Hold light of death

[BradKY]

I have posted several times on this issue, and feel that I have not fully explained all of the problem that I am having. So here it goes, I have a 1992 Mazda MX-3 which has anywheres around 110,000 miles (The odometer does not work). I bought this car a few days ago and noticed that it had a few issues, one was the cruise control is missing 2 hoses and have no clue to where the hoses go on the engine/transmission. The other was is that when I get up to around 30 - 40 mph it decides to flash Hold, I can press the hold button and it will stay lit until it gears up, and then it will continue flashing. This is a 4 cylinder automatic transmission, and it only flashes hold when you are in drive and are above 30 - 40 mph, no other time it does this besides then. The other issue is that when I put it back in reverse the RPM's will deep down to 500 RPM (or a little above that) and will stay there but it does not stall when I put on my brakes nor does it stall when I put the car in drive, when I put it in drive it hesitates a little and then goes to 500 RPM's and stays there till you are driving, it will also bounce around from 2,000, 1,500, 1,000 and sometimes reaching around 800 RPM's when the car is idle in park. This is my first car. I really do love this car but I am afraid I will not be able to afford a new transmission for it. I have looked at several hardware stores and the library and have not been able to find a Chilton or Haynes manual for my model. And I do not have the necessary resources to order online. I also do not have the factory manual. I seen on another forum that someone took their Mazda to a dealer and the hold light was flashing because a wire to the idle sensor was broke. If anyone wants to help me then it would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you

[Dali]

hey, ive had issues with both the 4 and 6 auto tranny's. if the hold light is flashing it will die soon....sorry to say. you can do a oil and filter change on the transmission but this will only extend the life of it for a while (a couple of months). only other reason the hold light flashes is if the speedo has a issue but i would put money on the tranny as ive never seen anyone with a bad sensor. pretty much the torque converter is going, was about 300.00 for a new one plus labour to change it out. if possible do a five speed swap, its well worth it even if you dont know how to drive stick. go to a wrecker and pick up all the parts. as for the cruise control take a picture and post it up, ive only seen one vacuum line on the system.

[BradKY]

There is the cruise control, it has places for 3 hoses, one which is there and runs from the cruise to the fuel injector, and 2 others that doesn't have anything. If it is the transmission I suppose ill cross that bridge when it wont go into reverse or drive. I couldn't do a 5 speed I would have to put another automatic or junk the car. The reason why im thinking its the sensor is because the woman that had it before me said it flashed hold for the 3 months she drove it (Before those 3 months it had set for 2 years) and at the moment its not showing any signs of a dying tranny. It shifts good it goes into gears easily and it doesn't slip. I have put all of my hard earnings into this car, I have already bought $350 in tires, $150 for brakes all around, $60 on 2 shocks for the rear, a new left axel, a new battery $120, a new filter, a new temperature sensor $30, I had the AC lines replaced (Previous owners used well water and the sulfer ate through the lines) and I just went out and bought $40 worth of seat covers. I have over $1,500 invested into this car! And I was even going to take it to Morristown, Tennessee which has the closest dealer to repair the seat belts.

Sorry, I have invested $1,750 in the car.