Checkin to see if anybody has had this issue. My new-to-me 2008 touring runs & drives awesome except for 1 annoyance. It seems to want to get to 6th gear as fast as possible, presumably for mileage reasons. However, in many instances, it jerks back down into 5th and seems to be hunting for the right gear. The transition is not smooth. This happens when starting up hills at around 45 mph. The fluid was changed but that did not help. The transmission is very smooth except for this.
Transmission issue
- Thread starter CXNiner
- Start date
You may take it to the dealer and see what they say...it might be normal. Being that this car gets pretty bad gas mileage, they have programmed the trans to seek gears 4 - 6 whenever possible. Even when driving like 15mph it goes into 4th...really? It deffinately seeks for a lower gear that I do not prefer when driving at very low speeds. I don't like the low growling at really low rpm when it makes everything rattle in the front end (plastic radiator support, dash etc all rattling), so the alternative is to use manual gear selecting. I love driving a manual trans...if it were up to me, and I were president, I would outlaw automatic transmissions. I had a VW Passat VR6 5 speed...I didn't drive around at 25mph in 5th gear, but this is what the cx-9 auto trans wants to get best gas mileage I guess.
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- 2022 CX-5 Turbo
+1
For later model years, Mazda revise the gear shifting program to "fit" EPA test cycle.
The result is it shifts to higher gears sooner to save gas. In most cases, the 3.7L has enough torque to pull it off.
On a hill, though, you might run into a grey area where it keeps going back and forth between two gears.
Same thing happened to my Honda Odyssey before.
If you have changed the fluid, there is very little you can do. Ask your dealer if there is any transmission
program update. Mine received one, thanks to a AT temp sensor issue back in 2007/8 model years (loss of power on hill).
I wonder if you are modulating the gas pedal, and forcing an abrupt shift when the car doesn't want to shift. Next time maybe try to put on the cruise control before going up the hill while you are in 6th, and see what the car does to maintain that speed while going up the hill, i.e. will it gear hunt, or simply drop into a lower gear and stay there to maintain the speed.
When I am in 6th and going up a hill, I find that I have to depress the gas pedal quite a bit to force a shift down to 5th, and then it seems to overdo it a bit, i.e. the torque converter quicks in or something because the rpms shoot up. A small release of the gas pedal will cause it to go back in 6th. This is why I am suggesting to put on the cruise control and see what the car wants to do without driver interference.
When I am in 6th and going up a hill, I find that I have to depress the gas pedal quite a bit to force a shift down to 5th, and then it seems to overdo it a bit, i.e. the torque converter quicks in or something because the rpms shoot up. A small release of the gas pedal will cause it to go back in 6th. This is why I am suggesting to put on the cruise control and see what the car wants to do without driver interference.
