Mazda 3 GT Auto Tranny Crapping out

[M3Bird]

I have a Mazda 3 GT '07 that I bought new. Its approaching 3 years and almost at 50,000 miles.

Long story short:
I got the tranny fluid replaced for the first time, at about 48k, at a local shop with ATF MAX LIFE 55 (I know Mazda "recommends" their M-V fluid, but I read about other people having success with different fluids, excluding Mercon). The mechanic reported the old fluid was extremely dark and dirty. At first the AT shifted smoothly with no problems - just as it had always done. A few sounds from what appeared to be the tires slipping when shifting. Then some jerky shifts, and hard knocks. Then more hard knocks, AT light came on, failure to shift, and one time even the reverse not working. The problem seemed to be shifting into or out of 3rd gear, and hard kicks when coming to a stop from 3rd to 1st. This was gradual, intermittent, for about 3 weeks.

I took it to a Mazda dealer and they flushed it with M-V. The problem persisted. They said if they needed to replace the AT, it would be covered by the powertrain warranty.

It just seems really striking to me that with only 50 k, 3 yrs, and driving mostly at constant speed in highways, the tranny fluid would get so dirty, and with only a short time on a different fluid it would screw up this bad.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, and especially any other shifting probs with the 3rd gear?

The owner's manual says nothing directly about replacing the tranny fluid (only inspecting the clutch fluid - clutch is only for manual, no?!), and does not even mention the type of fluid to use!

I really hope the warranty covers this...

 

[SRH_3GT]

Keep me posted about this one since I have an '08 GT Hatch with an auto trans. My car is close to 30k miles. No problems with mine at this time, although, I do want to take it and race on autocross and road racing in the near future.

Stephen

 

[M3Bird]

SRH_3GT:

If you get your tranny fluid flushed/changed etc, Id go with the Mazda Motorcraft V (M-V), or whatever other fluid Mazda "recommends" for your specific car. Also, take it to a VERY reputable place to get it done (you can buy the fluid at a Mazda dealership and take it elsewhere). Spending those extra bucks will definitely be worth it, as the transmission could be 10% the value of your car!

Im still surprised how my transmission deteriorated... If anyone has any thoughts on this please share.

 

[joshritger]

I also have an 07 hatch that has had the automatic transmission replaced. I had about 15,000 miles on my car and it never seemed to shift decent. I took it to the dealer three times before they changed my transmission. I am now at 40,000 miles and it shifts ok, but not nearly as good as it should. I haven't changed the fluid yet since it only has 25,000 on the fluid that was put in after my transmission was warrantied. I have done some research and was thinking about putting either redline atf or amsoil atf in when I get it changed. They both claim to meet Mazda's ATF-MV standard. Mine shifts, just not as quick or as smoothly as I would like. It also seems to take a lot to get it to take off from a rolling stop, say I am rolling up to a stoplight and the light turns green, my car is still in 3rd and when I step on it, it takes a lot to get it to down shift and take off.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[SRH_3GT]

SRH_3GT:

If you get your tranny fluid flushed/changed etc, Id go with the Mazda Motorcraft V (M-V), or whatever other fluid Mazda "recommends" for your specific car. Also, take it to a VERY reputable place to get it done (you can buy the fluid at a Mazda dealership and take it elsewhere). Spending those extra bucks will definitely be worth it, as the transmission could be 10% the value of your car!

Im still surprised how my transmission deteriorated... If anyone has any thoughts on this please share.

I take my Mazda to the Ford, Lincoln Mercury dealership where my dad is a main Manager. There are 3 Mazda dealerships down here, two are owned by the same place, and I do not trust them what so ever. I've already advised that to Mazda. I have no problem paying extra money to make sure everything last a long time. That is why I'm using sythetic oil, Mobil 1 if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks for your remarks!!

 

[M3Bird]

I got a new transmission!

Its been driving great, just as good as before I had my first fluid changed (which was when the problems started). Im going to look into getting an extended warranty, the total was around $2200 - original powertrain warranty covered it ...

joshritger -
some more observations on my old faulty transmission: when the AT started acting up, it would also sometimes take forever to kick up into 3rd gear. I got around that by reving up, then completely releasing the gas. The problems seemed to appear mostly when the car had been running at least 20 mins on steady highway conditions. The fluid level would get very high. Dont know if its normal for it to expand so much (due to heat id guess) from "normal" level to way above the high mark.

