My car jerks forward between 1st and 2nd gear, but it's fine between 2nd and 3rd and 3rd and 4th gear. I checked the transmission fluid it's orange and a bit foggy. Do I just need my transmission fluid flushed? Any ideas?
My car jerks forward between 1st and 2nd gear - what's wrong with it?
- Thread starter JamesDouglas
- Start date
what car? what year, how many km on it and when was the last time you did the transmission fluid?
Could be the transmission itself. My friends 98 Honda Accord (~230000KM) would jerk between 1st and 2nd. Once he had the transmission replaced, it was smooth as silk.
Have you owned the car since new? did it do this before or did it just start? and are you sure the fluid is orange?
I almost bought a new car recently, so if it's just a $100 dollar transmission flush I'll do it, if I have to replace my whole transmission I'll just get a new car and not bother replacing the transmission.
no need to panic yet. most likely new transmission fluid will take care of it...but we need more details to give you the most likely outcome
I bought the car new, it's almost 8 years old and only has 50,000 kms on it. This started about a month or two ago, and the fluid was orange, but a bit dark, so it might be burnt. It's not a bright transparent cherry red.
now does it happen all day when you drive it? beginning? until the car warms up? etc..DETAILS MAN! DETAILS!
also you maintain it at mazda or local garage?
Go to a mazda dealership and tell them to change the transmission fluid. It aint supposed to be orange lol
Also print out the below and hand it to them. Should cost you another 100 bucks or so.
This will fix the problem 99 times out of 100.
TSB: 05-010/05
2004-2005 MAZDA3 - 1 - 2 SHIFT SHOCK
APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS
2004 2005 Mazda3 (Automatic transmission only)
Also print out the below and hand it to them. Should cost you another 100 bucks or so.
This will fix the problem 99 times out of 100.
TSB: 05-010/05
2004-2005 MAZDA3 - 1 - 2 SHIFT SHOCK
APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS
2004 2005 Mazda3 (Automatic transmission only)
It only happens between first and second gear, and when the gears reverse it doesn't happen, it always skips from 3rd to 1st gear, but it doesn't jerk at all, it's smooth. It's only when I'm accelerating and going from 1st-2nd gear and it doesn't matter the temperature, it happens throughout the entire ride. I go to Active Green + Ross or Meineke, and within the last 4 years all I've done was oil changes, and change my brakes.
Go check out a Mazda 3 forum and ask. This is a difficult question to answer because automatic transmissions are more complicated than engines. There are a couple of forums that can help you. 50,000 kms isn't much, but the number of years are getting up there. Are you sure the fluid was orange and not red? Most manufacturers use the GM Dexron series of fluid.
My gut feeling is that flushing your transmission fluid will not solve the problem. It could range from worn clutches to a bad control module. It is even possible the problem isn't inside the transmission and the computer is compensating for another problem.
My gut feeling is that flushing your transmission fluid will not solve the problem. It could range from worn clutches to a bad control module. It is even possible the problem isn't inside the transmission and the computer is compensating for another problem.
Take the car to mazda for this one. Most places don't even do a proper transmission fluid change, and theres no way they can do the second part at active green and ross lol
Good news is its probably gonna cost you a couple hundred bucks, and not a new transmission.
The problem with going to Mazda is they charge 150 just to diagnose the problem, whereas if I go to Mister Transmission they supposedly diagnose the problem for free. Also, I read on their site that they don't recommend ever doing a flush, they're the experts, supposedly.
If it's an 05 with only 50k on it, that makes it an attractive used vehicle. You should be able to get anywhere from $5k-$7k for it in a private sale (check out autotrader), providing you spend the "couple hundred" to eliminate this concern. You'll probably get about half that on a trade-in, but your trade-in value will directly lower the amount on which HST gets charged.
If you like driving the vehicle, spend the bucks to fix it up and put another 50k on it. You'll never get a cheaper deal on a car than you already have with this one.
If you like driving the vehicle, spend the bucks to fix it up and put another 50k on it. You'll never get a cheaper deal on a car than you already have with this one.
That's a good point, whenever I tell people I'm looking to get a new car they beg me to sell my car to them since it only has 50k on it, for me that's a lot of driving over 8 years, but to them they see it as only a slightly used car. I do like it, but I don't like it enough to buy a new transmission for $2-3k, I'd rather just buy a new car if that's the cost of repairing it, although judging from the responses in this thread and from what I've researched in the past hour, I suspect I won't need a new transmission and might just need new fluid, we'll see.
Even if it's a new transmission, where can you buy a new car for 2-3k? Better the devil you know . . .
One other caveat (at least for me): How does it look? If the body's shot and I'm embarrassed to be seen in it, doesn't matter how good it is mechanically, it's history.
One other caveat (at least for me): How does it look? If the body's shot and I'm embarrassed to be seen in it, doesn't matter how good it is mechanically, it's history.
