughter has a 2001 ES with 175k miles on it. A month or two ago, it started randomly popping out of 3rd gear. I did some searching around, and found that it could be the rear motor mount. Sure enough, the rear was toast, so I replaced that and the front one.
It kept doing it...
So I replaced the OEM shifter bushings on the transmission end. The ones on the shifter end looked good, and actually not even the black plastic, but maybe a poly type. Kind of green. Anywho....Still popping out.
I had a look at the LH & RH mounts. The RH was replaced when the timing belt was done by the PO. Looks pretty new and fine. The LH side looks OK from what I can see, but can't be sure unless I take it out.
Here's the scenario when it usually pulls this:
- Rolling through a slow sweeping turn (either direction)
- Possibly shifting a little early.
- Either in the curve/turn, or not long after that, while still in 3rd.
- When it doesn't do it, you have to pull pretty hard to make the shifter pop out of 3rd.
Most people immediately assume it's internal in the tranny. If it were, it should be doing it just about every time. It's infrequent, and hard to pin down and make it do it. I just refuse to believe that a Mazda with less than 200k miles has suddenly had an intenal problem in the tranny at 175k miles.
The only things left other than internal would be the LH side mount, the fluid, and adjusting the clutch.
I've heard the fluid level can affect this, but it doesn't look like it's lost any.
The mount is a maybe, but can't be sure, as I can't get a good look at the existing one.
On the clutch, the pedal does seem to grab in an odd spot. Maybe it's worn to a point that in certain situations, it's not getting in gear all the way, and allowing it to pop out?
When it doesn't do this, I actually have to apply quite a bit of force to physically pull the shifter out of third without depressing the clutch.
Should I just go ahead and replace the LH side mount? I don't mind, but kind of tired of guessing here, especially if that doesn't fix it. I don't know what else it could be if it's not that. It seems that the engine is moving one way or another and causing it to pull it out of gear.
I'm at a roadblock on this. A new, or even used transmission is probably more than the car is worth, and hoping to get this one to last at least until she graduates college in December 2017.
Thanks in advance.
J
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