Yo, I've been dealing with "play" in the shifter and a bit of notchy shifts since I purchased the car late last year. Did a little unscrewing of bolts and prying a window switch out and found that my lower shift boot was ripped up, and the bushing that sits atop the wave spring was badly worn. I thought about just replacing the worn out parts but then I came across threads about how great the MR tall shifter kit is. I installed the kit a couple days ago and as well as drained out the trans and refilled with 75 90w motorcraft....Since the install
I'v been having issues with going into second from 1st. I get a nasty grind when ever I shift into second or sometimes it feels as if theres a barrier between 1st and 2nd. Others time it shifts normally like some knife through butter ----.

I don't have this problem in 3rd -6th maybe the occasional notchy shift, but no grinds/ barrier feel. I have gone over the install instructions 1434354343 X and even regreased the shifter 3 times! cleaning off the pre-existing grease first tho. IDK if I'm just retarded and haven't adapted to the tall shifter yet, or I'm just inept at manual driving/ there's something wrong with my car So, as title states If anyone in Virginia (Nova) area would be willing to drive my car and help diagnose my issue an exchange for beer (brand of your choice) I would greatly appreciate it! I'm not asking for free labor just would someone familiar with the 6th speed trans, mr shifter to drive my car up the block and hopefully bring it back

 

Is the shifter hitting something that's not allowing it to fully engage 2nd?

 

Almost every time I pull my shifter out I end up putting it back in backwards. You can't really tell until you start to drive the car and the shifter just feels really weird and shifts like crap. Maybe I'm completely off here but have you tried pulling it out and rotating it 180 degrees? Sure would be an easy fix if that's the problem.

 

At times it feels as if something is in the way, other times it shifts just fine.





Believe me when I say I've disassembled the kit countless times lol
This is the kit/ instructions I'm going by

http://www.miataroadster.net/brands/...structions.pdf

 

Try draining the motorcraft fluid and put BG Synchroshift in it. The DSM guys are only half joking when they call it a rebuild in a bottle. It completely revitalized a very balky trans in my last Talon.

 

Does the issue happen with the car off? Can double clutching improve the shift quality? Do you rev-match the downshift? If you drive up to Pittsburgh, I'd be happy to help.

 

Have you taken the shifter out and double-checked that it went in properly? I have that shifter, and I didn't get it seated properly the first time I put it in. It took me 20 minutes or so of fiddling and cussing to get it to sit down in there properly.

The shifter should snick-snick between gears. Something's up in your turret.

Edit: also was your previous fluid a GL-4, or a GL-5? Or unknown? Our transmissions like GL-4. If it was a GL-5, it will have deposited additives on your synchros (as it is designed to do) which will negatively affect shifting, and which will take a while to wear off. I run the motorcraft fluid as well.

 

Yes, I'v taken out the shifter and reinstalled multiple times and still continue getting the same issue. The stocker had a bit of notchy feel to it on ocassion, but never to the extent that I'm getting now.

I'm not sure what was in the trans before all I know is that the fluid looked pretty dark and dirty when drained and it had a strong grease smell to it o_O Maybe if I dump a tube of grease directly into my trans it will settle my problem.j/k

 

Try different fluid. Also, make sure you don't overfill it

 

Hmm, well what you describe is essentially exactly how mine felt the first time I assembled it when the shift selector bushing wasn't seated properly.

You are positive the riser bushing is oriented correctly?

You are positive the riser plate is oriented correctly?

 

Yes, comparing mine to the diagrams in the instructions it looks about right

I'm going to disassemble the damn thing again tomorrow when i get home from work and take vid of it. I'm hoping someone will be able to point out something my dumbass can't. lol