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Car Forum / Mazda / Mazda Miata / August 20082008 Miata - slipping out of 4th gear?
I have a brand spanking new 2008 Miata (only 90 miles on it when I got it last week!) with a 6 speed transmission. I have 600 miles on it now and noticed something strange and I don't know if it's me or the car. I generally shift around 2500-3000 rpm for faster acceleration and don't rev the engine more than 3100 - 3200. The last time I drove a manual was a '85 Isuzu Trooper with only 4 speeds so I'm relearning my shifting techniques. What happens is I'll be in 4th gear and all of a sudden the stick shift pops out into neutral. The first time it happened I was very surprised as this had never happened to me in a manual car before. I just put the clutch in and popped it back into 4th. The 2nd time it happened, I noticed that I was around 3K rpm. I tried revving higher in 4th thinking that maybe these newer manual transmissions were telling me I needed to get into the next gear, but I couldn't force it to pop out into neutral anywhere between 2000 - 3500 rpm in fourth gear. The 3rd time it happened, I noticed again that I was around 3000 rpm when it popped into neutral. Again tried revving higher but I couldn't duplicate it. Is this normal? Or do I have a defective 4th gear? It doesn't happen all the time, but the fact that it has happened 3 times in less than a week concerns me. I made sure my hand wasn't anywhere near it the last two times (so I know my hand isn't hitting the knob), the clutch was out (no foot on the clutch) in all 3 times, it's always happened when it's been a fairly straight road, not really accelerating to shift into 5th but just cruising along. It only has happened in the 4th gear, it hasn't occurred in any other gears. I guess my next step is to check with the dealer, as I'm sure it's covered under warranty. I would appreciate any ideas. Defective Transmission. At 600 miles, the dealer should replace the transmission (or the whole car) You should actually shift at a little higher RPM than 3000 or so. That's about when the engine starts to develop decent power. Miata engines are designed for higher RPM use than most american engines. >I have a brand spanking new 2008 Miata (only 90 miles on it when I got > it last week!) with a 6 speed transmission. I have 600 miles on it [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > I guess my next step is to check with the dealer, as I'm sure it's > covered under warranty. I would appreciate any ideas. Not normal at all. I suggest a trip to the dealer. The only problem I've heard with the 6 speed (2006-2008), is, a few have gotten stuck in 3rd gear caused by a defective casting of the 3rd gear shifting fork and the fork breaking. Jim 2006 GG MX-5 6MT >I have a brand spanking new 2008 Miata (only 90 miles on it when I got > it last week!) with a 6 speed transmission. I have 600 miles on it [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > I guess my next step is to check with the dealer, as I'm sure it's > covered under warranty. I would appreciate any ideas. Thank you both. I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing it was caught early and still under warranty. When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting 1/10th of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put your foot into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular thing and keep it planted up to / near redline for the real fun! You won't be able to get the smile off your face. Chris 99BBB > Thank you both. I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it > next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing > it was caught early and still under warranty. > When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not > getting 1/10th of the fun / performance out of your car shifting > at 3000. Put your foot into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular > thing and keep it planted up to / near redline for the real fun! > You won't be able to get the smile off your face. With an even bigger smile on the face of the guy behind you as he switches on the lights and siren and flexes his ticket writing fingers.....  SignatureXS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org Well, come on now, I didn't say how many gears you could run thru ;-) I much prefer being able to run the Miata thru the gears than dogging around a supercar that does 60 something in first and over 100 if you run second up. Where / how often can you use that? Ya, I'd take one but, I'd be in my Miata allot! Chris 99BBB > With an even bigger smile on the face of the guy behind you as he > switches on the lights and siren and flexes his ticket writing > fingers..... >Chris D'Agnolo" <cdagnolo@alltel.net> wrote in message >news:8718b$48977414$97d5b04f$30066@ALLTEL.NET... [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing >> it was caught early and still under warranty. I did this TWICE on the way to work this morning - the lid was down and I was the only car in sight. MAN does this