121k miles
i have a 2012 mazda 3 2.0L skyactiv, with a weird issue. it hesitates to get into drive, for a few seconds the engine will just rev and not go anywheres, then the whole car jerks forward and starts going. even if i let it idle and put it in drive without any throttle input it jerks the car forward. only happens going into drive, it goes into reverse perfectly fine. occasionally when going into drive the traction control light will stay on, then it’ll struggle to move anywheres. when this happens if i turn the car off and back on, the light turns off and either; goes into drive perfectly fine, goes into drive with a hesitation/jerk, or turns the traction control light back on and hardly moves again.
i had my uncle shift between reverse and drive while i had the hood popped, and the whole engine was tipping forward towards the front bumper. this makes me believe its the motor mounts, and if so how hard of a job is that to do? what other issue could this potentially be? i don’t think it’s anything wrong with the transmission because once in drive and on the road, the transmission shifts completely fine. also the transmission control module on these cars tend to overheat, but it has been 50-60f and wet outside the past few weeks so i don’t believe it’s that either. and one last thing, once it gets into drive normally it has no hiccups for the rest of the day, i’ve been taking it to only work and back for the past few days i’ve had this issue, and each time it would hesitate when initially going to work, but when i leave work 8-12 hours later it goes into drive no problem.
again, i believe it’s the motor mounts, but from what ive found online there’s only a rear motor mount, trans mount, and a torque strut mount, and all autozones and oreillys near me only carry the rear motor mount, so i’m lead to believe that there’s only one mount for the whole engine?
im far from an experienced mechanic but im not afraid of working on my car (i do my own maintenance and such) so how hard of a job is the motor mounts/whatever other mounts?
answers or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
@chucktobias i have no clue where it is, i know it’s behind the engine somewhere but i dont have a jack to get under and see, and my mechanic is out of town for about a week. but since he’s out of town i might be able to borrow his lil shop for a day and borrow some tools.
The mounts should be easy enough to spot but you can do a quick check by seeing if the engine jumps around when putting the transmission in gear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFTxfxfEeX0
@chucktobias my family isn’t at home atm, but my cousin is at the shop currently and my family mechanic said he can help me some. i’m gonna go over there and have him help me take a look, i’ll keep you posted. thank you for the help btw
@chucktobias turns out it’s something with a shift solenoid, that’s the code that came up at least. it’s fully stuck in limp mode now and i called my family mechanic and he said he thinks it’s the torque converter. he said it was likely due to me driving it in manual mode all the time and not regular automatic mode.
it also got worse whenever i pulled up to the shop to show my cousin the issue. after i turned it on and put it in drive, the car would jerk forward, but do it several times like it was taking small steps. the code also showed for solenoid A which is to go forward. (at least that’s what my mechanic said on the phone)
im genuinely stumped now, cause part of me believes my mechanic with that (especially since he charges me very little for labor if anything at all), but part of me also thinks that it’s the motor mounts and the engine not engaging with the transmission correctly due to it, because another code said that the rpm between the engine and transmission wasn’t the same either.
is my best bet doing the engine mounts to see if that is the direct cause of it? or should i just go deep and wait to have my mechanic come back to town? either way my car is stuck at the shop and i had to get a ride home from my cousin.
You need a transmission expert to do a real diagnosis on that thing. Most general mechanics don't delve that deeply into transmissions. Replacing engine mounts would be an exercise in futility if the transmission is shot.
@chucktobias but that’s the thing, i don’t think the transmission is bad. when it does get into gear it shifts through all the gears perfectly fine, there’s no slipping and no harshness. no strange noises, nothing. it just doesn’t want to get into drive
it just doesn’t want to get into drive
Bad motor mounts would not cause a delay engaging drive. Low fluid could but presumably you've already checked that simple/obvious item. It's more likely you have an internal transmission problem - you said there's a code for a solenoid, though you did not provide the actual code. That alone should tell you there's something going on inside that transmission. You additionally stated that there was a code (also unspecified) related to a discrepancy between engine and transmission speed. That is can be caused by a bad torque converter. All the information provided so far points to an internal transmission problem.
@chucktobias sorry for the late response, i was busy with some stuffs. the fluid level was not checked because mazda says this car’s transmission fluid is good for the entire life of the car. in hindsight i should’ve checked it anyways, but i can’t fiddle with it cause im stuck at home and my car is at the shop.
and sorry about the codes, they are code P0756 and code P0780.
