Auto Transmission

[enowak]

For the past few months I have been having difficulties with my automatic transmission. My transmission often shifts erratically. Examples would be: When driving at cruising speeds the transmission often slams into another gear, or the transmission slams into another gear when I throttle from a rolling stop. When the aforementioned happens, it feels like somebody rear-ended my vehicle.

I've taken this into the dealer a few times, and of course, they could not recreate the problem! On my last trip to the dealer, I saw another guy bring in his 6s, and he is having the same problem.

Is anybody else going through what I am? Is there a known fix for this occurrence?

Thanks,
Eric
'03 Mazda 6s

 

[johnjay5]

i've only experienced that once while coming to a stop on the freeway, it didn't feel nice and it felt like a gear in my tranny blew! i didn't know this was another problem Mazda has.. i wish i could go back and get a civic

 

[Subghetto]

i wish i could go back and get a civic

(flame2)DIE!!!!!

 

[enowak]

johnjay5

I am not trying to curse you, but I am guessing that you might have a few more transmission problems. I started off with one strange experience like you, then months later I had more rough shifts.

I do not blame you for the Civic comment, because this has not been my only problem. The three recalls, the two check engine lights, the odd transmission problems, and the lack luster performance is getting annoying I only have 5,500 miles!

 

[MidnightDreamer]

I drive the auto as well... 47 000kms and not a single problem... cept the goddam tires! We lost 2 over a period of 2 months... there's a lot of construction where i live... both cases the puncture was too close to the side so we ended up buying new ones... and damn those tires are expensive... especially since we got the GT package with 16" wheels...

 

[johnjay5]

sorry didn't mean it that way, but i just can't seem to enjoy this car anymore other than it's looks. i don't know cars aren't made to last forever.. that's why im parting her out so i can get my subaru soon..

 

[MidnightDreamer]

LOL... I'd ditch my lady for a WRX anyday.... amen lol. Yea... the only thing this car really lacks in is engine power... If it had like 150hp i'd be totally happy with the car.

 

[Da 6]

I get that in my 6...but also got it in my neon as well...won't go back to a auto neon...ever(blah) but seriously....I get those jerking shifts on a cold tranny only or when redlining in manumatic mode. I tried gas shift gas and gas and shift with same results of the jerk as if I was doing N bombs or something. No way in hell would I do N bombs on a brand new car with 1k miles on it. other than that I like the power it has.....as stated before I came form a auto neon. Kinda like that VW comercial with the low end torque for passing.....cept I don't pass the cops

 

[ZG77_OzZ]

Eric I had the same problem they had to replace the tranny

For the past few months I have been having difficulties with my automatic transmission. My transmission often shifts erratically. Examples would be: When driving at cruising speeds the transmission often slams into another gear, or the transmission slams into another gear when I throttle from a rolling stop. When the aforementioned happens, it feels like somebody rear-ended my vehicle.

I've taken this into the dealer a few times, and of course, they could not recreate the problem! On my last trip to the dealer, I saw another guy bring in his 6s, and he is having the same problem.

Is anybody else going through what I am? Is there a known fix for this occurrence?

Thanks,
Eric
'03 Mazda 6s

 

[enowak]

I left my 6 with my dealer on Monday, and he is driving it home tonight & to work tomorrow. I am guessing that he will call me tomorrow and tell me that he could not replicate the problem hopefully after continual complaints they will replace the transmission? Yeah right!

Also, I am glad (for my sake, not yours) to hear that I am not the only person having problems. It was hard to describe what was going on, but as Da 6 stated, it feels like a harsh neutral drop!

Eric

 

[A10ZA03]

this is one of those things that everyone complained about on the mazda6club... basically your talking about the downshift from 2 to 1 am i correct? and it jerks? it's something that's come up but as far as i know there wasn't anything that could be done about it...

the jerk when you hit the gas... it's because you slowed down enough to where the the car was shifting from 2 to 1 but then hit the accelerator at the same time making the jerk that much worse... if you come to a complete stop i'm sure you'll still feel the jerk but it wouldn't be as bad...

now as for the jerk in general.. i along with a few other members have figured out a little work around.. it has to do with how you hit the brakes... if your harder on your brakes and generally come to a quick stop you're going to keep feeling this jerk... if slow down a little earlier so you're a little easier on the brakes... you won't feel the jerk... this is just something we happened to noticed happens... i'm not saying it's going to work for everyone but at least i don't get the rear ended effect anymore... basically i've found that most transmission related issues people complain about i've gotten used to it and i changed my driving habits to compensate for it...

please don't even start about the throttle lag... i'm just going to say it once... get a feel for you car and stop driving it like you did your last car.. no two cars are alike.. which means you'll have to change the way you drive... in the long run.. once you do this you'll have a much better driving experience... everyone always tries to hop in a new car and drive it like they drive their previous car... sorry it doesn't work that way... you gotta figure out the quirks...