car move. It was SO MUCH FUN!! Now I need to install a bunch of stuff to tighten up the whole body and take it to Austin for Lime Creek Road. Where DID I leave that check book... :-) If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive a supercharged or turbocharged Miata. My 99 (on a good day) will develop around 220 HP at the rear wheels. Stock was about 110HP. (And, there are those that have really gone to the "dark side" with around 300HP out of an NB engine.) I'm waiting to see if and when a similar mod is available for the NC versions. > >Chris D'Agnolo" <cdagnolo@alltel.net> wrote in message > >news:8718b$48977414$97d5b04f$30066@ALLTEL.NET... [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > take it to Austin for Lime Creek Road. Where DID I leave that check > book... :-) > If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive a > supercharged or turbocharged Miata. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I'm waiting to see if and when a similar mod is available for the NC > versions. Mixed feelings about all that additional power as well. I rapped my last Miata to redline constantly and it was fun, but it never really got that fast since it probably had about 140hp and weighed maybe 300 pounds more than my current one. If I apply the same type of behavior to my turbo miata that is set up similarly to your's, my license to drive will be gone soon, but there are places to open it up. :-) That "funner to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow", but I have to admit, the power is a rush. Over 200 HP for a car that is just over 2000 pounds is pretty quick, especially for one that still handles so well. Pat > If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive > a supercharged or turbocharged Miata. My stock 1.6 has all the power I want or need. If I wanted to go fast I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important than speed. SignatureXS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org Well, each to their own-- One thing I noticed as a big improvement was the way the cruise control works in the mountains. Helps reduce downshifting to go up grades. (At least I told my insurance company that the car was "modified for high altitude use in the mountains".) <G> There is no change in top speed, since the Miatas (1.8s anyway) are RPM limited to about 128 MPH. In theory my 99 will go (with enough road) just a bit faster than that, due to a small change in the 5th gear ratio. The change was made to reduce the "buzzing" at 70 MPH or so. Just reducing the engine RPM by a few hundred at 70-75 MPH gets it just low enough to make a noticeable improvement. (And, the turbocharged gas mileage on the road is virtually the same or very slightly better than stock mileage.) If I remember correctly, the 1/4 mile time is about 3 seconds faster than stock. With me in it, 1/2 tank of gas, and additional sound proofing, as well as the turbo stuff, the 99LE weighs in at 2600lbs. Corvettes and Vipers are just too big, heavy, and expensive! >> If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive >> a supercharged or turbocharged Miata. > > My stock 1.6 has all the power I want or need. If I wanted to go fast > I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important > than speed. Chuck, what did you do to change the 5th gear ratio? I'd LOVE to drop my top gear cruising rpm's by 1000! Help! Chris 99BBB(no FI here) > Well, each to their own-- > One thing I noticed as a big improvement was the way the cruise control [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >> I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important >> than speed. The only way I know to get a big change is to change the rear axle ratio. Ring and pinion ratios are available to about 3.6:1 instead of 4.1:1 (~) The stock NA & NBs may not do well with the 3.6 due to local driving conditions. (hills, etc.) To me the difference due to the axle ratio might be worth it in terms of fuel useage. It's not a cheap mod. Minor changes can be made if you have the 5 speed tranny. (Fifth gear ratio change, using gear sets originally for the RX 7s There is quite a bit of info in Miata.net about this. Originally, I had to tear down my 99s tranny to replace what turned out to be a cracked fifth gear syncro ring. This made the ratio change just a matter of putting in a new gear set, since I had to tear down to it anyway. I'd LOVE to drop my top gear cruising rpm's by 1000! > Chuck, what did you do to change the 5th gear ratio? I'd LOVE to drop my > top gear cruising rpm's by 1000! [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >>> I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important >>> than speed. Carol, you are my kind of girl / woman! There are some decent roads closer, you know. LCR is getting pretty built up and I'm getting where I feel pretty guilty tearing up and down major parts of it (rich folks building houses all along there). Oh well, we make the best of it, eh? Chris 99BBB > >Chris D'Agnolo" <cdagnolo@alltel.net> wrote in message > >news:8718b$48977414$97d5b04f$30066@ALLTEL.NET... [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > take it to Austin for Lime Creek Road. Where DID I leave that check > book... :-) Hey Chris - The last time I was on LCR it was in my sport suspension '04. This was about ... 