Sucks bro. I think the manuals say every 30K change the trans fluid. Atleast that when i change mine in my vehicles. Shop around for the best price for the tranny, if you have the room and good setting and tools id try replacing it yourself to save the money.

Yeah, this is exactly what is going on with mine.

It will typically clear when I get to a stop light, put it in park and then back into Drive.

It also coincides with my check engine light going on. That will go out if I take the car out a few times without the AT problem.

I bought mine used with about 45K on it....so who knows what maintenance was done on it.

im begining to hear that most of these problems are occuring because of prior owners. I know times are tough, but people are not taking care of their vehicles like they used to in the past. And then we are trying to buy a used over a new to save some cash, and were falling into a money pit.

Sorry to hear about the issues guys and gals, but maybe after this small hiccup you all will enjoy the cars and not have any further/major issues.

When is this 'past' where people took care of their vehicles? I don't think the general motor vehicle user has a clue about what is going on, and will wait thinking any problem is something minor unless the car leaves them stranded.

AT light comes on at start, stuck in 4th
 

Hello everyone,
I have an 04 Mazda 3, 2.3
Car has been very good until here recently. If I go to even start my car, AT light automatically comes on and says its in 4th gear. Can't seem to find the fix to this. I sometimes have to completely put the car in park and shut off the car completely and usually it goes away and is fine for the remainder of the day but has acted up more often. I have ran codes on it and it said it was a sensor but was replaced and still acts up, fluid is full and no leak detected.

The same thing happened to me this morning when I was out running errands. I have a 2010 Mazda3. I had Transmission fluid changed about 5000 miles ago and the vehicle had two other owners before me. Who knows what happened before I bought it. In fact, 6 months after I purchased vehicle from a large used car dealership that claims they recondition entire vehicle, I went to local quick oil change place for a routine change. I have a short commute to work, don't drive a lot and do work from home at times. They showed me the fluid and it was jet black. It should not have looked like that if it indeed had been reconditioned. So, I took it back to dealership and they changed it no charge to me. That was October 2014, I had it changed again earlier this year because, again, it was jet black. So that's 2 fluid changes in that many years. I called local Mazda service today and got an appointment for Tuesday.

Same thing happened to me today, I called and made an appointment for service.

Salespeople will tell you anything to sell you a car. The dealership will usually do a "detail" to the interior and the paint making it look as new as possible, and do *nothing* to the mechanicals. And then tell you they "reconditioned" the car.

You are miles ahead of the car-buying game if you simply tell yourself that everything the salesperson says is a lie. Sad but true for most of the trade.

Similar transmission problem here, this person eventually found it to be the transmission computer module (TCM):

https://www.mazda3club.com/mazda3-ma...problem-56278/

Good luck.

Did you look at the fluid after each time you had it changed?

In this car the AT fluid is not "changed". Only some of the fluid is drained; the remainder is un-drainable (it remains in the recesses of the transmission's inner workings). Rather, some (as much as is possible) is drained out and some new is added.

It is a fact that many transmissions -- including the Mazdas -- only drain out 1/3 to 1/2 of the total fluid when it is "changed". The rest of the old remains and mixes with the new fluid.

You can get your transmission "flushed" which does replace all the fluid, but not, typically, when it is "changed".

I hope this info will help you get more life from your Mazda.

Cheers.

Check the last post here.

I have a 2010 Mazda 3 just bought it a couple days ago.
 

It ran great from sac to lake county then At light came on followed bye the check engine light, Now it's also jerks when the At light flash on.
when started moving wires under the hood and touch something and lights went off.???
No money done spent it on the car. Anyone have any ideas ??

According to my mechanic, those generations of cars are prone to TCM failures. We have a 2006 auto Mazda 3 with same problem - jerks into reverse, and Check engine and AT light on. Unfortunately, the TCM's are extremely expensive (we were quoted $1100 for a new module).