BTW... honda transmissions aren't exactly the greatest either... my 99 prelude died after 2 years... and honda service couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong with it so they wouldn't do a damn thing about it... the manumode on that one was everything the 6 drivers wanted.. no throttle lag, no jerking... which was great when you woudl race with it... but at the same time my transmission wasn't exactly smart either... like if you were moving and you shifted from auto to stick or vice versa your whole car would feel like a buck bronco... it didn't know what gear it was supposed to be in... in the end after i got rid of that car i came to find out that because it didn't have the safety measures the 6 tranny does is why it ended up dying so quickly... both of my friends who kept the car ended up having to have theirs replaced...

 

[Da 6]

after (lurk) another post.......just realized....the motor mounts are really soft and hopefully they come out with aftermarket mounts or inserts. That should prevent the engine and tranny from moving sooo much and hopefully cut the lag in half.

 

[enowak]

I do not think that a person has to change their driving habits due to shoddy craftsmanship or lousy engineering from Mazda. This is my 17th vehicle. 15 of the 17 vehicles have been auto, and I have never had a problem like this. I do not beat on my vehicles (except for my track vehicle), nor am I an inexperienced driver.

Eric

 

[A10ZA03]

ok tell me this... did you actually test drive the car or did you take it for a spin around the block?? did you test drive the transmission you actually wanted? because i did and i noticed these things within the first 5 mins of my test drive...

so you're saying that if i get out of one ATX and hop into another i should just be able to drive exactly the same way... that i shouldn't have to change my driving habits when my husband borrows my mazda and i have to drive my dad's BMW? what about my expedition? does the same thing work for MTX? so that if i can drive my husband's del sol, then that means i should be able to hop in my dad's 64 stingray and drive the car the exact same way?

 

[funnylittlman]

You get to drive a lot of cars I'm jealous!

 

[enowak]

First of all, if you read my post properly, I stated "I do not think that a person has to change their driving habits due to shoddy craftsmanship or lousy engineering from Mazda." I did not state that a person should have to change their driving habits due to the make & model of a vehicle. Example: I would not take an Isuzu Trooper around a tight curve at 50mph, because that pig would tip!

When I was Mazda 6 shopping I drove three vehicles with the automatic transmission and V6 setup; all vehicles shifted smoothly and accurately. Also, I took my car home for the night to see if I liked it before I signed the papers. In addition, when I first drove my vehicle it had 6 miles, this lousy shifting did not occur until 1,125 miles.

Any other questions?

 

[A10ZA03]

look there's no need for the attitude.. i read your post properly and that's YOUR personal opinion which i didn't happen to agree with, which is why i posted my opinion.. last i checked it was still okay to disagree.. at least i was trying to be helpful and post up something YOU can do about it since it usually takes awhile to motivate a manufacturer to do something about it... also your the one who brought up how many vehicles you've driven.. which is why i asked the questions i asked... because yeah the type of car your driving makes a difference and being that i'm younger, pretty much all i'm used to drive were similar cars, sedans, until my last one before the 6... you made a point and i wasn't clear on it... so i asked the questions i asked to get clarification of what you meant...

i don't think it matters how many other cars you test drive to compare to unless they all have the same setup... it doesn't matter if they were all atx.. what matters is if they were the same kind of atx... the tiptronic (aka sequential shifter, sport shift, manumatic, etc..) type... it's no longer a true atx nor is it an mtx... i don't remember any others that were similar in class when i shopped for mine... i got mine feb 2003... but maybe you had others to compare to... since i only shopped for tiptronic cars my only options tended to be 4cyl sports cars/coupes so i didn't really have much to compare v6 to (not like it should really matter that much, according to a few mazda6 members they have the same issue in the 4cyl)...

maybe the "lousy shifting" was always there from the beginning and you just never noticed it... i test drove the 6 5 times, all different cars because it was in 5 different places (the same specs though, i was merely deciding which dealership i liked better since i go back there for certain servicing) they all had the same problem... sometimes we get excited about getting a new car and don't realize certain quirks until later... it has happened to me in the 6... this problem that you're having just wasn't one of them...

