I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Similar Problems
Coming back from Lincolnshire nearly 2 weeks ago in my car which has just over 4000 miles on the clock, it became impossible to select 3rd gear without double declutching. It was pretty obvious that the 3rd gear synchromesh had failed. There was a faint rattling sound coming from the gearbox and vibration could be felt through the gearstick.
The following day I took my little car to my supplying dealer in Northwich and they confirmed that the gearbox had failed and a warranty gearbox had been authorised. The replacement gearbox was in … Japan!
I see on miata.net that US gearbox failure is a fairly common occurrence but I am wondering if others in the UK have had similar problems or am I just unlucky? My replacement gearbox is apparently now somewhere in Europe so it is inching closer to my poorly car.
I contacted Mazda HQ and they informed me that they are not aware of any faults with MX5 gearboxes and no updates or modifications had been made to the gearboxes.
Did I just get a Friday afternoon gearbox?
Thanks
The Mazda response is perplexing- as it would appear they are at least on gearbox version no.5???
In contrast to what you were told, BBR offer the following:
And I believe Paul Roddison offers a modified gearbox solution-I’m assuming this has been developed from his extensive racing experience.
The existence of these SOLUTIONS , suggests there is an ISSUE (s) ???
(Although I had understood it was more or less confined to the 2.0 cars and not the 1.5’s?)
Wishing you all the best regarding the new gearbox-sounds like your dealer and Mazda are looking after you.
DC
Thank you for your comments. I am a little concerned that Mazda UK deny that there is a problem but the evidence suggests otherwise. I am led to believe that the gearbox part numbers have not changed so my replacement gearbox will just be a newer version of the failed unit. Hopefully, this box will be a bit better put together than the last one and I shall see my little car again before the summer ends. Ciao
Mazda are lying, there are problems, well known problems that have been discussed at length throughout the ND lifecycle. Previously, the area of concern was more the early 2.0 (ND1) cars but unfortunately there does seem to have been a bad batch of gearboxes on 23 plate cars, this apparently (as advised by a Mazda employee) is a separate and I quote ‘silly’ known issue which has been resolved now. It does mean however there are gearboxes that are out there which will and are failing. I know of atleast 2 other 23 plate cars that have recently had replacements.
I personally wouldn’t worry about the replacement, it is highly unlikely to have the same issue, I had my ND1 gearbox (version 1) replaced at around 10,000 miles with an ND2 (version 5) gearbox, the car was turbocharged at 16500 miles and has done a relatively hard 5000 miles since then, so far, so good.
Northwich have a good reputation as far as I’m aware, so hopefully you are in good hands. Other dealerships in the area I have fair experience of and they left a lot to be desired.
GarethC, thank you for your interesting information. In their email to me, Mazda Motors UK (MMUK) state,
*“MMUK are continually monitoring parts and repairs required and this constant monitoring leads to recalls or modifications if required. As this is not a known concern, there has been no modification to the MX-5 gearbox”.
So either the good people at MMUK are happy that the gearbox failure rate is not significant enough to be “a known concern” or they are being a tad economical with the truth of the matter.
I do find it a little strange that Mazda do not keep a stock of replacement boxes in Europe and therefore have to give Hiroshima a bell every time a gearbox fails.
Very interesting and disappointing, esp as it’s on a 1.5L, which have almost been immune to the issues thus far.
I’d mentioned on another thread a number of times of reports on the MIATA forum of post '21 cars seeing a return to issues which seemed in the rear view mirror after the ND2 was first rolled out. Of course some those comments received some obligatory sarcastic replies, or states of denial, or ‘nothing wrong with mine mate’-type comments, but your case with a 1.5 is troubling. That was at least perceived to be the safe bet.
Who knows why some post covid cars are seeing issues. Some think it could be change of supplier issues. Interesting too how yours seems to be a syncro issue, which indeed seems to be the ‘general pattern’/source reports of failures in some post Covid cars. Either way, to be even discussing this pretty much a decade after launch is beyond satire.
If you’re on the US forum, it might be a good idea to put your account on there too, to show failures have occurred with the 1.5 as well.
Good luck, thanks for reporting.
Thanks ND12. If Mazda had put their hands up and said that they had had a problem but they had got it sorted and sorry for the inconvenience then people would have said they were honourable people. But trying to gloss over it and just hoping that cars would keep going till the warranty expires is a little disappointing. I have been riding/driving for 50 years and this is the first time that I have had a gearbox fail.
Onwards and upwards!
The fact is, as a business, the need to fix something is based on 2 things only: (1) impact on profit and (2) whether the recall is mandated by a regulatory authority. They cannot argue with (2) easily but for(1) various factors count, including the frequency of failure (inside the warranty period bewcause there is no liability after that) versus the number of cars sold, the cost of making the change, the “management of change process” required to validate the improvement works better than thge incumbent, and carrying out the warranty work. They won’t make a change to a transmission if it costs more to change than pay replacement and warranty costs, when considered globally.
BMW are currently, playing this game with their N57 engine EGR cooler which allegedly and reportedly caused a number of 3.0d engines, mainly in police vehicles after extended idling periods, to catch fire. I’ve had several letters from them about how they intend to change the EGR cooler in my car but are “awaiting parts” and in the meantime if the component does fail, they will cover the cost of replacement and any collateral damage for up to 15 years of ownership. I have under no illusions that if my BMW goes go up in flames, they will be running away faster than I can and I will be faced with an insurance write off…
So Widely, am I right in reading that with regard to your BMW, they have admitted that there is a fault with the vehicle and that they are providing a warranty against failure whilst awaiting parts? Assuming that you have got that in writing then surely that is quite good?
