2022 CX-5 Transmission - RPMs drop between 2nd and 3rd gear

G

Greg_J

A few months ago I noticed that when I am accelerating from the full stop:
1. the RPMs are increasing uniformly up to 2200-2300 and then transmission ideally shifts to the second gear and RPMs drop for the next gear.
2. The same happens between the 2nd and 3rd gears, but when the RPMs arrow reaches 2000 and transmission is going to shift in 2-3 seconds - at this moment the RPMs sharply drop up to 1500 (no strange sounds or jerks), and immediately are continuing to rise again up to 2200-2300 and then transmission smoothly shifts to the 3rd gear.
If I am accelerating slowly or too quickly it never happens.
Has anyone experienced or heard about something similar, how suspicious it could be?
I recently reset/re-learned the transmission, but this continues to happen.
CX-5 2022 N/A
 
Greg_J said:
A few months ago I noticed that when I am accelerating from the full stop:
1. the RPMs are increasing uniformly up to 2200-2300 and then transmission ideally shifts to the second gear and RPMs drop for the next gear.
2. The same happens between the 2nd and 3rd gears, but when the RPMs arrow reaches 2000 and transmission is going to shift in 2-3 seconds - at this moment the RPMs sharply drop up to 1500 (no strange sounds or jerks), and immediately are continuing to rise again up to 2200-2300 and then transmission smoothly shifts to the 3rd gear.
If I am accelerating slowly or too quickly it never happens.
Has anyone experienced or heard about something similar, how suspicious it could be?
I recently reset/re-learned the transmission, but this continues to happen.
CX-5 2022 N/A
Click to expand...
Hey, made an account just for this.
I unfortunately don't have an answer to this, but feel like I may be experiencing the same issue with my 2018 6 2.5T.
See video https://streamable.com/cnm7wp

Is that what you're talking about? Cause I've been having this issue for probably over 3 years now.
If it is, it's interesting you're having this problem with a nonTurbo as the dealership I went to for it suspected it was Turbo related.

Did you ever figure out what was causing it?
 
Cloud6 said:
Hey, made an account just for this.
I unfortunately don't have an answer to this, but feel like I may be experiencing the same issue with my 2018 6 2.5T.
See video https://streamable.com/cnm7wp

Is that what you're talking about? Cause I've been having this issue for probably over 3 years now.
If it is, it's interesting you're having this problem with a nonTurbo as the dealership I went to for it suspected it was Turbo related.

Did you ever figure out what was causing it?
Click to expand...
Hey Cloud, thanks for sharing this video - this is exactly how my car acts and it's non-Turbo. Someone mentioned here that this is absolutely normal Skyactiv behavior however, I doubt it as you are only the 3rd member in this forum who've confirmed this issue/problem/feature (I don't even know what to call it) so far. But logically, if it's absolutely normal for Skyactiv then all cars with Skyactiv should act the same..?
You mentioned that you've been experiencing this issue for the last 3 years already. Does this mean that the first two years were normal, or you bought this car used?
 
Greg_J said:
Hey Cloud, thanks for sharing this video - this is exactly how my car acts and it's non-Turbo. Someone mentioned here that this is absolutely normal Skyactiv behavior however, I doubt it as you are only the 3rd member in this forum who've confirmed this issue/problem/feature (I don't even know what to call it) so far. But logically, if it's absolutely normal for Skyactiv then all cars with Skyactiv should act the same..?
You mentioned that you've been experiencing this issue for the last 3 years already. Does this mean that the first two years were normal, or you bought this car used?
Click to expand...
You're the only other person I've spoken to that can confirm has this issue.
I highly doubt this is normal behavior too. Especially since I've driven multiple cx5 and cx9 loaners that didn't behave this way.

I bought the car new and I don't remember the car behaving this way in the majority of the first year of ownership, or atleast it wasn't apparent enough to notice.
About 10 months in, I started noticing slight rpm drops when linearly accelerating on cold starts.

Another couple months after that, those rpm drops got harder which send a shock through the car that I now brace for when I pull out of my driveway every morning. It's quite annoying really. It doesn't sound like you're experiencing it this bad though right?
I did notice that the harsh rpm drops mid 2nd gear only occur the first few times I accelerate. The drops then become less bad and eventually turn into more of like a hesitation around those rpms once warmed up.

I've finally been able to replicate it to a tech at a more respectable mazda delearship after parking the car there overnight to start it up cold for them. After a little over a week, they weren't sure how to replicate it consistently, and with no DTCs present they didn't know what to do so they've tried updating the TCM but that didn't help. I've been called back in a couple times since to replicate the issue for a master tech. They've had the car for 2 weeks now with no updates unfortunately.
 
Here is another thread and video with the same issue, but the rpm drop happens between the 1st and 2nd gears. If you noticed the speed at this moment in both videos is around 15mph. I experience this issue at 15 mph too but only between 2nd and 3rd gears.
Maybe as Unobtanium mentioned it's the converter locking, but I totally agree with you it's very annoying.

