Hey everybody, I have an all stock 2000 Protege DX 5spd. The shifter has been very sloppy, especially in gear. Doesn't miss, grind or slip out of any gears. Clutch grabs great. Took it to a trans shop the other day to have it inspected. They didn't do much of an inspection aside from a 5 min drive and a quick hood-pop. They had said that the bushings at the trans side of the linkage were good to go, but didn't check any others. They had mentioned a fork-shaped bracket that leads from the linkage into the trans and said that it was fairly sloppy...and that it would require a full trans rebuild. I checked for myself and had a friend sway the shifter in neutral from left to right repeatedly so that I could see what he was talking about. Didn't really seem that off-key. I don't know much about transmissions themselves though, aside from how they work and what the general layout looks like. I understand there are also bushings at the other side of the linkage, but currently don't have the tools to lift the car and get to digging. Car runs fantastic aside from that. 122k, no mods, driven in heavy stop-and-go traffic. Sloppy shifting when I purchased the car, had it for months, never slam gears. Unsure of previous owners driving habits. Any help on this situation? Thanks!

 

Go to the parts dept at your local Mazda dealer, give them your chassis number & get them to look up the gear lever/linkage assembly & find out what bushes are available. They can also print out the picture for you.

 

i just posted in this thread :https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/maz...r-loose-33376/ . to be able to reach the bushings you only need to raise the car and remove the heat shield that you will see covers the shifter area. 6, 8 bolts? cant remember. only that, no need to remove the exhaust or nothing. replace the bushings first. they are cheap. there is another arm there that has 2 big bushings but i did not replace that. after i was done with the bushings, i decided that other thing did not need my attention.