Hard 2nd and 3rd, catching and spinning

[illLusionschic18]

So many people think my car is a 5 speed from a distance, then at one look they are disappointed that it is auotmatic. ever since i bought it, it has shifted hard. at times i spin tires. i've had the tranny looked at and there seems to be no problems with it so far. but i've seen the other post on how you have rebuilt trannys. i was just wondering how hard exactly is it to do. and how much it costs. throw some prices at me!<p>Thanx
~*Kelli*~

[Casino]

even with a rebuild u may still have the problem
go for a new tranny i guess but thats going to cost a lot of cash.
you have had the tranny looked at and they cant find anything wrong with it ? have them look at it again. <p>and i wish mine was a 5 speed also lol

[Sonicxtacy02]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Kelli:
So many people think my car is a 5 speed from a distance, then at one look they are disappointed that it is auotmatic. ever since i bought it, it has shifted hard. at times i spin tires. i've had the tranny looked at and there seems to be no problems with it so far. but i've seen the other post on how you have rebuilt trannys. i was just wondering how hard exactly is it to do. and how much it costs. throw some prices at me!<p>Thanx
~*Kelli*~<hr></blockquote><p>Mine was $2400 for a rebuild. Expect $4000 for a new tranny. There is a screw (or bolt)under the pan that can be adjusted to ease your shifts. It tightens/loosens your bands. You dont wanna go too soft though cause you'll lose performance during shifts. The problem could also be attributed to motor mounts though. You may want to have them checked

[guyaverage]

Also you may want to check your throttle sensing cable (it goes from the throttle body down to the tranny). If its set too tight it will rattle your teeth with every shift. Back it off until it smooths out, but dont overdo it. Keep it as tight as you are comfortable with. If you set it to shift too smooth, like he said you will lose performance, but you will also increase heat and shorten tranny life. Automatics that shift very firm usually outlive those that shift smooth.

[Sonicxtacy02]

depending on what year and rs/gs, she may not have that cable.

[illLusionschic18]

i have a rs, and i know this is going to sound stupid, but where exactly is this cable if i have it. i might check into it

[guyaverage]

There are two cables that go onto the throttle body "wheel", the one we are talking about is the top one. There are two bolts (I think), you loosen them slightly then move the cable toward the passenger side to firm up the shift or toward the driver side to soften the shift, then tighten the bolt(s). Make small adjustments, dont go any tighter than necessary (to avoid harsh shifts) or any looser than necessary (to avoid overly soft shifts). I believe Mazda has a formal method for adjusting the cable that involves checking hydraulic line pressures and other tidbits to make sure it is set where they want it, so as always do this 'at your own risk' however I did this to mine eons ago to soften up my 1 to 2 shift and I suffered no problems, and I have a bunch of miles on mine now and its fine.

[illLusionschic18]

Thanx guy, that helped alot. yeah i think that Mazda purposely but those bolts there so that you could fix it, like they predicted it to happen. it sucks but hey whatever. my car has 170,000 miles on it. it's alot but i bought it with like 134,000. i've had it for about 2 years. but if anyone else has any input let me know!

[insomniac]

i spent $800 for a rebuild tranny, that included R&R/upgrades/hard parts. its been running good for about a year.

[Bbqman218]

I had a mx back in the day w same problem. get the chiltons diy manuel and reset the tps. I think its under timing. follow that procedure! Pull the diagnosis port and you will place a wire from "grnd" to "?" think its 13? this resets the TPs. WHen you hook up this wire to Grnd and ? , the car is running and the RPMS drop. adjust back to 750 rpms. disconect wire, test drive and No Hard shifts. This will last around 2wks and it feels Great! I think its a sign that the TPS is out of range and needs replaced. The down fall is it cost $300 at the time I had my Mx3 which was 2 years ago, maybe it came down some!
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Good luck