Nitpicks with Auto Protege5

[stringj]

I purchased a Protege5 in February with an automatic transmission. There are three things about this car that I can't and won't stand.
1. Lock-up torque converter that doesn't lock up like I think it should. I previously had a Honda Accord wagon that once you reached approx. 45 MPH the torque converter locked up and stayed locked up until your speed dropped to below approx. 45 MPH. My Protege is locking up, but if you speed up 2 MPH and let off the gas with the cruise set, the speed drops and when the cruise kicks in the torque converter unlocks and then relocks.
2. The cruise control is also problematic to me. It drops speed when set and then speeds back up (causing the torque converter to unlock and relock). It also doesn't maintain a set speed as well as other cruise controls I've encountered (on other cars of course).
3. Related to both above, if I set the cruise at 70 MPH and sometime after tap the brakes, the cruise control releases as it should. But if I then speed up to 68 MPH and then tap Resume, the car downshifts and revs up to approx. 4500 RPM and after hanging there for a few seconds, it shifts back into overdrive and the torque converter locks up.
I haven't driven the car in over 3 months as this bugs me to no end (YES, I am anal about this).
Since the repair manuals still aren't available at my dealer, are the transmission shift profiles and torque converter lock up controlled electronically (so I have a remote possibility of being able to modify them)?

Jerry Stringer

 

[frankd53]

How about you forget that the car even has cruise? Then all your nagging 'problems' will go away. I have an automatic P5 as well, and would not think of ever using cruise. Can't think of anything that distracts more from the driving experience in any car. If you are hung up on cruise control then maybe the P5 is the wrong car for you anyways and you could trade it for a Volvo or something.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

You purchase a car and don't drive it for three months? Wow, wish I had that kind of disposable cash. In my opinion, take the car back, trade it in for a stickshift model and drive it. Trying to fiddle or reprog the transmission would be a mighty big waste of time in my mind. Not to be a complete dick here, but didn't you get a feel for these things when you test drove the car?

 

[TheHonzaP5]

Like Captain said, get a stickshift!!!!

It's the only way to have fun with this car.

 

[Don]

This torque converter doesn't know it's installed in a "station wagon," and it's behaving more like it should in a "sports car" with an automatic transmission - Now there's an oxymoron

For everyone like you who thinks the torque converter should lock up and stay locked up, there are 100 others who appreciate that it "anticipates" the need for a little more torque, and unlocks early so as to be able to provide you with what the engine probably needs - A better gear ratio so as to be able to gain a couple mph without a large throttle setting change.

My wife's last car (before the P5) was a Mitsu with an automatic (the first auto we'd had in 30 years) and it never ceased to amaze me, doing exactly the things you describe that you HATE. I LOVED the "sensitivity" of the torque converter, locking and unlocking as needed to keep the engine in the "productive" RPM band, and getting the most out of the little 4 banger. A V-6 or a V-8 may not "need" all these gyrations, but the little 4's need all the help they can get, and a locked converter is pretty hard to overcome, with the torque figures a small 4 cylinder can provide.

I DO agree with the others, that a 5 speed is the answer to ALL these type problems when one drives a 4 cylinder car . . . too bad we couldn't have got one in the Mitsu - Our "record" would still be PERFECT.

If you think your torque converter and your cruise control are incompatible now, try to imagine what you would have with a torque converter that was even less sensitive to the needs of the engine than the one you have now

Don

 

[stringj]

I couldn't agree more that I purchased the wrong car. Purchased on looks alone and am paying the price. While I did test drive the car, I didn't pay enough attention to the things I should have. Based on the posts so far, I am assuming I am well above the median age of owners here. I work 50 miles away from where I live so a cruise control isn't just nice, to me it's a necessity. Trust me, I know now to really research any future purchase before hand.
Can anyone with the shop manuals answer my previous question?

Jerry

 

[frankd53]

I couldn't agree more that I purchased the wrong car. Purchased on looks alone and am paying the price. While I did test drive the car, I didn't pay enough attention to the things I should have. Based on the posts so far, I am assuming I am well above the median age of owners here. I work 50 miles away from where I live so a cruise control isn't just nice, to me it's a necessity. Trust me, I know now to really research any future purchase before hand.
Can anyone with the shop manuals answer my previous question?

Jerry [/QUOTE

Not sure I agree that age has anything to with whether the P5 is the right car for someone. I just turned 49, also much higher also than the 'median age' of people hanging out here, but I have not regretted the decision to buy a P5 (automatic) for one second in the 4 months we have had it (my wife is the primary driver). Your comment that you bought the car on 'looks alone' says it all. I doubt if anyone will be able to help you to change the transmission behaviour with cruise control. I have tried the cruise control once on a highway trip, more for entertainment value than anything else, and did not notice the behaviour you mention.

 

[MP5Raycer]

transmission

well to add to this .. the first thing I did is removed the cruze control the air bag and replaced the stering wheel with a 13" red leather Grant Gt wheel so I took care of that but i do have a transmission problem .. I got the 5 speed and when I get on it hard it pops out of gear also when i am in gear and accelorating with one finger I can push it out of 3rd right into 4th with out any strain at all. its like pushing a peice of paper accros a desk its that easy ???????????? i hate mazda transmissions .. i thing they set a self distructoin timmer at 100,000 miles but i only have like 6,000 on mine

 

[banned bandit]

mazda's automatic tranies have never bin very good, the MX6 and the 626 used to have a transmision clunking problem when the car was driven cold...i prefure manual anyways

 

[hihoslva]

For everyone like you who thinks the torque converter should lock up and stay locked up, there are 100 others who appreciate that it "anticipates" the need for a little more torque, and unlocks early so as to be able to provide you with what the engine probably needs - A better gear ratio so as to be able to gain a couple mph without a large throttle setting change.

Don

AGREED!

About 50% of the time, I regret buying an auto - I love driving a stick, but I got my P5 pretty early in the production run (last June, so I've had it well over a year) and I couldn't get a 5-speed off the lot (or off any lots within 80 miles or so) and I needed the car ASAP when I bought it.

My only complaint about the auto stems from my years of enjoying a stick shift - the tranny shifts too early under moderate acceleration. I'm accustomed to winding out the gears in a manual, basically shifiting as little as possible - even when not accelerating briskly. I'd love to re-program the tranny to shift later, but it's not a huge deal.

The lockup sensitivity (for unlocking) is great, IMO. No need to mash the gas for a downshift or deal with a total slug when only trying to gain 5 MPH or so. And the O/D button kicks ass - my own little turbo boost. Again, no need to mash the gas to get a kickdown and a little more oomph.

~HH