My problem with Mazda is that they have stated to me in writing that the gearbox failure “is not a known concern”. Well, it seems to be a known concern to quite a lot of people including me!
Perhaps I am a little naive in assuming that a car company such as Mazda would act in an honourable and honest way and fess up to their mistakes and not take their customers for fools. I thought this honour thing was a big deal in Japanese society?
I wonder how customers in the Japanese home market have been dealt with regarding this issue. If there any Japanese linguists on here then perhaps somebody could have a read up?
I have my fingers crossed that I might get some news on the whereabouts of my new gearbox next week as I would really like to use the car (gently) before all the good weather disappears.
Ciao.
Hi @Zippy56 , you are correct. BMW appear (at least) to have underwritten everything. Only time will tell whether this will stand up to scrutiny. I agree yout situation is different. That said, Oakmere, in my experience at least, are excellent - a wheel bearing failed on my ND1 at less than 20,000 miles (“these never fail and we’ll have to get parts, which will take a good few weeks” ) and a replacement was forthcoming under warranty. In my experience (Ford, Audi, BMW, Mazda, Vauxhall) much depends on how the dealer manages head office.
As for the Japanese cultural element, who knows? BMW are far more cooperative on recalls and replacements in the USA than the UK where getting sued in the former can cost millions, whereas in the UK, consumers do not gang up for class actions. Risk versus consequences as a business. My personal view, having been a frequent visitor to Japan over the last 30 years or so is that whilst the culture there is as you describe, Mazda is a global company and behaves accordingly in each market, i.e. if, like BMW, they can get away with it, they will. It’s all about money. The cynic in me thinks that Mazdfa learned a few tricks from their longstanding relationship with Ford. Like I said ,good luck!
Hooray! After 2 weeks my gearbox has arrived from Japan. They are hoping to fit it tomorrow and I should be able to collect my car on Friday.
So two and a half weeks in total is not too bad but the question is am I confident enough to keep the car or should I move on to something else? I would be devastated if it failed for a second time. We shall see
Whether or not you keep the car due to lost confidence is only something you can decide.
Maybe give it a while and see how you feel. Hopefully, even a post Covid MX-5 gearbox should be able to last a few months, to see if you still feel the same way.
I had an NA 1.8 with a cold-side M45 supercharger. It was a 200bhp car It had over 50k miles on it and did everything including quite a few track days. Never once did I have the slightest fear that the gearbox might break on me and it was faultless till the day I sold it.
How is it that 20 years later the same company is making gearboxes that are markedly inferior to their predecessors? Are the materials used of lesser quality, are the people who design these things less experienced or is the whole show run by bean-counters whose only interest is maximising short-term profit despite the risks to the reputation of the company and the model in question?
Anyways up, thanks to Oakmere at Northwich who are doing their best to sort the situation and if anyone has a cold-side supercharged NA in red knocking about then give me a shout and I’ll do you a swap
I’m the last person on Earth to be a fanboy, but, not that it’s right, many a manufacturer/car has issues which should really be corrected, but instead, like the poster alluded to above, are covered in warrenty, but you’re on your own afterwards.
I’ve a car outside my door which has had a quote for new engine mounts- again- for a grand. The same engine mounts which were replaced under warrenty at 29K miles, and which have failed again 25K miles later…but now out of warrenty. Full dealership history too. With no real active forum for the car, so no real prospect of trusted, alternative mounts, do I cough up a grand for the same clearly rubbish parts to no doubt fail again soon enough, or sell it. My point is it isn’t only the ND which have these poor and somewhat unfair occurrences.
Just when you think you have got the job sorted you get a curved ball. So the gearbox arrived from Japan on Wednesday and they took the broken gearbox out today (Thursday). They then discover that some parts are missing and the car gets pushed back into the yard to await arrival of the missing parts which will hopefully turn up next week.
At the beginning of next week the car will have been with the dealer for 3 weeks and it is still not fixed. To be honest, this is all getting a bit irritating. Firstly, a virtually new gearbox fails because it is sub-standard and then getting the parts to fix it seems to be something of a challenge.
Looking forward with some trepidation to next week’s developments. I would really like my car back.
Annoying yes, frustrating yes but at least it’s still under warranty.
These things happen in life.
VW Polo gearboxes are notorious for breaking. The double cassette bearing fails and either rattles away or breaks and disintegrates the gearbox.
I know.
VW have never admitted to inferior parts or recalls.
So it’s hand in the pocket I’am afraid, but at least repairable.
You can’t get aftermarket bearings and still have to use the VW ones.
Perhaps different batches and different quality parts.
Stick with it and enjoy your 5 as you could trade that for another problem.
Just my opinion.
Scarlet is correct ^ you could sleepwalk into another car with other problems. Maybe with horrific customer serivces, too.
At least the car is under warranty, and for a good bit longer too. And if you’re so inclined and want piece of mind (nothing wrong with that), you can then take out the Mazda extended warranty once the manufacturer warranty expires (if you’re bought the car and it isn’t PCP etc). Yes such warranties have their likers and dislikers, but for black and while things like a gear box going pop, they’re probably fine.
