Mazda 6 - notchy box. Opinions?

kkelly77

I had a 04 Mazda 6 diesel out for a test drive today. Everything was fine but I thought the gear change was slightly notchy. The gears were not crashing or failing to mesh it just didn't feel to slick. Is this normal for the Mazda 6 gearbox?

The car is due a service in about 1000 miles so some fresh oil might smooth things out.

Topper Harley

kkelly77 wrote: »

I had a 04 Mazda 6 diesel out for a test drive today. Everything was fine but I thought the gear change was slightly notchy. The gears were not crashing or failing to mesh it just didn't feel to slick. Is this normal for the Mazda 6 gearbox?

The car is due a service in about 1000 miles so some fresh oil might smooth things out.

I have an 04 petrol Mazda 6 myself and have always found the gear change to be fairly smooth. I test drove a few and found, out of all of them, that one and only one had a slightly notchy gear change, particularly into 1st but no worse than I've regularly found in many other cars.

Solid car all round but I've seen some posts on here which had less than positive things to say about the diesel engines.

kkelly77

Topper Harley wrote: »

Solid car all round but I've seen some posts on here which had less than positive things to say about the diesel engines.

I've read those too but I think it's true of any car if you do a Google search on it, there'll always be some horror stories about them all.

This motor has a FSH and receipts for other consumables that have been changed. Feels very tight to drive. And is the Sport model too.

Henry Ford III

Unlikely they'd change the gearbox oil.

coolbeans

kkelly77 wrote: »

I had a 04 Mazda 6 diesel out for a test drive today. Everything was fine but I thought the gear change was slightly notchy. The gears were not crashing or failing to mesh it just didn't feel to slick. Is this normal for the Mazda 6 gearbox?

The car is due a service in about 1000 miles so some fresh oil might smooth things out.

My mother had one of those until early last year, and yes, the gearbox was a little less slick than I'd have liked. I think they're all like that but to be honest those cars have serious problems with oil feed to the big end bearings which inevitably results in terminal big end failure. There are also other problems with the injectors, turbo etc. In short look elsewhere. The Mazda 6 is a fine car but that 2.0d is a lemon. We sold ours to a mechanic once the faults became apparent.

Leonard Hofstadter

Avoid that 2.0 diesel - it's an utter disaster.

I know someone with one and the bottom end bearings are gone in it:eek:!

A petrol Mazda 6 is a great car though, so reliable, great to drive, and most of them have a good spec too!

Bruthal

kkelly77 wrote: »

The gears were not crashing or failing to mesh it just didn't feel to slick.

The gears in gear boxes are always meshed with each other in reality. Changing gears actually just locks the appropriate gears onto the gearbox shafts, while the rest of the gears then turn independent of the shafts.

Maybe its just doesnt change quite as smooth as what you normally drive.