CX-5 GT-R Sloppy Shift Into Second When Cold

I’m finding that the shift into second gear is rather sloppy before the engine reaches operating temperature. Before the engine is warmed up, when it shifts into second, the RPMs jump for a second or 2 before dropping down about 200 RPMs and fully engaging second. For example, I have a video...
mazdas247.com mazdas247.com
 
Greg_J said:
... but when the RPMs arrow reaches 2000 and transmission is going to shift in 2-3 seconds - at this moment the RPMs sharply drop up to 1500 (no strange sounds or jerks), and immediately are continuing to rise again up to 2200-2300 and then transmission smoothly shifts to the 3rd gear.
Click to expand...

2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD 2.5L w/ SkyActive, here. It is an automatic transmission. And it does occasionally seem to "jump around" with RPMs as it's trying to find the more fuel-efficient spot to be ... given the throttle position, how rapidly I'm accelerating, etc.

But I don't find it out of the ordinary, nor all that frequent. At least, for my own driving style. I've had friends suggest I drive quickly from a stop, and I suppose I do. But I've also had friends suggest I "drive like a granny" most other times. I'm sure the transmission has learned how I drive and attempts to select best fuel-efficiency within those parameters. Which, on occasion, results in the RPMs changing 3-500rpms (or more) to settle on a "better" spot. Usually it happens when I'm not briskly accelerating or decelerating, but rather when I'm dithering and not really delivering a clear assertive signal to the car. In those cases, occasionally, it decides on a change of gear or RPM that seems a bit of a surprise to me (one that I wouldn't have chosen given the circumstances. Again, it's not all that frequent, but I have noticed it.

Wouldn't really call it a flaw, per se. Rather, it's an automatic transmission and it's got an "optimizing" function built-in along with the SkyActive. And so, it doesn't surprise me that it makes a choice, sometimes, that seems a bit odd, or overly aggressively prioritizing fuel-efficiency.

Uncertain if this sort of thing's exactly what you're finding on your own vehicle.
 
GFrosty said:
2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD 2.5L w/ SkyActive, here. It is an automatic transmission. And it does occasionally seem to "jump around" with RPMs as it's trying to find the more fuel-efficient spot to be ... given the throttle position, how rapidly I'm accelerating, etc.

But I don't find it out of the ordinary, nor all that frequent. At least, for my own driving style. I've had friends suggest I drive quickly from a stop, and I suppose I do. But I've also had friends suggest I "drive like a granny" most other times. I'm sure the transmission has learned how I drive and attempts to select best fuel-efficiency within those parameters. Which, on occasion, results in the RPMs changing 3-500rpms (or more) to settle on a "better" spot. Usually it happens when I'm not briskly accelerating or decelerating, but rather when I'm dithering and not really delivering a clear assertive signal to the car. In those cases, occasionally, it decides on a change of gear or RPM that seems a bit of a surprise to me (one that I wouldn't have chosen given the circumstances. Again, it's not all that frequent, but I have noticed it.

Wouldn't really call it a flaw, per se. Rather, it's an automatic transmission and it's got an "optimizing" function built-in along with the SkyActive. And so, it doesn't surprise me that it makes a choice, sometimes, that seems a bit odd, or overly aggressively prioritizing fuel-efficiency.

Uncertain if this sort of thing's exactly what you're finding on your own vehicle.
Click to expand...
Hey GFrosty,

Its not the RPMs fluctuating that's bothering me per se, although you are right in that these new automatics do jump around more than I'm used to.
Its more the initial RPM drop that occurs during the first few take offs from a cold start in 2nd gear.

Greg explains it pretty accurately in his initial post. Although a key difference is that he doesn't experience any jerks or sounds when that happens. While I do. The first few times on a cold start, it's quite jarring. Like hitting a bad pothole, or like the car was about to stall for a split second but doesn't. Unsettles the whole car.

After reading through the thread Greg linked, I'm feeling confident that this is the torque converter locking, it's just really harsh doing so on cold starts. I wasn't aware these mazda TCs locked so early (I've read as low as 5mph) so I never thought of that. Also noticed, after Greg pointed it out, that it does happen at the same speed everytime.

Now the question is, what's causing such a harsh TC lockup in my 6 when cold.
 
Last edited:
So just a quick update.
Got a call today from the dealership saying that after their master tech drove the car for a few days while logging things with a pc and some back and forth with Mazda's tech line, they've concluded that there's an "internal failure" and are waiting on authorization to proceed with ordering a new transmission.

Kind of strange really since this isn't that rare of an issue or behavior among the skyactive transmissions. Wondering what lead to that conclusion and will be asking for more details.
 
I watched the RPM gauge while accelerating my '22 Turbo from still.
I did not see this RPM double-drop shown in the video.

So, yours is not normal, I'd say.
 
Cloud6 said:
Although a key difference is that he doesn't experience any jerks or sounds when that happens. While I do. The first few times on a cold start, it's quite jarring. Like hitting a bad pothole, or like the car was about to stall for a split second but doesn't. Unsettles the whole car.
Click to expand...
In my case, everything shifts normally and smoothly, without any jerkiness or unusual sounds. However I always warm up the engine in the morning, but I think it doesn't seriously affect the transmission liquid temperature.
Moreover, I always experience this "rpm drop" no matter how warm the transition is. In your case, as I understand this problem disappears after a few harsh shifts and once the transmission is finally warmed up, right?
I also noticed, when I accelerate very slowly everything shifts normally without any rpm drops.
Have you noticed this as well?
 
