Transmission failed in my 2002 mazda mpv at 111k miles. After reading several stories online that sound identical to mine, I felt compelled to file a complaint. I was travelling on a major interstate with 5 cubscouts and the transmission completely failed, leaving us stranded on the side of the road. Transmission gave no warning that it was about to fail, other than a few rough shifts from time to time. Mechanic checked fluid levels and pressure of transmission and all checked out okay after incident. This was not driver or maintenance error. The transmission will not engage at all in drive, low gears or reverse.
Mazda MPV harsh shifting problems
16 of the 914 owner complaints about the Mazda MPV describe harsh or hard shifting, most of them for the 2003 model year.
- owner complaints
- 16
- worst model year
- 2003
- typical mileage
- 20,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
Transmission failure 3Slipping 3Hesitation 2Won't shift 1Jerking 1
What owners say
Transmission slips, usually going from 2nd to 3rd, and sometimes 1st to 2nd. Usually happens when I try to accelerate hard. Engine revs up and the transmission slips, then with a big clunk the gear engages. Seems to me like a severe safety issue if you cannot accelerate yourself out of a potential side impact. And this must be hard on the transmission too. I've checked this out with two separate dealers, once right after I got the vehicle in 2003 and once in 2005. Both dealers could not reproduce the problem, but this happens to me quite often, at least a couple of times a month. I know that the service bulletin is out on this, but now my warranty is expired. At any rate, I don't feel like taking it into the dealer and wasting my time only to be told that there is nothing wrong with it.
O/d light flashing and harsh shift. My family and I was planning to take a trip to williamsburg va, and when I start the van, I discovered the o/d (over drive) light is flashing and harsh shifts. I took the van to amoco and ask to check my transmission. The service tech told me everything is normal, however we noticed your gears are not shifting smoothly. They could get any code of what causing. I left their shop and stopped by cottman transmission. They also scanned and couldn't get any code; they also test drive the van and also noticed same thing that amoco has told me. The tech has asked me to take to the dealer and give this bulletin # 05-001/04 (harsh shifts - reflash PCM). I dropped the car to the dealer over night and mention what have happened and also mentioned the bulletin number. I have received a call the following morning from the dealer service department. The service adviser has told me that I need a new transmission and when I ask how much, he said it will cost to you about $3200. This shocked me and decided to do some research. I found out this has happened to thousand of mpv 2002 owners, which one forum has suggested that I should file a complain here.
Transmission slips and then slams into gear.
The vehicle began to have a hard time shifting gears. The rough shifting began very intermittently at about 45,000 miles. At 51,000 the shifting was so hard that the tires actually screeched when the van shifted gears. Problem caused by defective solenoids. 2 of the 8 solenoids plus the torque converter had to be replaced to fix the transmission. Dealership would not cover the cost of the repair since we did not get the van to the service department prior the 50,000 mile mark. The torque was available as 'rebuilt".
Shifting was "clunky" since we bought the car in march of 2002. Had dealer look at problem in oct 2004 and they "reflashed" (rewrote the computer code) on the TCM: transmission control module. This seemed to help for a day, then the abrupt shifting returned. On nov 10, 2004, the transmission failed completely, unable to go into gear at all. I was traveling at 55 MPH on a highway, it shifted out of gear, and would not go back in. I was left without power to the wheels in the middle of the road. Dealership replacing transmission under waarranty.
1) transmission has very hard shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. Problem is intermittent. 2) occurred at least once a day and mostly in local traffic. 3) took it to the long beach mazda dealer to reprogram the TCM but the problem still occurring.
Transmission shifting rough. It seems the transmission is slipping and then slams into gear. It happens every day, some days more than others and some days harder than others. Sometimes I feel like I am going to get whiplash whenever it slams into gear. I have been complaining about this problem since late last year but the dealer cannot seem to fix it. They keep replacing the coils but that does not solve the problem. They mentioned that they seem to be having this problem with a lot of 2003 mpv's. It has been to the shop five times since january and it is still not fixed.
I bought a mazda 2002 mpv lx used with 9k miles on it. It has a transmission problem similar to those I have reviewed on your site, intermittent hard shifting between first and second in the automatic transmission. Took it to the dealer and they found a code reference an electrical adjustment. Supossedly fixed, not! Took it back and was told the 2002 mpv has hard shifting. So does my old police baton! I am taking it back and talking to the owner to get the trans fixed or replaced. If they will not do that then I will go to 3 reputable transmission repair stores and get it in writing and file a consumer fraud complaint with the state of fl. Can you look into this being that there are more than one transmission complaint listed and all are similar and we get brushed off?
Transmission between 2nd and 3rd gear- in the last month or so, we have noticed a hesitation and then hard shift into third gear during regular city driving. We spent 2/16/2004 at the dealership for an oil change, tire rotation, and examination of this problem. They performed a reflash of the TCM/ptm and left the dealership satisfied. About 15 minutes later, it started again. We called back and as of this morning, we have scheduled a drive with the transmission mechanic. I have noticed a number of complaints here and on edmunds.com. I really hope this can be solved for an otherwise great minivan.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Mazda MPV harsh shifting
Which Mazda MPV years have harsh or hard shifting problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2003 (10 complaints) and 2002 (6 complaints).
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