well, I just got the call from the dealership the transmission is trashed and the clutch is shot also. All going to be replaced under warranty.

They were very happy to do this and they said the have to box up the trans untouched and send it to the main office so they can do a study on it, how odd.

 

How many miles?

 

The car has exactly 21, 288 on it when broke.

I was racing a guy and was shifting hard @ redline. BTW I did win!

I didn't notice any problems until I went into 2nd fro 4th when coming home. It would go into gear. it was stuck in either 4th or fifth, not sure. I shut the car and started it back up and I put it in neutral and the clutch when I let it out, stalled the engine out.

With the clutch in I could hear the and fell the shifter chnaging gears, but it wasn't I could get it into reverse, but wasn't.

It actually shifted fine. But wasn't. I tried to redline and feather the clutch to get it to roll, but the gear it was stuck in, was either to high, or the trans was blown, which is what Mazda just told me.

I thought the shifting rods came off or something, but it wasn't the case.

 

It sure does sound like you forked up your shifter

Sorry to hear about that, but I'm glad Mazda is taking care of it.

 

This freaks me out. This is something that would happen to me. Glad to hear your **** is getting fixed though.

 

Well maybe its just me, but come on. I would think Mazda would've put something a bit stronger in the MP3 if this is the case with so many MP3 tranny problems.

I mean, you've got this hot blue/yellow car with awesome bodykit, rims, tires and suspension that begs to be driven hard. And then they throw in a short shifter that just looks at you and says "I am to be shifted faster", but they keep the stock shift fork. Was it not obvious to them that this car would be driven harder than the rest? It is to me... Bit I could be wrong. I've been wrong a few times in my life

Just my 2 cents.

 

According to Mazda they said the shifting forks are fine, they checked them and they said the transmission was shot, but couldn't give me exact data, as they have to box the trans up and send it to the main dealership untouched.

 

I think Jesse is referring to HARD shifting, not FAST shifting. Do NOT confuse the two.

Many drivers seem to think that you have to grab the shifter with their fist and slam it with a BANG! into each gear in order to shift quickly. I've driven with MANY people who drive like this, and it makes me cringe every time. This type of shifting helps you break trannies, but it doesn't help you shift faster. OK, maybe it helps if you're driving a 1968 Camaro with a Muncie "rock crusher" 4-speed, but not in a Protege

The key to quick shifting is SMOOTHNESS, not arm power The key to a good, quick shift is to do it with a quick, smooth flick of the wrist. It should NOT be done by yanking on the shifter with your whole arm. A good tip that was taught to me a long time ago is to extend your index and middle fingers and try shifting with your fingertips. This will force you to shift gently, and you will be suprised how quick you can shift after you practice for a while.

I am personally convinced that the MP3 tranny problem is largely related to driver abuse. I will be the first to admit that our trannies are not the strongest in the world, but I can assure you that they are not the weakest either

BTW I don't mean to overgeneralize and assume that you shift like this. If you don't, maybe there is some sort of problem. I'm just commenting on my own suspicion

 

Remember how shifts sounded in Fast and Furious? Like somebody was banging hammer against sheet of steel. I was wondering "Gee, you can just rip shifter out with such force"
carguycw is 120 % right-fast shifting is not hard shifting. I have short shifter at lowest setting, 25000km and I regularly redline it and beat it at the track. I shift with wrist movemet, not shoulder and NEVER even grinded it.
Alex

 

Well then that makes sense. I guess I assumed "slamming it into gear" meant shifting quicker than normal. Well that probably explains why I haven't had any problems either. When I drive hard, I shift quick, but with finesse. Thanks for the replies guys.

Chris

 

I see all the points that have been posted here, but I assure you, I was not slammin the shifter into the gate.

Trust me I drag race every week for the past 10 years and this was not what had happened.

I guess I just didn't explain it correctly, because I really don't know what is wrong with the car other than the shifting forks are fine, or I would have my car back by now, if it was only the forks.

Mazda said at least another 6 days minimum before I can get the car back.

Today they said on the phone the transmission had locked the gear in and wasn't releasing it. I don't know too much about our transmissions or how they operate, but it sounds real I guess.

BTW 21,288 miles of slammin gears, would have given a broken or bent fork many many miles ago. I have raced the MP3 at least 20 times in the past year at the tracks around my area.

 

What about clutch release? Do you let it slide a bit or just drop it?
Also-was it with stock or aftermarket clutch?What kind of fluid do you use?
No matter what, it's not a first report of broken transmissions in 3 rd gen and I want to get to the reason. It could be that there's defect which is causing failure under certain conditions and if we find them out we might avoid it in the future.
It also possible that clutch was let go just a fraction of a second earler.
Work with us, nick!
Alex

 

Clutch doesn't, but how you RELEASE it with your LEFT foot does.
Imagine hitting you in the head with a brick, or slowly placing brick on your head. In either case device placing brick on your head(clutch) will be intact and nothing bad will happen to a brick, but your head will look differently. Same would be for dumping clutch at 6500 rpm or letting it slip just a bit to absorb some of the shock.

Alex

 

SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME BUDDY, CAR STUCK IN GEAR, you bent/broke shift fork, WAY TO GO!!!!!!

itll all be ok in a couple days though

 

Hmm....

More problems....



I concur with this statement...
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