Auto Transmission Issues

72701 Views 88 Replies 38 Participants Last post by SMARK, Oct 7, 2021

Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · Mar 13, 2016 (Edited)

Hey Guys,

First off, hope this doesn't happen to anyone here and this is a one off hiccup of these cars...

Secondly, absolutely love my CX-3... Have it since September '15 with about 8700 miles driven. Wifey and I like to travel a little bit.

The problem...
Live in NYC and went to PA for the weekend, as we do often (almost every weekend). This is roughly a 115-mile journey one way. On our way back home today, we were in the last leg of the journey, about to cross the GWB when we hit some heavy bumper to bumper traffic. At this point, we stopped the car, as one would in such traffic, waited until everything motioned so that we can start rolling up. Release the brake to roll forward, nothing.. Thought that due to the incline, I would need to push the gas - nothing, just revs... and then it would grip, jerk and go. Once I thought it was the transmission, I didn't rev as I didn't want to cause more damage. Waited for the tranny to grab hold and start rolling.

At a steady slow roll, I crossed the GWB only to call Mazda roadside while parked on the side of the road in Harlem, to get towed to the nearest dealer. (It's a Sunday, all service departments are closed - have to head out tomorrow (Monday) morning)...

At this point, when in drive, it takes about 30-45 seconds for drive to engage. When on an incline, it will roll downhill and drive will engage after the 30-45 second mark. No other slips, all other gears seem to be fine, driving at speeds appears to not be affected - only the initial release from neutral... Reverse is not affected...

Either way - just wondering if someone experienced this? Is this normal? Why would it take so long for the transmission to engage after jumping into neutral on stop?

Saddest part was sitting in the cab behind my baby getting towed...

Still looked great.

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anchorman

· #2 · Mar 14, 2016

Hmm, well I'd like to say it's unheard of but I'm afraid it isn't. It's a shame as these are a gem of a box when they are right. It usually results in a replacement box but I hope it works out to be less.

Kigaros

· #3 · Mar 14, 2016 (Edited)

I just happened across this thread on the UK CX-3 forum.

Which made me think of this thread on this forum.

And then we have this recent thread.

It just keeps coming back to the automatic transmission, the only serious issue I can find with this car.

I'm considering buying a new car sometime within the next few months and the CX-3 is at the top of my wishlist, but obviously I do not like the idea of a transmission that can malfunction at any minute. Hopefully there will be some kind of response from Mazda.

Anchorman, maybe sticky this thread to make this more visible and organized?

was620

· #4 · Mar 14, 2016

Gearbox

My gearbox did the same thing and failed after 600kms (Aus) your the 4th one. Mine had to be replaced, my theory it maybe one of the solenoid in the box. I sent off a customer report at mazdas request and gave them a serving as Mazda said it was up to the dealer to give me a replacement car till it was fixed. The dealer said it was up to Mazda,this went on for a week and managed to get a car for 1 day before mine was fixed. I haven't heard from Mazda in the last 6months. Best of luck, my new box has now done 4500kms. It still has some hesitation when you come up to lights and the gab disengages and then hit the gas, it hesitates as what to do, that seems to be a software problem. I ha worked in R&D all my life now 62 and have had many new cars. The worst a ford, the best a Honda euro which I still have. Can't afford mercy or bums.

Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 14, 2016

Kigaros said:
I just happened across this thread on the UK CX-3 forum.

Which made me think of this thread on this forum.

And then we have this recent thread.

It just keeps coming back to the automatic transmission, the only serious issue I can find with this car.

I'm considering buying a new car sometime within the next few months and the CX-3 is at the top of my wishlist, but obviously I do not like the idea of a transmission that can malfunction at any minute. Hopefully there will be some kind of response from Mazda.

Anchorman, maybe sticky this thread to make this more visible and organized?

Yeah, that first link describes the feeling pretty well. Almost as if someone has rear ended you because it does appear to jerk very hard.

Almost kinda glad I'm not the only one...