 

[BlueMonsta]

First of all, if you read my post properly, I stated "I do not think that a person has to change their driving habits due to shoddy craftsmanship or lousy engineering from Mazda." I did not state that a person should have to change their driving habits due to the make & model of a vehicle. Example: I would not take an Isuzu Trooper around a tight curve at 50mph, because that pig would tip!

When I was Mazda 6 shopping I drove three vehicles with the automatic transmission and V6 setup; all vehicles shifted smoothly and accurately. Also, I took my car home for the night to see if I liked it before I signed the papers. In addition, when I first drove my vehicle it had 6 miles, this lousy shifting did not occur until 1,125 miles.

Any other questions?

no questions! lol...

my temp. work around for you is, to back off the gas until the gear change is complete in manual mode. That brake thing the other gear mentioned sees utterly retarded! no offense. if ur having issues with ur tranny while braking. shift it to neutral when u stop. I have to do this on a hot day not a cold though (DUN ASK WHY I DUNNO). On MY tranny the settings are (D , S , L) .
If im on L when braking, the gear grinds when I come to a stop. I just shift to to S as it the speed drops below 40 km/h. (And no I dun use L on a daily basis, only when im rushing to work, lol)

cause in my car, it only happens from shifting 1 to 2, so I back off the gas and once i the change is complete i apply pressure to the gas pedal again.

 

[Da 6]

look there's no need for the attitude.. i read your post properly and that's YOUR personal opinion which i didn't happen to agree with, which is why i posted my opinion.. last i checked it was still okay to disagree.. at least i was trying to be helpful and post up something YOU can do about it since it usually takes awhile to motivate a manufacturer to do something about it... also your the one who brought up how many vehicles you've driven.. which is why i asked the questions i asked... because yeah the type of car your driving makes a difference and being that i'm younger, pretty much all i'm used to drive were similar cars, sedans, until my last one before the 6... you made a point and i wasn't clear on it... so i asked the questions i asked to get clarification of what you meant...

i don't think it matters how many other cars you test drive to compare to unless they all have the same setup... it doesn't matter if they were all atx.. what matters is if they were the same kind of atx... the tiptronic (aka sequential shifter, sport shift, manumatic, etc..) type... it's no longer a true atx nor is it an mtx... i don't remember any others that were similar in class when i shopped for mine... i got mine feb 2003... but maybe you had others to compare to... since i only shopped for tiptronic cars my only options tended to be 4cyl sports cars/coupes so i didn't really have much to compare v6 to (not like it should really matter that much, according to a few mazda6 members they have the same issue in the 4cyl)...

maybe the "lousy shifting" was always there from the beginning and you just never noticed it... i test drove the 6 5 times, all different cars because it was in 5 different places (the same specs though, i was merely deciding which dealership i liked better since i go back there for certain servicing) they all had the same problem... sometimes we get excited about getting a new car and don't realize certain quirks until later... it has happened to me in the 6... this problem that you're having just wasn't one of them...

as for build quality I still say it is good even with the recalls compared to oter vehicles i had the pleasure or pain of driving. Had a noen and hit 1 pothole and it needed an alignment ASAP where as my 6 was hit by a similar model as a UPS truck and still drives in a straigh line! my only disagreement is why is it a sport auto if you shift.......then gas then shift.........and gas to prevent it from shifting like it does? Has anyone found the grounding kit or DIY MM inserts minimizing or eliminating this problem?

I just shift to to S as it the speed drops below 40 km/h. (And no I dun use L on a daily basis, only when im rushing to work, lol)

Ok can someone explain this one to me cause im lost like richard simmons in compton (smoke)

 

[enowak]

I can assure you that I am not trying to be rude or crabby to others on this site. I truly appreciate everybodys stories and advice.

I am almost certain that my 6 has a defect. I could be overreacting, but from my experience with automobiles, things usually get worse... cars just do not fix themselves (insert Night Rider joke here).