Worrying Transmission Symptoms

K

Katner

Member
:
2008 Mazda5 Grand Touring
My 5 is exhibiting some strange symptoms lately and I'm hoping some of you guys can comment on any of these issues. My 5 is an '08 with the 5-speed auto.

Lately I've noticed:

-When accelerating from stand-still, once the car gears up to 2nd it has very poor power and I find myself having to really increase throttle input to keep acceleration linear through that gear.

-At any speed or RPM, the car takes too much throttle input to gear-down and make power. I am constantly flooring it to get the thing to drop a gear and get going (no this isn't just the classic issue of this car being slow, it's genuinely different than when I bought the car). Sometimes I don't even get a gear-change.

-There have been several times where I've been at an intersection, creeping forward in the left-turn lane, FLOORED it, and instead of gearing down to first I get a little noise for almost TWO SECONDS, and then finally a gear-change down to first and off we go.


Anyone able to offer an opinion on possible causes or fixes? Are these symptoms common?
 
Man, we can get you going in the right direction with some more information. 1.) How many miles do you have? 2.) Has the tranny fluid ever been changed? 3.) Is engine operation seemingly normal? 4.) Has anything other than the tranny been serviced?
 
I'm gonna check on the tranny fluid color in a bit here. The car is outside and it's basically a winter storm out there.

My car has 56,000kms on it so 35,000 miles. I've given it all the regular Mazda scheduled service with the exception of the 48,000 km (30,000 miles) service. Other than that there has been no direct servicing of the transmission.

Engine seems fine. Sometimes I think I hear what sounds kind of like an exhaust leak, but I can't be sure.


Thanks for the quick responses btw.
 
Well an exhaust leak doesn't come and go, as you know, so we need to look at something else. Plus, and exhaust leak doesn't transform operation of the drivetrain like you're describing the problems to be. If you really believe the transmission is the problem, then the obvious first step is to flush the transmission. We've seen pictures on here of transmissions with less than 20000 miles where the fluid was dirty. If the problem is exactly as you describe it, I would guess that there is an electronic part malfuntioning on your transmission. Do you not think that your dealer would immediately notice a problem? The way you describe it makes it sound like something a dealer would easily notice. What you describe sounds serious enough that I'm having trouble figuring out why you ask a forum for advice. Maybe you're 100 miles from a dealer? Please describe.
 
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I just changed my atf fluid the other day at 45,000km on an 08. It had been a brown colour for a while(actually, too long) and the dealership was going to change it. I changed it myself to synthetic but that's another story. I had been getting a funny noise(like a solenoid or some type of switch) when I first went into reverse and the engine was cold and that seems to have gone away with the fluid change.

Based on how fast these transmissions discolor the atf, you have to wonder if the breakdown of the atf is responsible and that a change might just fix your problem. Although, it does sound fairly serious.

I can tell you that I went in for the 40,000 service and the shop never mentioned the colour and I know that it was brown back then, so I don't have complete faith for them to catch these things in time.

Not having the 48,000 service shouldn't matter as they biggest thing they do is service the brakes along with an oil change. But I guess they would have checked the atf in theory at that service and given you a recommendation if they thought it needed changing.
 
Sheesh, life is too busy for me. Fortunately I was able to park my 5 and use my mo-in-law's car for the last two weeks. But I got out and checked the ATF today and it was absolutely horrid. It's kind of despicable I think. With how many Mazda3 trannys that go, you would think that they would upgrade the fluid or something because I'd guess most first time mazda owners would think like me and not expect to have to perform a flush/change until ~80,000k. My old Civic didn't show real discoloring until over 100,000k.

At any rate I'm going to do a flush/change of the fluid tomorrow and then see what happens to the gear changes etc.

The service manager at my dealership said that either way these cars start to show transmission wear early and it's just part of having this vehicle. Makes me want to avoid automatic mazda's in the future.

rscottg said:
I just changed my atf fluid the other day at 45,000km on an 08. It had been a brown colour for a while(actually, too long) and the dealership was going to change it. I changed it myself to synthetic but that's another story. I had been getting a funny noise(like a solenoid or some type of switch) when I first went into reverse and the engine was cold and that seems to have gone away with the fluid change.

Based on how fast these transmissions discolor the atf, you have to wonder if the breakdown of the atf is responsible and that a change might just fix your problem. Although, it does sound fairly serious.

I can tell you that I went in for the 40,000 service and the shop never mentioned the colour and I know that it was brown back then, so I don't have complete faith for them to catch these things in time.