When I was out looking for a new car my friends only recommended that I don't buy a brand new, first year, first model car because it may have kinks within those first few years that the manufacturer hasn't worked out yet. (maybe they were right)

Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 14, 2016

anchorman said:
Hmm, well I'd like to say it's unheard of but I'm afraid it isn't. It's a shame as these are a gem of a box when they are right. It usually results in a replacement box but I hope it works out to be less.

Yeah, at this point it takes a long time for Drive to just initiate in the auto transmission. Those who experienced something like this usually resulted in a swap...

Ugh... love the car - just sucks it happened. Off to the dealership now to see what they can do...

Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 14, 2016

was620 said:
My gearbox did the same thing and failed after 600kms (Aus) your the 4th one. Mine had to be replaced, my theory it maybe one of the solenoid in the box. I sent off a customer report at mazdas request and gave them a serving as Mazda said it was up to the dealer to give me a replacement car till it was fixed. The dealer said it was up to Mazda,this went on for a week and managed to get a car for 1 day before mine was fixed. I haven't heard from Mazda in the last 6months. Best of luck, my new box has now done 4500kms. It still has some hesitation when you come up to lights and the gab disengages and then hit the gas, it hesitates as what to do, that seems to be a software problem. I ha worked in R&D all my life now 62 and have had many new cars. The worst a ford, the best a Honda euro which I still have. Can't afford mercy or bums.

That really sucks to hear that it happened to you after 600kms, but oddly comforting knowing I'm not the only one. Hopefully it doesn't repeat for either of us - that feeling of not getting feedback from the car when you hit the gas outside of revs - sucks...

anchorman

· #8 · Mar 14, 2016

OK, let's collate these issues in one thread. All that concerns me is that we don't yet have a failure mode for these gearboxes or whether there is something the driver can do to try to avoid problems. Is it the way they are driven (no disrespect intended but is it limited to those who drive hard going off the above comment, or is the car fully stopped before selecting reverse/forward). I'm only trying to make a fair assessment.

The auto box is my favourite feature on my car. I cannot criticise it and it does not play any strange tricks. The CX-5 has the same box and the there is a UK diesel version with a massive 410Nm/310ft/lbs of torque so it should be that it can't stand heavy loadings.

I will add some pdf's for those that like a read.

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Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 14, 2016

anchorman said:
OK, let's collate these issues in one thread. All that concerns me is that we don't yet have a failure mode for these gearboxes or whether there is something the driver can do to try to avoid problems. Is it the way they are driven (no disrespect intended but is it limited to those who drive hard going off the above comment, or is the car fully stopped before selecting reverse/forward). I'm only trying to make a fair assessment.

The auto box is my favourite feature on my car. I cannot criticise it and it does not play any strange tricks. The CX-5 has the same box and the there is a UK diesel version with a massive 410Nm/310ft/lbs of torque so it should be that it can't stand heavy loadings.

I will add some pdf's for those that like a read.

PDFs are welcome!

I just got back from the dealer not too long ago. The service manager actually called the shop foreman down to take a ride with me while I demonstrated the issue and he did mention that he did see it only one time before on a CX-5. He actually described the issue very accurately. Mentioned they needed to replace the transmission on the CX-5 this occurred on.

As for driving style - never hard off first gear. I have always babied my first gear in my cars ever since I ran into issues with my first car. After getting into second/third gear is when I would push it a little harder - but that is already 40mph+ and well off first gear. I like speed - but not burning tires, this isn't a dragster. High gears don't appear to be affected by this problem.

The oddest part is that the problem occurred after a 100-mile drive. We are also in the process of buying a house so we drove around the neighborhood (stop signs and traffic lights) of our future home to take a look around. No issues. We then jumped back on the highway and hit traffic approaching toll for a bridge when the issue first reared it's ugly head.

so sad, :crying:

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anchorman

· #10 · Mar 14, 2016

Reading time..........

