Hi, I’ve just bought a Mazda6 2.3 Sport; it’s on an O2 52 Plate with 23,500 miles. I was searching the web to see if I could find some more information and if possible a forum where I could post questions if I had any and found this forum.

One thing that I have noticed with the car is that when changing gear it doesn’t always feel smooth. At low rpm it feels better with the exception of 5th. The higher the rpm the more difficult or clunky the shift feels.
I’m no expert but it feels like the syncros are working properly. I have tried depressing the clutch fully to the point of compressing the carpet, and this makes no difference. Down shifting is the same.

I would be most grateful if someone could either put my mind at rest and confirm that this is usual with this car or alternatively if it is a known fault then I can get it fixed under warranty, any help or advice would be gratefully received, thanks.

 

I haven't had the same issues with my 6s. You might try switching to Redline Synthetic transmission fluid. It made a night and day difference in our Miata's 6-speed. If that doesn't smooth out the shifts, then I'd take it to the dealer although I'm not sure what they would tell you.

 

The 6 has a high clutch point. The closer you can get to pushing the clutch just beyond the catch point the smoother the shift will be. You don't want to push all the way to the carpet as your return will just make it more difficult to not slap the tranny into gear. Also try to make your shift points at lower RPM if your looking to conserve gas and not go too hard on your tranny.

D to the B

 

Thanks for your help and tips. I managed to get a Workshop Manaul from ebay it should come through in the next couple of days. I'll have a look through and see if its mentioned in there at all. If this doesn't shed any light then I'll take the car back to the dealer and take out a couple of other 6's to see what the gearboxs on these are like. Don't have a benchmark at the moment that I can use for comparison. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

I took my 6 in for service today, I need to have the single CD player replaced. Anyhow, they did a computer reprogram under a recall and one of the things the reprogram was intended to do was to make the 1-2 shift smoother as well as tweak the 2-3 shift. It is supposed to be a DOT required upgrade but I could feel the difference as soon as I drove it off the lot. You might want to see if your vehicle is covered under the recall and have them re-program the computers.

I have a 2.3 with the 5 speed.[&:]

 

Please bear with me as I try to convey my point .... that is easier said than done

I can speak only for myself in that my stick does feel kinda' notchy (but not in the classical sense rubbery - but more stiffy) and you can hear the stick movements (a la Ferrari style but without the metal clunk of the gate lol - though not a la grinding the gears) ..... the stick shifting has slight (I mean very slight) difficulty recieving the gears via the synchros with a slight effort though .... but it is far from buttery smooth like my Acura .... and a lot more clunky in movement & sound (seems like the right descriiption) than than the average mass of cars out there !

I'm wondering if this would get resolved with an aftermarket shifter ????

I know for the Mustang it resolves the problem with the 1st & 3rd (that is finding its correct path) , and shorter throws goes without saying . It does shift smoother too going in .

I gather also that this has nothing to do with the clutch ; for we are not the first new 6's owner talking about this issue , and I'm afraid you will not find anything regarding that in your workshop manual , as it seems a common character of this stick shifter , if not the synchros ; for I do have a harder time putting it in first gear , albeit a few klics on the odometer moving ... which I know should'nt be done ... but also should'nt happen being hard (a lot harder) to put in ... even sometimes completely stopped it takes a couple of tries to put it in .... it is frustrating

Ron P.

 

The way you’ve described the gear shifting is spot on, couldn’t have done a better job.
I can’t understand why Mazda haven’t done something about this, surely people must have complained, not everyone would be willing to live with it?

Before buying the car I checked on the Vosa website for recalls, the only ones for my particular car were; heatshield near the fuel tank and low brake fluid sensor, both had been done. No mention of gearbox.

Guido, do you know exactly what was done with the reprogram? Sounds great but I would need more information before I could go back to the dealer. Do you know which chassis nos groups were included in this recall?

I’ve now done 500+ miles and I’m getting much better at the shifts. It seems the closer you can get the rpm to next shift the easier it is to change gear, this doesn’t help when down shifting though.

An aftermarket linkage sounds good too 6Pack, is there one available and has anyone fitted one, did it make any improvements?

Ref the workshop manual; I’ve got it but haven’t had a chance to read the relevant sections yet. If I find anything I’ll put a post up.

 

A short throw shifter will reduce the overall throw distance of the lever, but it can make it feel more notchy & increase the shifting efforts. I know some companies offer weighted shift ***** to aid in moving the lever smoothly between gears.

I have to be honest with you, I've logged tens of thousands of miles in Mazda6's and haven't thought the shifter felt bad.

The re-program GUIDO is speaking of is for Automatic transmission vehicles.

 

I will have to get the paperwork out of the car and I drove my other one to work today. But the gist of what the service writer told me was that the programming recall had to do with the throttle response during shifting. This was a DOT/EPA mandated recall. He said Mazda was still working some kinks out of the drive by wire system when it comes to the 5 speed and that this would reduce the amount of slip we need to do to make the 2 and 3rd gear changes smoother. I know there is also a programming update for the automatics, but the service writer told me I had an open recall from the computer when he pulled my car up. I had the car in less than 90 days ago for an oil change and the recall was not open then.

I will call the service writer and see if I can get the actual recall number.

 

I’ve had a chance to check the manual; the only thing that I think I can check is the clutch adjustment.
I haven’t done any measurements as yet but I’m sure it’s probably out of adjustment. The clutch pedal free play should be 1.0-3.0mm (depress the clutch pedal by hand until resistance is felt) mine is definitely more than 3mm.
The clutch pedal disengagement stroke should be a minimum of 20mm.
Trying to put the car in reverse without depressing the clutch and with the engine running checks this. Depress the clutch when the gear noise stops measure the distance from the clutch pedal disengagement point to the fully depressed position.

Earlier in this discussion a post was put up saying that the clutch biting point was high, very little depression required to change gear. I would estimate that the biting point on my clutch is at about half travel. Perhaps by reducing the free play, this will not only raise the biting point but also make it easier to change gear.

As an aside I’ve checked on the web it would appear that many owners have noticed this problem. Some other forums have similar posts to this one, basically the majority and probably best advise has been to try and get the engine rpm correct for the next gear, that way the syncros have little work to do and the gear change is smooth.
I think that whilst this it true it is a shame that Mazda couldn’t get the syncros or gearbox design to work properly. I have been really impressed with the rest of the car in all aspects; however this gearbox issue does somewhat spoil the driving experience.

This weekend I will adjust the clutch in accordance with the workshop manual and I’ll put a post up whether successful or not, fingers crossed I guess.