My MZ3 is not shifting to reverse! Help...

simple_MZ3

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2004 Mazda 3 SP5
Well just about an hour ago i turned on the car at my university and when i shift to reverse (my car is shifttronic) it didn't catch it... Good thing i was parallel parked so i shift to drive and got on my way. Then later i noticed that my car is shifting late to 3rd.

I have a thermostat that sends a bad signal and turns on my check engine.

Could this be the cause of my problems?
 
I doubt the thermostat effects your AT. How old is your MZ3? Still under warranty right? Take it into Mazda...
 
Nope. Don't know much of anything about the AT, sorry. Sounds like an issue with your forks(?) tho (if it were a MT)... Unless you are going to teardown and/or swap a new trans in, just take it to a transmisison shop and let them diagnose it.

*shift solenoid, ya thats what I meant. (lol2) thx gothkid.
 
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forks? its not a mani, sounds like a failing solenoid. not hard to check either, if u can get the car in the air, check resistance on all 5 shift solenoids. im not clear on which is 3rd/reverse but if u check all 5 it should be clear which one is failing. pins A,C, and G on the harness should have 1-4.2 ohms of resistance. pins D and F should have 10.9- 26.2 ohms or resistance.

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pin A is shift solenoid A
pin C is shift solenoid B
pin G is shift solenoid C
pin D is shift solenoid D
pin F is shift solenoid E

this should tell you which solenoid is bad. if this is confusing just let me know ill help any way i can
 
Gothkid, thanks for the advice. I'll be doing this first thing in the morning, just have a few questions, since i havn't looked for the solenoid yet it would be nice for a heads up on how to remove it (if it has to be removed), and, this might sound like a lame question but, if it is effectively the solenoid then i imagine it would have to be replaced so how much do they run for?
 
i took my car to various diagnostic centers and they have all told me the clutch is slipping i and would need to repair my tranny. :( its going to cost me $1100. Good thing i have a job... oh wait i don't... :(
 
diagnostic centers only can tell you so much, the clutch could be slipping because of a failing or clogged solenoid, there is no way to test this with out the ohm test i posted, and most diag. centers wont test that, its a dealship thing, and even they might not bother with it. most techs would rather run a rebuild on it because it pays better. besides, replacing the solenoid would cost about 50 bucks for the part, 100 at most, the rebuild kit is about 600 i think. and labor is gonna be about 500 for a rebuild.
 
Well now im having problems with 2nd as well. Its not the same delay, its worse. Could this still be the solenoids?
 
depends, that could be the same solenoid, but if your having problems with multiple gears, then it may in fact need new clutch packs, or it is possible the fluid passages are clogged. a rebuild would fix these problems, unfortunately, you might have to suck it up and pay for it. they only other option would be to find a junkyard tranny for about 50 bucks, and swap it. or a mani swap, but thats pretty in depth. if u think your skilled enough to swap trannies, i would check the prices of new trannies or rebuilt ones. level ten may have what your looking for.
 
Sorry to say my mecanic savy isn't up to a tranny swap so I will just have to pay for the repair. I should have the car in the shop this weekend if all goes well. I just pray to god that they don't ding or scratch my car. :(
 
Well its been a while but i have to say mechanics here suck... Aprox. $1000 and the car is just how it was before... apparently it was just the solenoids, but the mechanic wants me to buy them... after paying him over $1000 to repair a non broken tranny... what a rip off...
 
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