I've been wearing my hat/gloves and driving the summer only '97 around the past couple of days (need to fix that heat sometime). In doing so, I am refreshed on the difficulty I was having with shifting. Rough sliding in to the lower gears (1/2). Almost feels like non-synchro first - not bad when fully stopped, but anything else almost hurts!

Advice? Shift boots, fluids, other?

Thanks!
Bob Castle

You can try replacing your fluid and see if that helps any...but it sounds like you may have a synch problem...just my 2 cents.

Hi Bob.

Ed could be right. (first time for everything!!. )

As soon as I got both my Miatas, one of the first things I did was take them to Jim at LeMan's Mazda in Bloomington and had him replace the original tranny fluid with the Redline synthetic stuff. The '94 also had a leaking clutch slave so I also had that replaced. Getting into first gear unless completely stopped is pretty hard with either tranny, so I just don't do it very often, especially when cold. (I'll actually take off in 2nd gear in the '99 sometimes since 1st is geared so low.)

On the 5-speed, there is also a place in the turret below the shift boot that needs to be oiled, but I've never had that done yet.

Here's a link in Miata.net that discusses a similar issue... http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.ph ... fting+cold

You might do some searches on that site for some additional info. If you take your Miata to Jim, just tell him Len sent ya...

Hey now..... what does THAT mean???

May have to remind Jim to start checking in with us again, now that the weather is warming up... he would know more than any of us...especially me! (no comment Len!)

I just had my wife's car in on Wednesday for some new tires and an alignment, but I didn't see this in time to tell Jim. I'll try to stop by the dealer on my way home today and tell him to check in and provide his expertise. By the way, they have a nice 2010 red convertible, a blue PHRT GT, and silver PHRT GT on the lot right now. I think I like the silver one the best...

Hey Guys, sorry I have not been around much lately. Not much going on with Miata's this time of year. Len stopped in the other day and mentioned someone had a question concerning raking in their shifting. The 1st thing I would suggest doing would be to drain all fluid while retaining a good sample in a glass jar. you want to look for any metal or gold colored sparkles in the oil. If you do find any metal in the fluid, well there's your sign. You may want to remove the trans. and disasemble to find the cause. If you only find deteriated oil (as in no metalic look) I would try refilling the trans. with Redline MTL. I have cured numerous shift raking concerns just by doing this. I hope this helps. And now that its getting warmer out I will stop in to say hey more often.

P.S. Raking usually always occurs more when cold out. So if the raking is prevelant irregardless of temperature, you may for sure find metalic colored oil. Meaning you have a syncro concern.

Thanks for your help Jim... and welcome back!

Hope that helps you out RRCastle.

Thanks guys. I will try to drain and inspect this weekend. Recommended source for the Redline MTL in the Peoria area?

Bob Castle

Bob, not sure where to obtain Redline in Peoria. We carry it at the shop here in Bloomington. Good Luck, and hope its easily fixed.
Jim Kirkpatrick