Easing up a Mazda shifter?

I've been wondering about the feel of my shifter on the 2002 Protege5. Since I bought it (from a guy who took very good care of his cars, reciepts for every oil change, tire rotation, added parts etc., etc.) the shifter is stiffer than I'm used to.

It happens in every gear, even reverse and doesn't get better after warm up or miles driven. I know it has a bronze shifter bushing and I have the trans-end bushing to go in yet.

Clutch feels almost new and is as tight as I'd expect at the just-over-100kmi mark.

Any ideas? Is this a Mazda thing? Hell my Ranger with a Mazda 5spd shifted easier. I feel that I need to pull too hard to select gears.

I'm not sure if those are cable or linkage, but have you tried lubricating whichever is appropriate, checking for bind, etc?

Another option is to install a taller shift knob. That will give you more leverage over the linkage and effectively reduce the shifter effort.

It's easy to get the shift lingage too-tight, or bungle the shift lever installation so that a critical O-ring gets wedged between the bushing and the housing.

Mazdas always had floppy, useless-feeling shifters compared to their Ford versions, but the Fords weren't ever "stiff", just not Japanesey pre-worn-out feeling. Which is weird, because it was the same linkage design and often the same drivetrain.

Getting under it really should've been my first move before I posted this. I'll look at the things mentioned.

The weather has been so bad up here I just figured I throw it out to you guys to see if there was a trend with these shifters until I can get it up on ramps.

Thanks for the replies so far guys!

Do you know what sort of transmission fluid you have in there? I know replacing the factory fill with Motul in my old Mazdaspeed3 helped smooth things out quite a bit. Solid shifter bushings and a stiffer rear motor mount helped remove much of the sloppiness Knurled mentioned. The MS3 has very soft motor mounts and IIRC, so does the Protege.

I don't know what type of fluid is in it... Wouldn't surprise me if it was Royal Purple seeing the type of maintainance it was given but no, not sure.

It's stiff to the point of my Angus Burger-greased-up-hand slipping off the shifter while pulling it into 2nd.

Not driving while gorging, I just had no napkins!

If you can't find a receipt or records telling you what fluid was used and when it was last changed, I would start by filling the transmission with new fluid just to get a baseline. I found Motul to be the best in my Mazdaspeed3's gearbox. It was buttery-smooth even when cold and it has a low freeze point, so it warms up quickly even in 20F degree weather. HMS Motorsport in Danvers, MA carries it. I've used Redline in my RX-7s and it works great too, and I'm sure Amsoil is good.

I've heard RP is tough on the synchros in the MS3. Dunno if that holds true for the Protege.

I'll look and see if there's reciepts for the trans fluid and keep your idea in mind. Would be a good just-in-case maintainance job for me. Thanks!

Could it have a short shifter installed? They typically increase shift effort.

Honestly, my Protege5 is floppy as all get out, so yours (or mine, really) is out of whack.

Except for reverse. I think my reverse synchro is on the way out...

Josh wrote: Could it have a short shifter installed? They typically increase shift effort.

While I don't know (I'll Google it now) how tall the stock shifter is, I suspect that it does have a short shifter... I know you guys can't feel it yourselves but... Well let's just say, if it is a short shifter, the decreased leverage (or increased effort) it causes isn't worth it .

Never had a problem with floppiness (the shifter anyways)! That quality seems fine.

Looking through reciepts, I see "shifter/shifter bushings $200.00... Ooops, just found it, B&M Precision Short Shifter.... hmmmmmm. Now what?

Install used stock shift lever, ebay the B&M for a few bucks? Sounds like a win to me!

Everybody says the B&Ms for E36 BMWs suck and make the shift effort awful. Haven't had any experience with their other shifters.

Josh wrote: Install used stock shift lever, ebay the B&M for a few bucks? Sounds like a win to me!

I like the way you think! I'm gonna try to eliminate the other possiblities then if that doesn't affect it, I'll swap shifters.

Knurled wrote: It's easy to get the shift lingage too-tight, or bungle the shift lever installation so that a critical O-ring gets wedged between the bushing and the housing. Mazdas always had floppy, useless-feeling shifters compared to their Ford versions, but the Fords weren't ever "stiff", just not Japanesey pre-worn-out feeling. Which is weird, because it was the same linkage design and often the same drivetrain.

I'm not sure what Mazda's you have driven, but my Mazda shifters have always been some of the best I have ever used. Maybe it is an old vs new thing as mine are all 70's vintage. But then again in my friends Miata that shifter is just sublime, and not all that different in design to the setup on my Mazda's.

If its anything like the B&M I run in the camaro that could very well be your problem. Very stiff springs in the aftermarket shifter, makes the stock one feel like shifting through jell-o.

Nitroracer wrote: If its anything like the B&M I run in the camaro that could very well be your problem. Very stiff springs in the aftermarket shifter, makes the stock one feel like shifting through jell-o.

Are those springs swappable that you know of? I need to look at my installation manual to get an idea how it's all put together.

Thanks!

The shifter for your transmission is probably a different design than the one I have, but in my case I don't think they could be swapped out.

ebonyandivory wrote: Looking through reciepts, I see "shifter/shifter bushings $200.00... Ooops, just found it, B&M Precision Short Shifter.... hmmmmmm. Now what?

A friend of mine had a ZX2 that he'd installed that shifter.

THAT is where we ran into the problem. The shifter and main bushing install as a cassette into the car. I forget if it goes directly into the chassis or if it installs into a reaction rod. But anyway, there is an O-ring on the bottom of the cassette. When he installed the shifter, the O-ring got misplaced out of its groove and wedged itself between the aluminum body of the unit and the bore in the car. Result: Extremely stiff shifter.

Reorienting the O-ring (I think he threw it out, actually) made the shift feel much better. It wasn't significantly stiffer than a stock shifter.

A hint is, if it's easy to move through the gate but hard to engage the gears, it's a transmission problem. If it's difficult to move the lever at all, even side to side or pulling it out of gear, it's a linkage problem.

rpyal purple is imo a nono in all mazda gearboxes. very hard on the syncro's. i had issues in my egt with it and had same issues in my 6 both needed transmission rebuilds because the syncros got so bad at low miles (less than 60k) now i stick to redline another 100k in the egt without rebuild and still buttery smooth and 6 is at 90k without anyloss of smoothness.

Mazdax605 wrote: I'm not sure what Mazda's you have driven, but my Mazda shifters have always been some of the best I have ever used. Maybe it is an old vs new thing as mine are all 70's vintage. But then again in my friends Miata that shifter is just sublime, and not all that different in design to the setup on my Mazda's.

Front drive cars. You know, cars with shift linkage, not a stick sticking straight out of the transmission with a direct connection to the shift forks.

(Yes, yes, I know about basically every domestic transmission made before the 80s - Mazda didn't make any transmissions with an Erector Set hanging off the side )