6 months ago? Even then it was getting so full of rich people houses that I was a little worried about taking the blind 90 degree turns without really braking at all... didn't want to get creamed by a cement truck. That would have been ugly. That's by far been my favorite "close to home" road for a long time. My next favorite Texas road is down on the border ... Basically you airlift your mx-5 to the Rio Grande... no really... either Marfa on 67 down to Presidio and go left on 170 or from Alpine 118 down to Study Butte and take a right on 170. All that matters is that you get to 170. They say "nobody gets on 170 by mistake". It takes about 10 hours to get out there (without stopping to pee) but you want to leave about a week to be out there - because you'll be driving all the way back and forth on this road all day every day. This is the road they BUILT the MX-5 for. It's one of those that has signs on it that say "If your vehicle weighs more that 3,000 lbs, turn around now or pray and bring an extra set of brake pads". It makes LCR look like a bumper car track for toddlers. Just thinking about it makes my clutch foot itch. You say there are decent roads closer -- what's on your list -- even though I will name my first child FM170 -- it's too far for a day trip. -Carol > Carol, you are my kind of girl / woman! There are some decent roads > closer, you know. LCR is getting pretty built up and I'm getting where I [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] >> take it to Austin for Lime Creek Road. Where DID I leave that check >> book... :-) Well I got it back from the dealer after they had it for 3 days and they could NOT replicate the problem. They took it out every day and drove it around doing all kinds of things (accelerate, deaccerlerate, lugging, cruising, etc.) and nothing. They said that other than opening up the transmission (which they couldn't justify having not experienced the problem first hand and therefore unable to justify the "charge" to Mazda for the warranty work) they checked everything else related to the transmission. They called Mazda to see if any other Miata's reported a similar problem and there was no other reference to this issue. He said if it happens again, document what was happening and call him. Of course, it happened to me twice this morning driving in to work. It happened about 7 minutes after starting out so the engine was warm (about halfway between C and H), going about 40 mph on a flat at around 3200 rpm. I have been very deliberate about making sure the gears are in solid. It happened again in a couple of minutes. I have a stretch of road about 5 miles that I go about 40 mph on the way to work and this is where it has often happened (of course because I drive it so often at this speed in this gear). It has also happened to me on acceleration (at around 4000) but mostly while just cruising. I'm not much of an engine head so I don't understand a lot of the lingo, but they said the transmission is all internal and without being able to duplicate the problem themselves, they can't open the transmission to check inside because it would take too much labor and Mazda wouldn't reimburse them for it without justification for doing the work. I'm not sure how all that works internally, but I would think if a customer says there's a problem, they should make some effort to do a serious check into why it's happening. To me, this is a serious driving hazard. I searched the web and I could only find one other similar occurrence in a 2000 Protege - nothing on Miata's. My next step is to setup a camera in the car while I'm driving to give them visual proof that it's happening showing the dash and shifting. Any other ideas? Are they right about the transmission being "internal" and that they can't open and check it/replace it without experiencing the problem first hand? P.S. I took the advice here and opened my baby up a lot more and you all are right! I'm having so much more fun with it - love the power!!!! :-) > When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting 1/10th > of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put your foot [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing > > it was caught early and still under warranty. Now you're talking! Good luck with the tranny hopefully it'll stop doing it or it'll start doing it often enough that they won't have a problem experiencing it next time. Chris 99BBB P.S. I took the advice here and opened my baby up a lot more and you all are right! I'm having so much more fun with it - love the power!!!! :-) On Aug 4, 2:26 pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" <cdagn...