Gears lurching on auto transmission?
 

I am getting a horrible lurch between gear one and two on my 04 Mazda3 2.3 It mostly goes away once the car gets up to operating temperature, but happens occasionally now and then to a much less noticeable degree. Does anyone know if these transmissions are known for doing this, and if it is worth taking it to a dealer or transmission place to try to get it fixed?

In case anyone has this problem and finds this in the archives. There is a programming update available from the dealer to fix the gear lurching problem. It costs $90 at the one I took it to.

I have a 05 hatchback in automatic and the transmision went at 23000 miles

Ouch. Hopefully that was a fluke. Mine has 55k on it. The dealer said there wasn't anything wrong with it, except the fluid was shot - apparently the prior owner wasn't paying attention - and it needed the programming update. My grandpa once had a Chevy truck where the transmission needed to be replaced three times in something like the first 30K miles, but it wasn't common and it went another hundred or so on the last one.

One thing I learned is not to get a fluid flush/refill at a Jiffy Lube or other quickie place. I had it done there right before I went to the dealer and the dealer said the fluid was just as bad as if it had not been done. Also the Jiffy Lube people told me they couldn't do the flush/fill with my coolant because there was a pressure leak, but the dealer found no problem with it at all. I figured they had the same machines as the real service places, but apparently not.

thank you for posting this. I was wondering abut that. I had gotten a transmission flush thinking that would help my problem and it did not - now I know. Just called the mazda dealer here in cleveland and it's $95 for the programming update. Whew - I thought I was going to have to replace my tranny. Did this totally correct the problem? And do you know if there was any other updates within this particular update besides the transmission?
Thanks !!

It seemed to get rid of the problem. There is still a slight jump from 1 to 2 when the engine is cold, but it's difficult to notice - not what I would consider a problem. I don't know if there was anything else in the update.

When I got it done, I also had them deprogram the seatbelt beeper for $40 or $50. That thing was ruthless, going off even when I just wanted to move the car around in a parking lot or whatever. I can't stand being pushed around by an inanimate object, or any annoying safety feature intendend for idiots.

I know this is quite old - but I took my car into the mazda dealsership and they found no programming update for the lurching from 1st to 2nd gear. They claimed they tested the transmission and it seemed to be shifting normally. I don't know what else to do besides take it to another dealer and see what they say. Do you remember what the programming update was called when you had it done?

I don't think they called it anything fancy sounding. I might be able to find a receipt somewhere, but not until about a week from now due to traveling. It definitely exists and it definitely worked. Now I only get mild lurching when it is cold, so I just drive mildly for the first minute or two. Before it was intolerable and often happened even when the engine was warmed up.

I would call other dealers in the area and not take it to one unless they know what you are talking about beforehand. You might also want to go over their heads to some kind of national service/complaint level and find out why your dealer is not offering proper service. You might want to call the one I used, Tonkin Mazda in Portland, to find out more about it, since they know. If your dealer charged you to tell you your malfunctioning trans was fine and not give you an available update for it, I would dispute the charge and put their ass through a wringer.

Have them check all of the TSB's. It has to be a TSB if it was an update, and all Mazda dealers should have a record of all TSB's.
For what it's worth, when you have the tranny flushed I think I would put synthetic fluid next time.

Fortunately they did not charge me for looking around. I had they feeling they were full of it when they told me they couldn't find anything wrong and not even an update. The lurching is completely obvious. I'll contact the dealer in Portland to see if they can tell me what the update is.
Thanks for the tips - much appreciated !!