Gear kick to "neutral" when driving more than 100km

[bro858]

Hi all sifus. I'm facing big problem with my ride. I'm driving 2006 Mazda MPV(JDM version of Mazda 8 but came with MZR DISI 2.3T turbo engine as standard, the engine is same as Mazda CX7's engine). The problem is when I drive the car for a journey more than 100km, the gear will kick to "neutral" if I try to accelerate e.g when overtaking or going up hill. When this happened I need to release the pedal then press it again and everything will back to normal. This will happen at least 3 to 4 times in a 450km journey. As I remember this problem only happened in daytime especially from 12pm to 5pm. I've changed the ATF but result still the same. I've diagnosed the car for two times in different workshops and there's nothing wrong(according to the diagnostic tool). Any opinion sifus?

 

[Izso]

how do you normally shift? I assume this is an auto right?

Do you press the release button to shift or do you just push it in place without the button?

 

[vr2turbo]

I think he means auto shift to N. Better get the gb checked properly. Probably some valves acting up....

 

[Supra_Fanatics]

That is seriously scary and dangerous, imagine trying to overtake time..suddenly kick to N..damn!

 

[bro858]

how do you normally shift? I assume this is an auto right?

Do you press the release button to shift or do you just push it in place without the button?

Yes my car is auto. My car got gated gear knob style so it doesn't have the release button. Forgot to mention earlier, I've asked a few mechanics and they suspected the gearbox overheated. When doing short journey or city driving, sometimes my car also jerked and making snapping sound(I think from the the gearbox).In finding simple solution I bypassed the OEM ATF cooler and fit the aftermarket ATF cooler with the cooling fan. The result the jerking and snapping sound disappeared but the main problem(gear kick to neutral when long journey) still remain. I brought my car to a MOFAZ mechanic and as he tested my car(short distance test) there is no problem at all. I've asked a gearbox workshop and they quote me RM7000(warranty 6 months) for the recondition service. Mazda Service Center estimated RM20k-RM30k to replace the gearbox but they still not sure the real figure since this car is not sold in Malaysia and they need to confirm the price with Mazda Japan.

---------- Post added at 10:12 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 09:57 AM ----------

That is seriously scary and dangerous, imagine trying to overtake time..suddenly kick to N..damn!

Yeah SF, first time this problem happened when I was overtaking a car and when I was side by side with the car then suddenly the gear seems to loose grip/neutral. The gear indicator showed 5th but as I press the pedal no power at all only the RPM hiking up. At that time there was a car coming from the front then I release the pedal and press it again and suddenly my car got the grip again and I able to overtake. Thank god, if not I might not be here today

 

[Izso]

That's insane.

Usually - in a normal gearbox if it jumps like that it's usually the 'lock', but since yours is gated, it might be a problem with the synchros. If that is the case you don't really have a choice other than a refurbish. Getting a new one would be insane.

Though I don't think it'll be too much help, might be worth trying the cheapest option first - Lubeguard Platinum ATF additive. This thing, although i'm a skeptic, has seem to have done a lot of miracles lately with gearboxes. Roughly about RM90 for the additive.

 

[bro858]

Any recommended gearbox shop sifus, KL or Kota Bharu area? I might opt to recondition my gearbox.

 

[g88]

Hi all sifus. I'm facing big problem with my ride. I'm driving 2006 Mazda MPV(JDM version of Mazda 8 but came with MZR DISI 2.3T turbo engine as standard, the engine is same as Mazda CX7's engine). The problem is when I drive the car for a journey more than 100km, the gear will kick to "neutral" if I try to accelerate e.g when overtaking or going up hill. When this happened I need to release the pedal then press it again and everything will back to normal. This will happen at least 3 to 4 times in a 450km journey. As I remember this problem only happened in daytime especially from 12pm to 5pm. I've changed the ATF but result still the same. I've diagnosed the car for two times in different workshops and there's nothing wrong(according to the diagnostic tool). Any opinion sifus?

hope this help
http://www.autos.com/car-maintenance/transmission-slipping-what-causes-it-and-how-to-fix-it
http://hubpages.com/hub/slipping-transmission
http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/14518/mazda/cx-9/mazda-cx-9-transmission-problems