whats up with mazda trannys?

[JOS3]

first my fiances brother had his replaced at 11,000 miles, now my sisters protege is leaking tranny fluid at 8,500 miles. it couldnt come at a more inconvenient time. we were going to take her car to florida when we leave on saturday, now we may have to take my p5. im really losing faith in mazda. 3 proteges, 2 jacked up trannys, and im waiting for mine to start acting up.

it should be coming up soon, i was driving home from playing basketball on sunday and my car suddenly jerked like i had hit something but there was nothing in the road. i was doing about 40 and then................BAM! its only a matter of time. ive got 3 years left to pay and i was planning on keeping it, but i think i may have to trade it in..............................................

 

[DrAsperigus]

Is it automatics or manuals that have all the trouble?

 

[JOS3]

we all have the sport automatic, which may answer the question right there.....................

 

[REMillers]

Do you all use your sport shift alot, or just occasionally?
I have the sport shift to and at 23k in less than a year with no problems plus I use the shift alot when racing.

 

[DrAsperigus]

I drove the sport automatic version and hated it.

STICK RULZ!!!

 

[iLisa]

I drove the sport automatic version and hated it.

STICK RULZ!!!

I agree.. I love my stick.

 

[spazspike]

Sounds like the sport shift is the weakest link. Perhaps something with the electronics and solenoids that control the shift points.

As Millers asked... do you use the 'sport' feature a lot? I've been extremely gentle with mine, only to use it infrequently and under light load (non-aggressively).

I remember a member had serious problems with his and traded it in for a Mazda6 (ironically with sport-matic) and he used his constantly.

Remember... it's still an automatic.

 

[DrAsperigus]

If you have to use the sport-matic transmission lightly then it totally defeats the purpose of being "sport-matic". IMHO

 

[spazspike]

If you have to use the sport-matic transmission lightly then it totally defeats the purpose of being "sport-matic". IMHO

Perhaps. I find it useful when going up/down a steep hill. I don't race my grocery runner but having control over acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear is the big thing. Not to mention under normal automatic gearing the car seems to go to 4th gear as quickly as possible.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

there have been more than a few people with the manual (on this forum a while back) who have had them break, pop out of gear or simply lock up. I was surprised when I blew my engine to bits, locked up the crank that I did not blow mine. The transmission from the 626, which is schematically the same but has different synchros, does not have these issues. If mine ever blows I'm looking for a rebuilt 626 trans.

 

[MP5driva03]

I love my car, and the only problems I have had with it have been with the tranny. IN MY OPINION, the tranny's in our cars suck.

 

[PeaB0dy]

Be Glad you don't have a Chrysler Transmission..

A company in the past century selling 3 speed auto's in a car..

The gearing went like this..
1st would take you to 80km/h
2nd to 120km/h
3rd, no idea, what ever it tops out at..

The thing shifts better hard, when floored then just a slow cruise. The thing always feels like it's gonna break, but disappointingly still hasn't.

O'well, I am sure it'll be fixed, warranty is a great thing, but I have read that others with the 2k2 trans have had rpobs too, and they aren't sport-o-matic or whatever you call it..

Damn, only a few more weeks, I hate it, I want to burn this thing..

Burn neon, BURN!!!

 

[Micah]

I have the AT with Sport Mode. I use the sport mode, not all the time, maybe once every week or so.

I check my fluids about 2 times a month, nothing leaks, but I always keep an eye on things.

I've got 23,000 miles on my car right now. Haven't had a single problem. Got the car with 166 miles on it, changed it to Synthetic at 500 miles, changed it again at 1500 miles, then every 3000 since. Just installed the turbo, been driving it lightly to break in the turbo. Changing the oil tommorrow. My tranny is fine, works really nice with the turbo. Shifts very smooth, fast - but smooth.

I'm betting the people who are having problems with their tranny don't know how to drive correctly. Most of my friends who have tranny problems drive gas, brake, repeat. I've always tried to be smooth with my car, I never go back and forth from stomping on the gas to the brakes. In fact I usually just lightly rest my foot on the gas pedal, or push on it slightly. When I need to accellerate, I slowly push my foot down, then slowly let it off.

It's all about the load on your engine and tranny. Stomping on the gas just puts more stress on your cars drivetrain. Our cars have a decent amount of torque to provide, but stomping on the gas is the wrong way to go about accelleration(sp?). Of course, this is just my opinion, but I haven't had a tranny problem yet. And I've owned 6 cars.

 

[mikesmazda155]

I had a terrible problem with my tranny. A piece came out that made it keep popping out of 5th gear. I took it to the shop the next day, and they said that a cover popped off, and my tranny fluid leaked out thank God I used red line the mechanic said that if I had the stock tranny fluid in I would not have my original tranny. He said that I drove for atleast a few miles with no tranny fluid accept what was covering the internals of my transmission.

 

[WayneTeK]

I'm starting to worry..........

I have a sport shift function too on my 2003.5 Mazda Protege 5....

But about the sport shift feature, even Acura TL's and Cl's have problems with it.. They have to get their sport shift tranny rebuilt at 28,000 ~ 35,000 miles for those who use it a lot......

I've been reading up on this, and I think it's a problem with many other cars.

 

[Mike R]

Yeah, chryslers are horrible. Parents minivans both have had a bunch of trannies. As for the sport-shift I wonder how well they made the setup. I put a shift kit in my Vic (AOD, same as stang OD automatic) and it lasted for a long time(60,000 HARD miles)-and I manually shifted that thing all the time. BUT, if you manually shifted that tranny STOCK it would engage like 3rd gear then second when shifting 1-2 wearing the tranny out realy quick. Sometimes the manufacturer just does a poor job...

Wonder if anybody makes a shift kit for the sport shift, that usually extends tranny life a good bit, same with a big tranny cooler.

 

[mctoone]

If I don't use the sport shift..just keep it in Drive...I shouldn't have problems with my tranny?

 

[Humvee]

Good luck, I have a 2002, no sport-shift and I'm on my 3rd tranny in 35,000km (20k miles?)

 

[Micah]

I've got 23,000 miles, since I bought the car in October 2002, haven't had a single problem(knock on wood) and now it's turbocharged. Still tuning it, but currently running up to 7-8psi.

I keep a fairly tight eye on maintaining my cars. I intend to see at least 150,000 miles on my car, which at the current rate, will be in roughly 4.5 years.

 

[JOS3]

alright, it was a false alarm. apparently, she had a few bolts that had come loose causing her fluid to leak. i asked them if there were any metal shavings in the fluid and they said that they didnt see any. they said they did a 27-point inspection on the rest of the car and they didnt see anything wrong. so, i guess it wasnt that bad.

to answer a few questions- i really dont use the sport mode at all and neither does my sister, but my fiances brother uses it all the time.

also, i talked to a guy that has a prelude with sport shift and his dealer told him that they had tons of problems with it. they also told him that if he ever ruins his tranny he is going to have to convert it to either an auto or manual because they dont make preludes anymore andthose trannys are not easy to find.