I own a 1999 Mazda 626 (automatic 4 cylinder) with aprox. 115K miles. Recently the car is having major problems when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. Sometimes it will kick into 2nd at around 5000+ rpms and sometimes it will not shift at all. I also have noticed that if the car is not shifting at very high rpms and I remove my foot quickly from the gas, then the car will shift.

So, I am not sure if the transmission is shot or if there is something else I can do to fix it. Could this problem be a result of needing to change the transmission filter? Has anyone else had the same problem? If so, how did you fix it?

Any suggestions?

Thank you.

 

It is my understanding that everyone who has the 4 cylinder automatic CD-4E transmission has problems. I experienced this myself with my 98 4cyl automatic around 100k miles. The problem persisted for quite a while, but after adding fuel injector fluid, it stopped. (I probably didn't fix the problem this way... my guess is that the problem stopped on its own.)

It is also my summary that the cause of the transmission problems is
1.) Overheating due to insufficient cooling of the trans. and
2.) Insufficient oil changes... apparently the mazda 626 needs to be changed more often than other vehicles.

I could be probably very wrong about all of this, so you should read more into it here from people who really know what they're talking about. I summarized it myself because sifting through all the flaming on the link above is difficult.

 

Wolf -

Did you ever resolve your problem. Found your post while researching the issue. I am having similar issues now.

 

It has been almost 10 months and he has only posted one time. I presume he fixed it or sold the car by now.