Greg_J said:
In my case, everything shifts normally and smoothly, without any jerkiness or unusual sounds. However I always warm up the engine in the morning, but I think it doesn't seriously affect the transmission liquid temperature.
Moreover, I always experience this "rpm drop" no matter how warm the transition is. In your case, as I understand this problem disappears after a few harsh shifts and once the transmission is finally warmed up, right?
I also noticed, when I accelerate very slowly everything shifts normally without any rpm drops.
Have you noticed this as well?
Click to expand...
I do let the engine settle it's rpms after the high idle on cold starts and give it an extra half a minute before pulling out of my drive way every morning. Is that what you do, or do you idle it even longer?

But yes I only experience those rpm drops on the first couple times I accelerate from a stop. So for instance, driving out of the driveway to the first stop sign, then once more after that. Both of which are accompanied with a hard jolt.
On winter days I sometimes get it accelerating out of the second stop too.

Also accelerating slowly doesn't mitigate the issue. Only leads to a less harsh jolt. So does accelerating faster, it picks up the rpms quicker after the drop so the jolt also seems less harsh.

The shifts themselves are really smooth though. It's just that drop mid 2nd gear like it was about to shift into 3rd early but aborts or something if that makes sense.
Stops happening after that as long as everythings remains warmed up though.

Mazda deciding to replace the entire trans after concluding there to be an "internal failure" still puzzles me as the techs never confirmed being able to replicate the issue.
Service manager didn't have any more details to give me, just that it seems like it's not operating normally and that replacing the whole thing was just easier. He did say that whatever it is doesn't seem like it'd get any worse but since I've got a couple more months of warranty, might as well replace the trans.
 
I purchase a new 2022 cx5 premium plus in February 2022. Got it right of the boat. Had so many issues with the transmission. Bucking, missed shifts, shifting into wrong gear, hesitation, jerking forward when stopped at a light. Many times could floor it and car would not respond or would only go slowly. Car never reacted to any situation the same way. Could not ever count on it too react the same way twice. Dealer had the car many times and could never fix it. Reproduced issues when test driving with mechanics. In all they had the car 40 days in the first year. And put on 1800 miles out of the total 5400 miles it was driven in the first year. I sued Mazda under the lemon law and they bought the car back. I was repayed for it. This isn't a one off issue, that Mazda fans say it is. There are many people with same issues. Complaining about it online. If you have issues with a new car, take it to the dealer, keep the paperwork. If necessary get a good lawyer that has vast experience with lemon law in your state. Good luck!
 
I suspect that getting the vehicles on and off the boat resultes in a considerable amount of go-stop-go-back up etc. The transmission is learning from that. I just disconned the main battery and hit the brake pddel several times. Reconnect the battery and drive as you normally would so it learns your driving style. Seems we sometimes make a mess of things we don't really understand. Ed
 
erhayes said:
I suspect that getting the vehicles on and off the boat resultes in a considerable amount of go-stop-go-back up etc. The transmission is learning from that. I just disconned the main battery and hit the brake pddel several times. Reconnect the battery and drive as you normally would so it learns your driving style. Seems we sometimes make a mess of things we don't really understand. Ed
Click to expand...
When you buy a new car the dealer has a checklist of things to do to it. Resetting the transmission is one of them. It was also reset already once every time it was at the dealer. Over the 5 different times the car was back at the dealer the transmission was reset many times. They downloaded different transmission programs a few times which would also be a hard reset. Please, Stop making simple excuses for serious defects.
 
Do not replace the entire transmission! You will simply be part of their scam to make more money from you. This is normal behavior of the torque converter locking up. Don't worry about it.
 
Just wanted to post an update for anyone interested now or in the future.

It's been about a year now since I've decided to go through with the transmission replacement after they've concluded there to be some sort of "internal failure" with the torque converter lock up clutch or solenoid (they weren't being very transparent and this is all the info I got).
Ended up getting a rebuilt one shipped from Mazda as a replacement. Took about 2 or 3 weeks for it to arrive, then one weekend with my mazda to have it replaced and tested. This was all covered under warranty so nothing spent out of pocket.

It's been almost a year now and there has been absolutely no more funky business and the torque converter lock up has been buttery smooth, no more weird jerks or jolts during lock up.

One thing I'd like to mention though.
When I first received the car, shifting between park, neutral, and drive felt super rough and would send a jolt through the cabin. They said this was normal and would smoothen out and that I should give the new bushings/mounts time to break in. Gave it 2 weeks and nothing changed.
Asked if they did a transmission reset and they said yes. Decided to do it myself (following the same video as one posted above this post), and that issue completely dissappeared and hasn't popped up again. Super happy with everything right now.

I would like to say that the Mazda master tech at the dealership did mention seeing this issue with atleast a handful of other mazdas that all got replacements too. Just wanted to throw that out there.
 
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