@chucktobias also, if it’s a transmission problem how is it happening so early? the car has 121k miles and i’ve read from multiple sources that these cars last with no major problems until 200k at minimum.
this car was previously owned by someone who owned it from 0-113k miles, and regularly kept up with maintenance via dealerships from what the carfax report said before i bought the car. i do know it was sitting for a while, but i dont know how long. i think it was sitting under a tree for a while because there were acorns in the engine bay and between the engine and engine cover, and the clear coat is peeling on the roof.
mazda says this car’s transmission fluid is good for the entire life of the car
That's nonsense that a lot of manufacturers are unfortunately saying about their transmissions. It's a lie. There is no such thing as "lifetime fluid". The only "lifetime" the manufacturer is concerned about is the length of the warranty. After that it's the customer's problem.
I don't think you've stated mileage but the fluid (and filter if applicable) should have been changed at about 50K mile intervals. If the transmission has never been serviced that could be a cause of the problem you are experiencing.
code P0756 and code P0780
Both those codes indicate internal transmission issues that have nothing to do with motor mounts. See the links below for details:
https://www.obd-codes.com/p0756
https://www.obd-codes.com/p0780
@chucktobias these articles are super helpful, thank you. so those internal parts are most likely damaged, along with needing new transmission fluid, but the actual gears should be relatively fine right? when it did get into drive it went through all the gears perfectly fine, so if i get my mechanic to fix the torque converter/shift solenoid it should be fine?
There's no way to tell from here. It won't be known how extensive the damage is until the transmission is opened up. Typically unless it's something relatively simple like a solenoid problem or needing a new torque converter the entire transmission would be replaced with a remanufactured unit. (This of course costs $$$$ which may exceed the value of a 13-year-old Mazda 3.)
ese articles are super helpful, thank you. so those internal parts are most likely damaged, along with needing new transmission fluid, but the actual gears should be relatively fine right?
It depends on how long that fluid has been in the transmission. I bought my 1999 Ranger with 249k miles, it would sometimes not upshift to overdrive while driving at highway speed. The OD On/Off light never flashed (it's in the truck's programming to flash that light when something is wrong with the transmission). I checked the transmission dipstick, and it was brown. Long story short, I had the transmission rebuilt, and I told the mechanic to save any parts from the transmission that didn't need a core charge. I received those overdrive gears, which were ever so slightly damaged. The transmission fluid had turned from a slippery substance to a crude cutting fluid. The steels and clutches were almost metal on metal, etc. I worked at a metal plating company at the time, and I plated the OD gears with nickel. They're in my garage, on the wall, along with a piston from a 2010 Dodge Journey I found at a junkyard.
You never mentioned the car's mileage.
@justin-shepherd 121k miles . I had to dig through the comments to find it. I've updated the main question.
@mexxxxxt always post your odometer with your question please.
@justin-shepherd sorry about not including the mileage. but how could have these issues popped up at such low mileage for this car? the previous owner took care of it, and i have as well with maintenance. could it just be age/sitting for a while? if there were transmission problems around this mileage/age i think i would’ve found another post somewhere about it, but i haven’t.
but there’s no way of telling what’s up with it for sure until my mechanic gets back and i can take a look with him, he’ll most likely bring it to the transmission shop with me. i’ll keep the thread posted on it
Neglecting transmission fluid changes can result in that. My Ranger had 130k more miles than your car. My Ranger made it to the Moon on the original transmission fluid in terms of mileage. Yours most likely will not have any planetary gear problems. You can't just change the fluid if it's never been changed before. If you have a dipstick, check it for grittiness. If yours has grit, leave it alone. If you change the fluid, it will probably start to slip.
how could have these issues popped up at such low mileage
That's not particularly low mileage especially if the transmission has not been serviced properly or subject to other abuse during that time. It's pretty likely you need a new transmission but maybe you'll get lucky and it will be something that's feasible to repair.
Since the transmission sometimes runs fine it sounds more like a hydrologic issue than a mechanical issue. I would test all the valve body solenoids. The transmission shouldn't have to come out to test the solenoids.
There's usually hydrologic pressure tap ports on the outside of the transmission. With the right service information and pressure gauges a technician can check the hydraulic pressure of all the valves and solenoids without removing the transmission.
@oskool 😆 'hydraulic' . Hydrology is the geological study of the movement of water.
@MountainManJoe Haha! I think my spelling is getting worse as time goes on. 😂