Hi,

I'm a 19 year old girl, freaking out about my car!!! If anyone can help that would be great.

I have a '04 mazda3 S with 140,000miles.
When I get in to 4th gear my car looses power. It makes a loud sound.. Sometimes it won't go pass 2000rpms. It's almost like it's in 3rd gear when the dashboard is telling me it's in 4th. Well that's what the engine sounds like.

When I'm in the lower gears it seems fine.
When I brake, it doesn't shift down properly- I'll be slowing down going 10mph and it will still say I'm in 4th gear. It's a little scary to brake.


My transmission fluid is still pink and at the correct level.
I'm hoping it's just a fault sensor or something because the other gears seem fine.

Does anyone know if this is expensive to fix? Or what seems to be wrong?

 

Going thru the same issue gear 3&4 will go out...
Tranny replace.

 

I am having the same issue with my daughters 2004 Mazda 3. Car has 156,000 miles, 4 speed auto/manual transmission. Car threw the AT/CEL light and wouldnt shift out of 2nd. I took the car to a reputable shop and they diagnosed it as: All solenoids cleaned, omh'd and checked for proper operation, TCM checked for proper signals. these all checked fine. They flushed tranny/filter and on the test drive car would not shift from 3rd to 4th. I picked car up today as I mull over spending 2300 for a rebuilt tranny. On the drive home car ran great till transmission fluid warmed up, then the hard shifting from 3rd to 4th. If kept in "manual" and not shifting above 3rd no issues. Below is a link to a thread on this site that describes same symptoms and eventually the electrical connector on transmission seems the culprit. Or possibly the entire wiring harness. Its worth a read as many many hours of research has shown most people that get the soleniods/transmission rebuilt and replace the TCM/ECU still have problems. Im thinking its an electrical issue possibly pin connectors or corrosion or a faulty wiring harness. Heres the link to the thread.

https://www.mazda3club.com/mazda3-mazdaspeed3-98/2006-mazda3-transmission-electrical-demons-56392/