Lucas MacMillan

Hi, I'm just looking for help with my 07 Mazda 3. I find it really hard to move from side to side in neutral, but no issues putting it into gear I talked to some at a transmission shop because I was thinking it might need a new shifting cable and he was thinking the same. I just wanted to know if anyone had this problem as well and fixed it thanks.

sp232007

Hi I have a 2007 manual SP23. Also finding it hard to select gears after about 15-20minutes of driving .Things I have done so far which haven't assist when the the car warms up .
- Cleaned & re-greased the gear selector cables
- Cleaned and re-greased the bush on the selector situated onto of gearbox.( have order and still waiting on a new rubber boot for this ).
- Checked the adjustment for the neutral select position .
- Changed the transmission fluid . Now using Castrol VMX-M ( still thinking of adding Nulon G70 ).
- Bleed the clutch fluid ( noticed that tiny air bubbles in fluid after continued flushing still present ).
- Added extra insulation over the selector cables where they run over the exhaust .

My thoughts are (1) maybe the clutch master cylinder ( due to air only in fluid but doesn't explain why changing gets harder when car warms up ).
(2) Maybe slave cylinder for same reasons as above.
(3) Perhaps clutch
(4) Perhaps the cables have been affected by heat as they run above the exhaust .

Any other thoughts or experiences ??

sp232007

Hi Lucas , did you ever get this sorted as I have a similar issue with selecting gears getting hard as the car warms up .