Mazda Bravo gearbox problems, care to fill me in?

Joined: 22 Sep 2006

looking at the possibility of buying a 99 2.5td 4x4 dual cab

someone on these forums has mentioned gearbox failures

care to fill me in?

it would be a daily driver & occasional off roader...

Cheers
Peter

Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Location: Gordon Vic

Yeah Mate they are a heap of crap. Mine went after 120,000kms mates went at 125,000. Its always fifth gear seems engine has got to much torque for the box. Very common problem ask any gearbox person.

Joined: 22 Sep 2006

stevepet wrote:

Yeah Mate they are a heap of crap. Mine went after 120,000kms mates went at 125,000. Its always fifth gear seems engine has got to much torque for the box. Very common problem ask any gearbox person.

cheers, it the prob related to particular year/model or have they used same gearbox all the way through?

looking at a 99 model...

Joined: 03 Oct 2006 Location: Albany, Western Australia

IIRC there pretty much the same box up til the really late models. Ive done three of those heap of shit boxes at work

Joined: 22 Sep 2006

manzzook wrote:

IIRC there pretty much the same box up til the really late models. Ive done three of those heap of shit boxes at work

cheers for the info, looks like i'll go back to looking at Rodeos

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:37 pm

Yep, box's are crap. Worked for a few months at a mazda dealer and saw a few. 5th gear, GONE.

Layto....

Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Location: Sydney

Appranently the gears have a hard covering, but over time it wears thing and then there is no strength left in the gear and it goes bang.
The new BT50's have a different box that suppose to be stronger

Hope this helps

Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Location: In front of the computer

i know two guys that have had the same prob, both tow trailors for work one of them . the transfer box and it had never been in four wheel drive so i would say steer clear unless you want to be fixing it all the time.

Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Location: sydney

i heard that the cases are too weak so they spread apart and create larger tolerances between gears, which leads to failures.

info supplied by a spannerman in a dealership.

Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Location: Cobram, VIC

I have a 2005 Bravo and can't fault it to be honest. I do know about 5th gear, but thats an overdrive gear and shouldn't be used for towing anyway. I have changed plenty of the 2wd boxes for the same reason, but haven't had to do any of the 4 wheel drives. I have however had to recently have the diff centre replaced. Being under new car warranty I didn't see the cause of the failure but guessing a clutch pack or bearing failed causing it to ring like mad through the car.
Rodeo has nasty injector pump troubles, workng RACV as my now full time job I come across it often, and turbo's have been failing too. I road tested a Navara, Rodeo and the Mazda which is basically the same as the Ford Courier and my highest pref would be the Navara, however, due to cost I bought the Mazda and for a 2.5 litre diesel engine it stormed over the Rodeo for torque.
I guess its how you treat it. I won't deny the Mazda is not built as tough as the Patrol etc but I am more than happy with it. I guess when I get to 120 odd thousand K's I may have a different tune. lol.
Cheers,
Damien

Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Location: Maroochydore, sunshine coast

i work at mazda always selling 5th gear stuff to gearbox shops.

you won't have a prob if you avoid 5th on hills and towing 4th in a combination of the whole box and is the strongest gear.

Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Location: Eastlakes

Hi All,
My 5th Gear went just the other day at 96,000km. I didnt know what the hell it was until I read this web site. Now I know. And yes I had just done 1000km of trailer towing that same day. I always tow a velatively light trailer and would find traveling in 4th too slow going for the long trips.
What anoyed me the most was to call 3-dealerships of MAZDA and all three had their head techs try to tell me that they had never heard of this issue before or had memo's been sent to them regarding this issue.

On another issue, can anyone give me some ideas of aftermarket cooling (Engine) equipment adaptable to the SDX 4x4 Nov 2003 model. Thanks.

Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Location: Hobart

a mate of mine has a bravo and he keep whining about his gearbox breaking all the time. he uses it as a excuse to not come 4wding with us anymore, tho he was always crap at it anyway Razz

Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Location: Nowra

My father has a b2500 and he seems to be having trouble with the bearing inside the input shaft, it makes a "bad-bearing" noise when cluth is out, when his foot is on the clutch no more noise.
Any one had anything to do with this problem?