Ok, i know my shift bushings are out, (slips to the left side in 1st and right in 5th) but i noticed sumthing new yesterday, when i was cruising down the hi-way, i was a little preoccupied (a VERY cute blonde was in the passenger seat) and i went to downshift and pulled it out of gear, with the clutch out...can't be right...tried it again, did it again...i was under the impression that u had to push in the clutch to take it out of gear.....kinda worried here ppl, also my car doesn't like to go into gear when it's cold i have to push it in hard...normal?

 

if you're not accelerating or decelerating in gear with the clutch engaged, it will be easy to pull out of gear.



You can shift without using the clutch, it just requires matching the rpm properly to avoid grinding.

 

beat me to it pengaru...i use the clutch taking off from stop light/signs. its not nessessary if you know how to rev match

 

I just ordered new shifter bushings from mazdatrix. Came out to almost $40 but it made a huge difference.

 

it makes the car so much better to drive



mike

 

I second that. When I replaced the bushings on mine and put in a short shifter at the same time it felt like I was driving a new car. It made a HUGE difference.

 

I third that, new bushings in mine made it feel like a different car, I havent driven with the short throw yet but I imagine it will be another new car experience... I test drove a T2 my friend wanted to buy and it had NO shifter bushings in it, that car sucked ***.

 

could that also be the reason it doesn't like to go into gear when it's cold? maybe that's y i don't do so well in the shifting department, i seem to miss third a lot for some reason... anyway off to work

 

That could have something to do with it. I know that I had trouble when it was cold before I switched to Red Line in the trans... that helped a lot and my trans is still good with 77k on it.

 

how hard is it to install the shifter bushings?????