Notchy shifts and hard to get back to neutral

[tommyx2]

Hi guys, hoping someone can help

I have a 2010 Mazda 3.
When I'm trying to get into any gear I can feel a notch just after neutral. The car engages and I'm able to drive normal, however, when shifting to the next gear I can feel the notch again.

On top of all this, my side to side motion (while in neutral) has become limp, before it use to spring to neutral quite fast but now it's like a limp D.

Any idea what I'm dealing with? I've been meaning to take it to the shop but I just want to know if this is something I can look at with the help of the community.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to ideas.

-tom

[FD22]

Assuming you're talking about a manual trans. I'd say it's somewhat normal with general wear of bushings, etc within the system. Did you recently change anything with your shifter assembly? A short-throw shifter for example, could change that behavior and you could be noticing it

[tommyx2]

Hey guys, checking in here.

I went through various areas of troubleshooting.

greased the joint area underneath the shifter boot > Nothing changed.

then i went to the hood and removed the battery and re lubed the shift linkage > issue disappeared for a day but it came back

then i went to change the transmission fluid with some redline MT-90 > this seemed to fix the issue.
I haven't gotten the notchy and sticky shift stick since then.

Hope this helps.

regards,