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I'm reaching the end of my long endeavour with a "broken" 3rd gear, so I thought as good documentation in case anyone else has similar problems, I'd post the problem I had, and the solution I reached.
Executive summary:
-------------------
Problem:
- On manual transmission, 3rd gear pops out into neutral 80% of time, shortly after warranty expires
Solution:
- Dealer took apart tranmission, broken parts internal to the tranmission, 3rd & 4th Hub and associated parts
- Mazda Customer Service provided after warranty assistance to pay for repair based on good faith backing of their parts, customer loyalty and good service history
--------------------
I have a 2005 Mazda 3s Sedan with the 5 speed manual transmission. At about ~48,000 miles, on very rare occasions, I had 3rd gear "pop out" after I had just placed it in 3rd gear and started accelerating. At first, it had happened so rarely, I assumed it was my own error in shifting. Somewhere around 51,000, it very suddenly got to the point where about 80% of the time, after shifting into 3rd gear, re-engaging the clutch, and stepping on the accelerator, the gear would "pop out" into neutral within a few seconds.
At this point, I was very depressed, since the warranty had just expired. Didn't really have time to have my car out of commission for a week, so I drove it around for a few thousand miles, simply not using the 3rd gear, as I pondered my options. A few friends of mine suggested I try getting Mazda to honor the warranty even though the warranty had expired. So I took it into the dealership where they told me they can look at the tranmsission, but any appeal on after-warranty assistance had to be made to the Mazda Customer Service people.
So I had the dealership run the diagnosis, and they confirmed the problem was internal to the transmission, so they'd have to take it appart to solve the nature of the problem. I called Mazda customer service, I plead my case, that I thought the part had started failing before the warranty had expired and asked them in good faith to cover the repair. They needed me to authorize the minimum ~700 tear-down of the transmission before they could agree to any assistance. So I authorized the dealer to take it apart. Customer service also asked me to fax in receipts from my service history to get an idea of the car's maintenance history. It helps that I faithfully had my car serviced at mazda dealerships, and did service at the right time.
Long story short, after playing several days of phone tag. The parts that came back as needing replacing were:
Because of my loyalty, and consistency in my service history, and in good faith to the warranty, Customer Service agreed to pay for the repairs to the transmission. That's about all the official diagnosis that I was able to get. I'm uncertain what the extent of wear/damage was on the parts, but those are the ones that needed to be replaced to complete the repair.
Like I said, just thought I'd post the story out there, in case anyone has similar probs and it might be useful. I'm of course really happy that Mazda decided to give me the after warranty assistance, they certainly didn't have to, but they do consider it on a case by case basis.
Anyway, can't wait to have my car back with all its gears
For the record, while I drive agressively, I do not autocross or otherwise regularly abuse my tranmission. In case any reader might be wondering
Executive summary:
-------------------
Problem:
- On manual transmission, 3rd gear pops out into neutral 80% of time, shortly after warranty expires
Solution:
- Dealer took apart tranmission, broken parts internal to the tranmission, 3rd & 4th Hub and associated parts
- Mazda Customer Service provided after warranty assistance to pay for repair based on good faith backing of their parts, customer loyalty and good service history
--------------------
I have a 2005 Mazda 3s Sedan with the 5 speed manual transmission. At about ~48,000 miles, on very rare occasions, I had 3rd gear "pop out" after I had just placed it in 3rd gear and started accelerating. At first, it had happened so rarely, I assumed it was my own error in shifting. Somewhere around 51,000, it very suddenly got to the point where about 80% of the time, after shifting into 3rd gear, re-engaging the clutch, and stepping on the accelerator, the gear would "pop out" into neutral within a few seconds.
At this point, I was very depressed, since the warranty had just expired. Didn't really have time to have my car out of commission for a week, so I drove it around for a few thousand miles, simply not using the 3rd gear, as I pondered my options. A few friends of mine suggested I try getting Mazda to honor the warranty even though the warranty had expired. So I took it into the dealership where they told me they can look at the tranmsission, but any appeal on after-warranty assistance had to be made to the Mazda Customer Service people.
So I had the dealership run the diagnosis, and they confirmed the problem was internal to the transmission, so they'd have to take it appart to solve the nature of the problem. I called Mazda customer service, I plead my case, that I thought the part had started failing before the warranty had expired and asked them in good faith to cover the repair. They needed me to authorize the minimum ~700 tear-down of the transmission before they could agree to any assistance. So I authorized the dealer to take it apart. Customer service also asked me to fax in receipts from my service history to get an idea of the car's maintenance history. It helps that I faithfully had my car serviced at mazda dealerships, and did service at the right time.
Long story short, after playing several days of phone tag. The parts that came back as needing replacing were:
Ring, Synchronizer
Hub Set, Clutch
Ring, Retainer
Ring, Synchronizer
Nut, Lock
Nut, Lock
Fork, Shift (3rd & 4th)
Because of my loyalty, and consistency in my service history, and in good faith to the warranty, Customer Service agreed to pay for the repairs to the transmission. That's about all the official diagnosis that I was able to get. I'm uncertain what the extent of wear/damage was on the parts, but those are the ones that needed to be replaced to complete the repair.
Like I said, just thought I'd post the story out there, in case anyone has similar probs and it might be useful. I'm of course really happy that Mazda decided to give me the after warranty assistance, they certainly didn't have to, but they do consider it on a case by case basis.
Anyway, can't wait to have my car back with all its gears
For the record, while I drive agressively, I do not autocross or otherwise regularly abuse my tranmission. In case any reader might be wondering
