Urgent help on 6spd gearbox please!!!!

[Mr Morlock]

Dave is 100% correct - this is just basic business practise- its about consumer rights.

[Lokiel]

Unfortunately this problem is way too common, do some internet searches and you'll see that it's true. Maybe this is the first thing we need to say when we welcome new owners?

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[Nevyn72]

With mine going in for the 100k service tomorrow, which includes a gearbox oil change, I'll make sure I mention it!!

[deviant]

There are a number of bolts on the side of the 6 speed but it is really bloody obvious which ones are the drain and fill plugs as they are 3 times the size of the others and are in a position to actually let oil out!

The only person that should be sorting out your gearbox is the person that pulled the wrong bolt. Once that bolt is out there is nothing we can do the help. Unfortunately you need the gearbox to be rebuilt.

Personally I would want to be sure that your mechanic mate REALLY knows how to rebuild a gearbox before letting him at it, there are hundreds of parts in there that need to go back together in the right order.

[Lokiel]

For an earlier discusison on this, see http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=58831

In that thread, davekenmore wrote:

NitroDann and Lokiel will now need to confirm who's correct. I'll have $5 on Dann please.

I think you owe me $5 Dave.

[greenMachine]

A specialist cost more than $3000

No surprise there (although that probably also includes some new parts).

So what is happening with yours? Oh yes, your mate and his newbie offsider (who caused this problem in the first place) are going to do the job, having just acquired a manual.

I can't see how anything bad could come out of that.



Take 2:

To save $3000, he is going to rebuild it himself, with his 'which end of the screwdriver do I hold' offsider helping (I sure hope it is not the other way around ...). Has he thought about why a specialist charges so much? Why does he think there are even any gearbox specialists?

I suggest (again) you start looking around for at least a secondhand 5-speeder, or a 6-speeder, so that if (when?) it goes pear shaped, or when your patience runs out, you have a fallback option or two.

I really hope that your mate has more experience and is more competent than appears from this thread so far.

[cookie]

He will have insurance for times like this. Insurance to pay a specialist for a small excess. I know this because when I was an apprentice I destroyed an expensive piece if equipment in a factory (thanks boss...) And he just called insurance and got a new part out for under $500.

[kalt]

Interesting, so a tidy way of pocketing $2000+ by feigning replacement costs (if those costs were to be forwarded to the client).

[mx52nv]

Sheesh...another one? Lots of threads/posts on this online.

This has happened before even at dealerships that allow apprentices or anyone unfamiliar with our cars to work on them.

I recommend you contact Steve Lee (mb: 0-4-1-9-5-2-0-9-8-8) for any and all future work on your MX-5. He is both mobile and can work from home (north of the river). He has worked on more MX-5s than anyone else in Perth and has built both race cars as well as street cars.

Everyone should be able to do their own oil changes (engine, gearbox or diff) but for those not inclined to do so then please mark the incorrect transmission bolt (or surrounding area) with large "DO NOT REMOVE" in permanent marker.

For future reference, these are NOT the fill bolts:



This shows how the bolt holds a selector "fork" in place - follow the dotted line:


All drain and fill bolts are on the passenger side (for RHD cars) and always check that you can remove the fill bolt BEFORE you remove the drain bolt. These are the correct fill and drain bolts for the NB 6-speed gearbox (credit to Mazda-speed.com):


Les

**Edit** - Oops, did not realise how big that first image was sorry!

[tescoking]

My mechanic friend is good and he is a pro, otherwise I wouldn't visit him with my first car in my life and my lovely mx5 for 4 years.

The stroy was like this, my mechanic friend had sort of heart attack few days ago, when was the hottest day in Perth, so he asked someone to come back and help him as he felt dizzy yesterday.

That someone is new, I haven't seen him before. So I and my friend both think it was a 15mins job, so just let the new guy do it, and we just check out the pictures from "Bob's Collectors Cruise - Two Shed Run" on Mx5 club of WA When the new guy stand under the diver side I've already noticed something wrong, but I didn't point out because I wasn't sure what was he actually doing. Few seconds later, he asked my friend. "How come this screw so tight? And my friend just say, of cause a screw is tight.

Then shxt just happen...The new guy noticed there are lots of sealant of the bolt and he found that he couldn't put it back. Then I know he removed the wrong bolt. After a few research I found out that we have to take out the whole gear box just to recover the pin that drop into the bottom of the gearbox...

Well, I believed my friend can put back everything since we found the complete manual for installing the gearbox. Maybe it is a good time to rebuild the gearbox too.

[Lokiel]

Just in case it's not absolutely clear from mx52nv's photo:



- these are labelled 5&6 on page 2 of https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3YbfB30DxW0bEdwS0xSNGVXMzA&usp=sharing
- this document may come in handy too tescoking

[Pamex]

It is their responsibility to fix it.

At our work, I do all the gearboxes and overdrives. A few weeks back, a small component of an overdrive I built wasn't quite right (sticky pump). I converted his non-overdrive box to one with an fully rebuilt overdrive and fully rebuilt box. It worked, just not the best it could. Guess what? I rebuilt it. The customer didn't pay. It was our responsibility to fix it (and it's bloody beautiful now!).

That's the way it works.

That was an engine and gearbox out twice to do the job. Did it cost my boss? Yes. Should the customer have paid? Absolutely not. Does anyone want to have to take an engine and gearbox out a second time? Hell no, but that's the job.

Mistakes happen. Sometimes small, sometimes big. It's all part of running any business, not just mechanical.

I know you feel bad putting this on your friend, but it is really their responsibility and to be honest, they should have offered to fix it for you with a loan car in the meantime.

Don't cop a few grand for a rebuild.

EDIT: Just saw your updated post. If the newbie is doing it, when you get it back and drive it, if it is not the same or better, follow up straight away. Sorry, but that's really bad they flocked up something elemental like an oil change. Make sure it is right. If you go down the path of 'while it's out, let's refresh it' rather than just re-assembling... I'd probably suggest taking it to someone who knows what they're doing. You tend to end up with components of the wrong metal, wrong clearances (very important) etc. if they're replacing parts. Even if following the manual, if they've never done something like this before and get new or 'brand new second hand' parts, they can be wrong and it will go bad a few thousand k down the road. I get cranky about this. I reckon just get them to re-assemble. Piece of cake. You should have it back in a couple of days.

[tescoking]

My friend said he and that newbie will fix the whole gearbox with no cost but the big problem is I and my girlfriend is moving house at the end of this month and I got lots of house inspection this week, beside I am a bouncer I have to work till late. I can't take any transport after work. We suppose can drive my girlfriend's Benz but her mum lost the key of the Benz and it had been 3 weeks, her mum doesn't want to find it because she has to prepare some stupid party. To get a new key from Benz dealer cost $1100.

[sailaholic]

Sounds like you can replace "mechanic" with mother and the story is almost the same.


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[Jeo]

Ask for a loner car from your good friend the pro, or go hire one.

You sound like you need a car and this seems like a pretty cut and dry case of their fault as to why you don't have a functional one.