96 lx n00bie w/ hard shifting

[bayarea96lx]

whats up fellas? im new to the forum as well as mazdas. i recently picked up an automatic 96 LX, from a friend, for a couple hundred bucks. they got a new car and the LX was just taking up space. it has 123k on it. it had a CEL because #2 was missfiring, but all that it really needed was a good tune up. i changed out the distributor cap & rotor, the spark plugs & wires, air filter, & also gave it an oil change. all is good now, except that the car shifts hard out of 1st into 2nd (it was doing this before i bought it). my pop's was a mechanic for many years (had a tranny shop in the 80s - early 90s) he said that he dosnt think that the tranny is bad. he said, back in the day, you were able to adjust trannys that were doing the same thing the LX is doing. but he dosnt know about these cars & told me to go online for info. so here i am, trying to find out what i can from you guys. ohh, i also feel it shift just a tad hard when going from 2nd into 3rd, but no where close to that of 1st into 2nd. any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks fellas -tony

 

[mannydingo]

Go to iMazda or ClubProtege since no one has answered here. I drive a stick shift but have driven automatic most of my life so I haven't come across all the issues involved with manual trannys. Don't ask the same question on both. Do what you did here and ask at only one and wait a few days for an answer. If it doesn't work out then try the other. Trust me, I know why I'm making that suggestion.

 

[MDCruiser]

My 94 is flashing the HOLD light. It shifts harshly in 1-2 as well. However, since you didn't mention the HOLD light was flashing, it's probably a pretty simple fix. I, unfortunately, probably need a new transmission.