Mazda3 ATX 2nd gear acceleration lag (Please help)

[Mazda3#]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1st gen 2009 Mazda 3 2.0L Automatic with 120K miles, for the past 3 months I've had this annoying problem; when I slow down (say for a speed ramp or s/thing) from any speed to around 15mph, the car shifts down as it should to 2nd gear & as soon as I want to accelerate again & let go of the brake & push down on the gas pedal there's a 2-3 second lag with the revs sticking for 1-2 seconds & then the car accelerates. No Check Engine Light or any other problems seen. Gearbox shifts normally through gears.

It's taken me ages to go through the following but no joy so far!!!!!!!

checked;

coils & plugs (NGK Laser Iridium)
air cleaner
cleaned MAF,
purge solenoid valve
MAP
fuel filter
EGR
No apparent vacuum leaks
cleaned the throttle body
reset ECU & let it run for 20mins etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sleeprp5]

My sister just got a 2005 3 hatch with a 2.3. She made similar comments about the tranny. I cleaned the throttle body and ran a ground wire from 1 of the 4 mounting bolts on it over to the body mounting bolt for the battery ground. I got the idea from posts on here and thought- its almost free and ive already got the tb off for cleaning so why not try it. After that I reset the ecu and had her drive it. She says it shifts better especially on the downshift and that the lag is gone when gassing it after deceleration. Opinions vary on the grounding mod but it worked in her case maybe for you too?

 

[concept]

When was the transmission fluid last changed? If you don't know, try doing a drain and fill. Take a look at the color and smell. It should be red with some brown in it - not black.