@alltel.net> wrote: > When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting > 1/10th [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing > > it was caught early and still under warranty. I had an ongoing problem with a rattle in my 2004 Miata. Three times at the dealer. They couldn't replicate. Finally I made an appt and got the service guy to ride with me. I kept him out about 30 minutes before he figured out where the sound was coming from but when he heard it he knew - he was excited! He was saying "that's it isn't it! That's the rattle!! I had been right all along. Turned out that there is now a service bulletin out about this rattle problem. I my case I think he heard it because I was driving and his style or whatever of driving it was different than mine so he wouldn't go over the bumps at the speed I would, or whatever. Maybe you can get your service guy to ride around with you for a while with you driving and you can replicate the problem? Couldn't hurt. -Carol Well I got it back from the dealer after they had it for 3 days and they could NOT replicate the problem. They took it out every day and drove it around doing all kinds of things (accelerate, deaccerlerate, lugging, cruising, etc.) and nothing. They said that other than opening up the transmission (which they couldn't justify having not experienced the problem first hand and therefore unable to justify the "charge" to Mazda for the warranty work) they checked everything else related to the transmission. They called Mazda to see if any other Miata's reported a similar problem and there was no other reference to this issue. He said if it happens again, document what was happening and call him. Of course, it happened to me twice this morning driving in to work. It happened about 7 minutes after starting out so the engine was warm (about halfway between C and H), going about 40 mph on a flat at around 3200 rpm. I have been very deliberate about making sure the gears are in solid. It happened again in a couple of minutes. I have a stretch of road about 5 miles that I go about 40 mph on the way to work and this is where it has often happened (of course because I drive it so often at this speed in this gear). It has also happened to me on acceleration (at around 4000) but mostly while just cruising. I'm not much of an engine head so I don't understand a lot of the lingo, but they said the transmission is all internal and without being able to duplicate the problem themselves, they can't open the transmission to check inside because it would take too much labor and Mazda wouldn't reimburse them for it without justification for doing the work. I'm not sure how all that works internally, but I would think if a customer says there's a problem, they should make some effort to do a serious check into why it's happening. To me, this is a serious driving hazard. I searched the web and I could only find one other similar occurrence in a 2000 Protege - nothing on Miata's. My next step is to setup a camera in the car while I'm driving to give them visual proof that it's happening showing the dash and shifting. Any other ideas? Are they right about the transmission being "internal" and that they can't open and check it/replace it without experiencing the problem first hand? P.S. I took the advice here and opened my baby up a lot more and you all are right! I'm having so much more fun with it - love the power!!!! :-) On Aug 4, 2:26 pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" <cdagn...@alltel.net> wrote: > When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting > 1/10th [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing > > it was caught early and still under warranty. In order to prove to the service guys that it happens, I video taped it this morning - watch at 2:26. http://janinephotography.com/misc/Miata_4thGearPop_8-8-2008.avi (about 40 mb) Link to video of 4th gear popping out - it happens around 2:26 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgjA8Hqd5g >Link to video of 4th gear popping out - it happens around 2:26 > >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgjA8Hqd5g Yep, you have a problem...that should convince the techs. OzOne of the three twins I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace. >> Link to video of 4th gear popping out - it happens around 2:26 >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace. Yikes! Yes, that needs to be fixed immediately. Never seen that on a Miata before. Don't you love cameras? I sometimes take pictures as I take things apart while doing car and other repairs and reference them when re-assembling everything. It can make life a lot easier. I wish that I had my digital camera and computer over 20 years ago when I first started working on my cars. Pat > Link to video of 4th gear popping out - it happens around 2:26 > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgjA8Hqd5g I see no way to fix this with either duct tape or baling wire so you'll have to take it to the dealer where they have heavy duty duct tape! <G> It's definitely a bad tranny, don't put off fixing it. SignatureXS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org |
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