Miata shifter isue

[Mario944]

hi guys. My 94 Miata is starting to shift harder. It is sometimes dificult to find 3rd gear, and it makes a loud click when put into 4th gear.
I think the trans. is ok, just seems like the linkage is not working right. I removed the consol and boot from the shifter and also removed the 3 bolts that hold the shift lever in place. The car has 177K miles on it. Is the nylon bushing on the shifter ball just worn or is there some other issue going on?
There is plenty of oil on the top of the trans. ?????
MB

[MiataSteve]

My car had those issues. I found changing the tranny fluid to a good oil like Red Line MTL and flushing the clutch with fresh brake fluid greatly reduced the issue.

[6PAK72]

perhaps I am the bearer of bad news. Our 91 exhibited similar symptoms and I lost the trans in the bowl at NH. 67k miles.

Jeff Wasilko had a similar failure at Tremblant with similar symptoms.

Good news is that you can find used Miata transmissions all over the place. Ours had 34k on it and I paid $200.

good luck.

[paultg]

You can try to rebuild the shifter:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/printthread.php?t=329664
http://www.planet-miata.com/blog/?p=198

[CP]

It's probably the synchros; 3rd gear is always the beginning. I've got 3 transmissions in my garage ready for rebuilds. Time to start budgeting for another one. The going rate is around $600 used. Leos Kubec at Expoline Auto in Derry, NH may have one ready to go.

[paultg]

http://www.planet-miata.com/index.php?s ... em&idn=209

^ that might be a good option if you do have to replace yours. I know the trans in my 91 is hard to get into 3rd sometimes, especially at Nhms up the hill out of 3 into 5, I ended up in 5th gear few times.

I purchased a 2001 5-speed with 70k miles for $450 shipped via the-parts-group. I find the online vendors a bit cheaper than expoline on most items but Leos has really low mileage stuff and has also helped me out more than a few times.

Paul G.