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So I am new to the MX-5 scene. Got my turbo NA8 a few weeks ago and am currently trying to fix all the minor issues with it. One thing that has me stumped is the way the gear shifter sticks.
When in neutral and pushed to the left so that it is above 2nd and below first, it sticks there and needs to be manually pushed back to the middle of the H pattern. I started dismantling this afternoon and noticed when I undid the three hex key bolts on the base of the shifter the problem completely disappeared. The bolts only needed to be cracked half a turn for the shifter to act normally. Has me quite puzzled. I had a search and couldn't find anything relevant but may have been searching the wrong terms. Apologies if this has been covered already.

I have attached a short video demonstrating the issue, the process of cracking the 3 bolts and the issue going away.

checked the bushing in the turret? If it's been overtightened could it have been damaged or deformed somehow?

I've not pulled mine apart, other people probably know more / give actual guidance.

best of luck
Stu

Managed to fix this in an NA8 by removing the old oil in the 5 speed gearbox top turret, cleaning out any sediment, & replacing with new gearbox oil. Doing this will also give you the chance to inspect the shifter base inside the turret including the white plastic bush at the base of the shifter - bit more info here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=60368

93_Clubman wrote:Managed to fix this in an NA8 by removing the old oil in the 5 speed gearbox top turret, cleaning out any sediment, & replacing with new gearbox oil. Doing this will also give you the chance to inspect the shifter base inside the turret including the white plastic bush at the base of the shifter - bit more info here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=60368

Thanks, will give this a go. I took the shifter off and and the bushes looked fine. The oil looked very milky which I thought was quite peculiar?

badface wrote:Thanks, will give this a go. I took the shifter off and and the bushes looked fine. The oil looked very milky which I thought was quite peculiar?

5 speed GB turret oil gets often gets overlooked as it is separate from the rest of the oil in the GB. It also often suffers from contamination as the inner rubber boot, which mounts to the top of the turret, perishes.

We had a discussion a few months ago about a shifter problem that went back to missing parts on the lever mounting. Some of that stuff might give you some clues. viewtopic.php?f=29&t=60368&hilit=lever

Sorry guys I should clarify that I have a 6 speed box.

I had another look at the turret today and the bushes all seem fine to my relatively uneducated eye.




there are some gouges in the turret as you can see in the photo below but I think they would be from going into reverse.



one thing I thought was out of the ordinary was that the box has two pins to slide into the turret ball joint but one of them looks like it has been pushed out. to accommodate the bushing that only has one notch.




what it seems like to me is when I tighten the turret down it is pushing the bush that sits on top of the ball joint ( the one I am holding up in the second picture) to tightly on the ball joint restricting the movement and causing it to stick.

So. It looks like someone has jammed a single slot NA8 shift lever into a 2 slot NB 6 speed box. Maybe it would help to have the right shifter.

No, my bad. I'd been looking at the pics on a phone. Looks OK on a PC now.

10AE (& probably Heritage) 6 speed & NB8B 6 speed are different in the turret area to each other, so may be the shifter from one is being used in the other in this case. Ref 6 speed differences see:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=38497&p=499275&hilit=10ae#p499275

93_Clubman wrote:10AE (& probably Heritage) 6 speed & NB8B 6 speed are different in the turret area to each other, so may be the shifter from one is being used in the other in this case. Ref 6 speed differences see:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=38497&p=499275&hilit=10ae#p499275

Isn't one of the difference between the early 6 speed and the late 6 speeds that the bottom ball joint is larger in the late model? So that would mean that it would not fit in at all. From what I can tell I have a early 6 speed box and all of the parts diagrams I have seen show that it does not have a bush on top of the fulcrum ball joint which mine does. Not sure if this could be the issue.

93_Clubman wrote:10AE (& probably Heritage) 6 speed & NB8B 6 speed are different in the turret area to each other, so may be the shifter from one is being used in the other in this case. Ref 6 speed differences see:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=38497&p=499275&hilit=10ae#p499275

The post you quote is incorrect. The 10AE 6-Speed does not have a separate turret for oil.


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Hi, a while ago I was looking into learning how to do this.

I came across this YouTube clip it was pretty good at explaining the differences between the different gear boxes.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=biBjZhmkxZc

Might be with having a look and seeing if it helps

I am probably doing my selector bush later this week, base lining all the easy maintenance

James

That is the video I used too. He also has an eBay store that sells all the parts required, as well as other handy things such as fuel pump socks etc


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Is there a spring system that returns the shifter back to neutral when you let go of the level out of gear?
My old pulsar did this (gearstick didn't return to centre) and I simply replaced the springs on both sides of the stick. Is the MX5 set up like this?

I think my SE's gearstick has just done the same thing (not returning to centre/neutral)
Might try to look this weekend.