Transmission Stuck In Gear Problems of Mazda MAZDA3

While driving the car will suddenly jerk as if braking quickly, the check engine light and the at (auto-transmission) light will illuminate on the dashboard. The car will then jump down to 3rd or 4th gear, disallowing it to shift properly. It will remain stuck on the lower gear with the warning lights on until the car is turned off and turned back on. A few times, in conjunction with the aforementioned problem, the car has also lost power steering. This happens on the freeway and has almost caused accidents a few different times. I have taken this to several mechanics and not a single one has been able to diagnose or resolve the issue. The output shaft speed sensor has been replaced, so this is not the issue. There is no predicting when it will happen as it seems to completely random. It has happened on the freeway while going 70 and through neighborhoods when only going 25. It's impossible to predict or give a precursor to what happened immediately prior to the car jumping gears and losing power steering. This is so dangerous.

See all problems of the 2007 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.

Nearly every time while driving, a yellow "at" sign will appear as the gear will jump from whatever it is to 3, causing a sudden, sharp jerk (as if one suddenly braked), before going back to whatever gear it was in. This has occured many times one instance at a time, but several times 3-8 times in rapid succession. Also, at times the gear # indicator will flicker and disappear while jumping through different numbers, also causing the traction and at warning lights to appear. During this time, the car will suddenly jerk, slow, and shift unpredictably. The car can also go into "limp mode", in which the gear gets stuck in 3rd for a period of time (usually 2 minutes to until restarting the car). All of these are extremely dangerous for the driver and drivers around them, as the car may suddenly stop or speed up with zero warning to anyone.

Driving home last night (on the freeway) at approximately 9:45 pm I attempted to excelerate to make a lane change. I noticed the car wasn't moving any faster the only thing I heard was the engine gunning. The car was slowing down in very fast traffic and I immediately put my hazards on while trying to move the gear shift which was stuck. Its a miracle that I didn't get hit trying to get tnate to have it apoenhis vehicle over to the right shoulder which I eventually did. I removed a small cover beside the gear shift inserted a screwdriver in the hole and was able to release the shift. I put it in park, turned the car off for about a minute. Started the car and shifted it to drive but the car jerked back and the gear shift is stuck again. I had to be towed home. This was a very dangerous and frightening situation for a male adult and would hate to have this happen to a single mother with children in the car. This is not the only time the gears have locked. I was fortunate to have it happen in my driveway and was able to unlock with the method I described above. I feel this really should be looked into.

See all problems of the 2012 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.

I was driving a steady 55 mph on the freeway on a dry sunny day with my wife and kids. The roads were smooth and dry, and the gas tank was 1/2 full. The car was 3 months old with 2700 miles on it. The car suddenly lost power and started to decelerate. The engine was still running, but pressing the gas pedal had no effect on engine rpm or vehicle speed. I looked down and the stability control light was on (steady lit, not blinking). I thought that maybe the stability control was confused, so I tried hitting the stability control switch to turn it off. No luck, the light was still on and the car continued to slow. I then moved the shift lever over to manually select gears since I though maybe the tranny was stuck in 6th gear - no luck as the display didn't even show what gear it was in. There was no freeway exit in sight and I was not able to coast to the next exit. I finally pulled over the car at less than 30 mph dodging cars zooming by at 60 mph. I turned off the car and restarted. The stability control light was now finally off and I was able to drive off.

While driving the vehicle the transmission became increasingly difficult to shift between 1, 2 and 3 gears. The other gears shifted smoothly without problem and the transmission made no abnormal noises. The vehicle eventually became stuck in first gear and I was only able to get out of it with great effort. It feels like the transmission is filled with concrete. Being unable to shift causes a problem in operating the vehicle safely. The dealer doesn't know what the problem is and is balking at replacing the transmission. The vehicle has only 500 miles on it.

See all problems of the 2004 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.