Not having the 48,000 service shouldn't matter as they biggest thing they do is service the brakes along with an oil change. But I guess they would have checked the atf in theory at that service and given you a recommendation if they thought it needed changing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the intel. I had no idea that the fluid in these cars broke down so fast. I'm doing the flush this week and we'll see what happens to the symptoms I mentioned.
 
I think that the power steering and cheap transmission problems point to a systemic problem at Mazda. yes, I know all cars have issues, but these are critical components for both safety and functionality. If I don't see significant efforts to address these matters now and also on future models, this will be my last Mazda. Combine these problems with typically bad dealership service and you have one seriously huge headache to worry about hitting at a bad time.
 
Katner said:
The service manager at my dealership said that either way these cars start to show transmission wear early and it's just part of having this vehicle. Makes me want to avoid automatic mazda's in the future.
Click to expand...


You often see 200,000 mi automatic-trans cars, but almost all of the cars over 300,000 with the original tranny are manuals. I didn't search out my Touring MT to have fun, but because I only want to buy this car only ONCE. When all my kids are out of the house, and I need an economical car for continental travel to each of 4 different cities to visit grandkids, but that also has a senior-friendly seating position and easy access to the cargo area, I can see driving my 5 around ... in the 2030s!

(omg)
 
Auto transmissions are full of clutch packs and other wearing surfaces. Many of which are small and will wear out over time no matter what. Fluid changes are the best way to prevent accelerated wear from suspended solids and improper friction coefficients. Most automatic transmission fluid I have ever seen with 20k or more miles on it has been slightly to very brown and function just fine. Color is a very subjective way to tell if the condition of the fluid. Regular oil changes is the only way to go, pick an interval and stick to it. 30~50k is probably ok imo. Sooner if your trans starts acting differently but even then there are so many variables for trans problems.

I would think that with these transmissions tuned for zoom zoom they will shift qhicker, meaning they shift harder, meaning they wear faster. I'd bet the honda shifted so smooth you could barely feel it, and if it was a 4 cyl there was no power to abuse the trans.

Those symptoms sound like a mechanical/electrical failure. Perhaps its not seeing throttle position, a shift solenoid could be out, etc. I doubt fluid change will help other than exchange the stuff that is full of clutch material from improper functioning. I'd get a diagnostic done on it.
 
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I have found tranny flushes at 30K intervals to be the way to go. My '06 F150 started this funny behavior downshifting from second when I had about 31,000 on it so I had the dealer flush it. Problem solved. It started doing it again at about 58,000 miles. I did it again. Problem solved. The way auto trannies work makes the fluid and its properties a critical component to operation. There is no comparison to changing engine oil. I can't imagine knowing what we know about these trannies and going over 30K miles with the fluid. Don't do it.
 
AIMWO4 said:
After 2 Saabs w/ autos, I got a Mazda5 w/ a manual.
Click to expand...

Did you not like your Saabs? I've had 8 and still have one.

86 900 Turbo
89 900 SPG
88 900 SPG
93 9000 Aero
94 9000 Aero
99 9-5 SE
00 9-5 Aero wagon
02 9-5 Aero

The only Saab I have at the moment is my modded 94 Aero with about 380HP. I traded in our 02 9-5 for the Mazda5.

Back on track with this thread I checked my 5's tranny fluid and although it was not the same color out of the can it was not too bad at all. My 5 just hit 21K miles. I must say I am a bit worried about my 5 with all the people here with funky colored fluid. Glad I have these forums to come too so I can find out what to look for.
 
Robotaz is right on that the fluid is the most important part of the tranny. IMO color isn't an indication of condition. Ours was the blackest I've ever seen at 44k and it ran flawless. I just changed it for good measure, used O'Reilly Global ATF. Its more money than regular stuff but not as much as synthetics or the dealership. There's a couple threads about self flushing, I contributed what I did to one of them.

I wonder how the OP is doing with his 5?
 
sethro_GT said:
I would think that with these transmissions tuned for zoom zoom they will shift qhicker, meaning they shift harder, meaning they wear faster. I'd bet the honda shifted so smooth you could barely feel it, and if it was a 4 cyl there was no power to abuse the trans.
.
Click to expand...

I have experience with Ford's E4OD transmissions. These transmissions have high failure rate in the 90's so certain year models have drain plug on torque converter.

One of the aftermarket fix was upgrade valve body for faster (firmer) shift to reduce overheating and wear. Just like a manual transmission. The only time clutch (friction surface) wears is when pedal is partially pressed.
 
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