Im not convinced about this whole "you have to change the transmission fluid" thing. There are people with modern cars that drive for 100k plus miles, their AT are perfectly fine, then they change their oil, and guess what, AT goes to s***. Ive read some bloggers that say if your fluid is already very dirty at that mileage, changing it will definitely cause AT failure as the new fluid will act as a detergent to remove the remaining "glue" holding the parts together. If so, and the AT was running fine before, why ever change the fluid, then?

 

[joshritger]

I dunno what to tell you, glad to hear that you got yours fixed under warranty. My original transmission had problems, I think the one I have now is way better, but I don't think it is perfect. I also think something is messed up with my traction control and that may play a part in it. It drives much better when I disable the traction control. My car got rear-ended when it only had 800 miles on it, since then it acted weird. The only damage was the rear bumper cover and sub bumper. I am wondering if something in the traction control system wasn't messed up. Oh well, it is only a car.

 

[GTXT23]

I got a new transmission!

Its been driving great, just as good as before I had my first fluid changed (which was when the problems started). Im going to look into getting an extended warranty, the total was around $2200 - original powertrain warranty covered it ...

joshritger -
some more observations on my old faulty transmission: when the AT started acting up, it would also sometimes take forever to kick up into 3rd gear. I got around that by reving up, then completely releasing the gas. The problems seemed to appear mostly when the car had been running at least 20 mins on steady highway conditions. The fluid level would get very high. Dont know if its normal for it to expand so much (due to heat id guess) from "normal" level to way above the high mark.

Im not convinced about this whole "you have to change the transmission fluid" thing. There are people with modern cars that drive for 100k plus miles, their AT are perfectly fine, then they change their oil, and guess what, AT goes to s***. Ive read some bloggers that say if your fluid is already very dirty at that mileage, changing it will definitely cause AT failure as the new fluid will act as a detergent to remove the remaining "glue" holding the parts together. If so, and the AT was running fine before, why ever change the fluid, then?

Well- A tranny problem ---Its an interesting thing because after much research and cross-examination about the transmission and its life expectancy there seems to be a FINE LINE between when you change it and when its to late . translation ---to early and the damn thing wont shift correctly and can slipp and act funny as the friction has been upset before it properly broken in ...then if its been underfilled thats a BIGGIE ---but going on - if you go past the point of getting it changed on time --whcih everybody and thier pet rock will tell you differently what happens with trans fluid is weird --when it breaks down ----you are literally wearing the trans at 10-20 X the NORMAL rate when the fluid had proper viscosity --they have a test that can be done --kinda like a pool chlorine test that shows where your at --make sure you are dealing with somebody that knows thier arse from a whole in the ground ,....and that eliminates many many techs that just came out of the wyo-tech school of shade tree wrenching and they have your baby by the bollox and havent the first clue what to do but deffer to the manual ---thats not good enough --transmissions are like women -- no two the same yet none can be figured out nor treated exactly the same way ---stay on top of your tranny ...if you get my analogy.

 

[rnaz1017]

my 2004 Automatic has about 130k on it now, shifts great still. All I've been doing is just doing the transmissions services on time about $150 at the Mazda dealer since flush it out/ charge 1 hour of labor + fluid etc.

Most modern cars that have serviceable transmissions get there services every 30-60k...some gearboxes are sealed and don't require service at all..most of these transmissions don't see much past 100-150k before problems start coming in. VW is a big believer in these gearboxes, most of their automatics from 2000+ that weren't DSG were of this type and most never made it to anything past 150k without issues..with many failing much earlier. A lot of modern BMW's VW's and Hyundai's use sealed boxes from ZF Trans. Excellent transmissions but again sealed units..ZF warranties there gearboxes for 100k so hell...maybe they'll last a while?? But still...i'll take a serviceable one over a non serviceable one anyday.....it would def make my choice between if i'm going to lease or buy a certain car.