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anchorman

· #11 · Mar 14, 2016

.....and the twin clutches;

Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 14, 2016

anchorman said:
.....and the twin clutches;

Thank you very much Anchorman!

Do you happen to know or think which part of the transmission would be slipping for this kind of issue to occur?

plepak

· #13 · Mar 14, 2016

Not sure if it's related, but I've noticed a slight intermittent jerk when lifting off the brake in drive. No unusual revs happening or any power delay, but resuming from a stop is met with a little "bump" once in a while. Seems to happen more often on hills, though still far from constant. Keeping an eye on it.

anchorman

· #14 · Mar 14, 2016

Rekoj516 said:
Thank you very much Anchorman!

Do you happen to know or think which part of the transmission would be slipping for this kind of issue to occur?

I'm afraid not. No doubt they are working on it but for the time being, we don't even know if the faults are all due to the same reason.

figgys05

· #15 · Mar 15, 2016

plepak said:
Not sure if it's related, but I've noticed a slight intermittent jerk when lifting off the brake in drive. No unusual revs happening or any power delay, but resuming from a stop is met with a little "bump" once in a while. Seems to happen more often on hills, though still far from constant. Keeping an eye on it.

I thought it was in my head but same thing with mine from day one , I only have 690 miles . It happens once in a while . I've used the sport mode 4 times just to test it but I personally don't care for it . I hope it's just a quick fix .

was620

· #16 · Mar 15, 2016

Gearbox problems

For the anchorman. 600kms failure. I was nursing the car as it was new. Mine went after 3weeks of driving. My travel to work (20kms there and 20kms back). Spend first half hour in solid traffic to do about 4kms,next 14kms speed 50-60kms per hr with 4sets traffic lights, last 2kms solid traffic again. Symptoms from stationary accelerate nothing happens keep accellerating and finally the clutch mechanism comes in with a bang a big hit in your back. On the way back from work it let go, had to keep the car in gear without it dropping out so had to do a lot of rolling starts. If you find anything out I would like to know as I work in electro-mechanical R&D and use to muck around with cars in younger days. Built myself up a cooper s in the 70s. Found a real cooper s motor near the technical college I use to attend in the UK.

anchorman

· #17 · Mar 15, 2016

was620 said:
For the anchorman. 600kms failure. I was nursing the car as it was new. Mine went after 3weeks of driving. My travel to work (20kms there and 20kms back). Spend first half hour in solid traffic to do about 4kms,next 14kms speed 50-60kms per hr with 4sets traffic lights, last 2kms solid traffic again. Symptoms from stationary accelerate nothing happens keep accellerating and finally the clutch mechanism comes in with a bang a big hit in your back. On the way back from work it let go, had to keep the car in gear without it dropping out so had to do a lot of rolling starts. If you find anything out I would like to know as I work in electro-mechanical R&D and use to muck around with cars in younger days. Built myself up a cooper s in the 70s. Found a real cooper s motor near the technical college I use to attend in the UK.

OK, thanks. I will log into the Mazda portal at some stage. There was a TSB on the manual box last time I looked but not the auto. I have to use an old Windows computer which takes ages as it runs Vista.

I wish I had a pound for every Mini engine I'd had in bits! When you think how awkward they were to work on but it seemed normal at the time.

Rekoj516

Discussion Starter · #18 · Mar 15, 2016

Just received a call not too long ago from the dealer that they have ordered a replacement transmission.

Ahh, I'll have my baby back soon!

ITS

· #19 · Mar 15, 2016

Is the auto "problem" only with AWD or FWD also?

I just changed my Audi A3 for a Mazda CX-3 auto 2.0 FWD and told my wife that Mazda has no problems like the Audi.....

anchorman

· #20 · Mar 15, 2016

ITS said:
Is the auto "problem" only with AWD or FWD also?

I just changed my Audi A3 for a Mazda CX-3 auto 2.0 FWD and told my wife that Mazda has no problems like the Audi.....

There are some unlucky people but they are the exception rather than the rule.

Enjoy your car.

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