Hey guys I'm having a few issues with my 06 mazda 3 - 2.3l -

Whats going on with my car started off being a small oil leak just dripping a few small drops where ever i was parked. each week i would add in about a quart of new oil just because i don't really have time to get to a shop right now. One night I managed to ... forget...to put the oil cap back on so it got oil everywhere by the time i noticed. I got a new cap but as soon as i did i started to misfire pretty much every time i got on the highway...changed the spark plugs...and the misfiring went away buuuut I'm still leaking oil .. a lot more then before...and my car isn't shifting properly every time..shifting up late or down shifting early (its automatic i just watch the numbers)...and the last part to the problem is that my dipstick says I'm practically empty on oil but when i drained it there was more then i should have in there

If anybody could help me out i would appreciate it greatly

 

the dipstick on some of the 3's is tricky to read there is a notch that the dipstick has to fully be seated into get a correct reading. most of the leaks on the 3's are at the oil pan due to at the factory they did not clean all of the cosmaline off of the pans before thet put silicone on them and sealed them to the motor. the incorrect shifting could be a number of different things but most common cause is that the fluid needs flushed. the mazda 3's and 5's are really hard on the fluid and this causes the transmission to start acting up.

 

Don't even get me started on Mazda's so called lifetime tranny fluid.
An external tranny cooler really helps, i added one after my tranning failed with only 20,000 miles!

READ THESE 2: http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repa...ques123_0.html
http://www.motorweek.org/features/go...t_or_forget_it

 

alright thanks you two...illl go look into it