Problem With Gear Change

[Jay Serasinghe]

I had an issue with the gear change recently. (FB 15, 2000 model Auto)

This happened suddenly and felt the gears doesnt change at all. RPM goes up when hit the accelator but gear wont change. This happened during traffic and after a while engine oil indicator also came to light and car came to a halt. After 5 mins can start the car and drive another 2 -3 kms slowly.

Took it to a mechanic and he said must be some plates inside the gearbox damaged and needs repairing.

When i start the car and took to the garage next day morning didnt had this issue at all. Mechanic asked me to drive around a while to check if it comes back again but it never did. Gears changing normal and picks up through gears normally.

This one time incident makes me worried. Any reason why this happened?

the gear box oil and engine oil levels are ok. Also i checked the gearbox oil needs replacement and they said no need to replace since the oil is good.

[Kavvz]

  On 12/27/2011 at 9:32 AM, Jay Serasinghe said:

I had an issue with the gear change recently. (FB 15, 2000 model Auto)

This happened suddenly and felt the gears doesnt change at all. RPM goes up when hit the accelator but gear wont change. This happened during traffic and after a while engine oil indicator also came to light and car came to a halt. After 5 mins can start the car and drive another 2 -3 kms slowly.

Took it to a mechanic and he said must be some plates inside the gearbox damaged and needs repairing.

When i start the car and took to the garage next day morning didnt had this issue at all. Mechanic asked me to drive around a while to check if it comes back again but it never did. Gears changing normal and picks up through gears normally.

This one time incident makes me worried. Any reason why this happened?

the gear box oil and engine oil levels are ok. Also i checked the gearbox oil needs replacement and they said no need to replace since the oil is good.

Do you drive a vehicle with a lot of mileage on the transmission? If so, it could be that its slipping at hotter temperatures which as your mechanic states is a sign of a worn transmission.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Kavvz

[Jay Serasinghe]

  On 12/27/2011 at 9:53 AM, Kavvz said:

Do you drive a vehicle with a lot of mileage on the transmission? If so, it could be that its slipping at hotter temperatures which as your mechanic states is a sign of a worn transmission.

thanks,

Yes, mileage is 160K on the clock. But this happened to me only once and using this as a daily drive.

should this be fixed soon ? If not could it damage the entire gear box?

[mazdaspeed]

Take care on who u show this to- there are lots of Maka Bas fellows out there. - I too feel that the issue could be with worn out clutch rings - Better get it checked trough a good place.

[Kavvz]

  On 12/27/2011 at 10:11 AM, Jay Serasinghe said:

thanks,

Yes, mileage is 160K on the clock. But this happened to me only once and using this as a daily drive.

should this be fixed soon ? If not could it damage the entire gear box?

I wouldn't worry too much about it, as it happened only once. Your transmission does have a fair bit of wear if its run 160k; especially if that 160k was clocked primarily in stop and go city traffic. A bit of slippage, or hesitation due to worn transmission gears might be expected.

As this has happened only once, I'd just monitor it. I would however start asking around for a good automatic transmission mechanic from the other members in incase things change and you need to take your car in for a repair / rebuild.

As 'mazdaspeed' states, automatic transmissions are a bit complex; and taking it to a reputable place will save you a lot of hassle.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Kavvz

[prvnrox]

  On 12/27/2011 at 9:32 AM, Jay Serasinghe said:

I had an issue with the gear change recently. (FB 15, 2000 model Auto) This happened suddenly and felt the gears doesnt change at all. RPM goes up when hit the accelator but gear wont change. This happened during traffic and after a while engine oil indicator also came to light and car came to a halt. After 5 mins can start the car and drive another 2 -3 kms slowly. Took it to a mechanic and he said must be some plates inside the gearbox damaged and needs repairing. When i start the car and took to the garage next day morning didnt had this issue at all. Mechanic asked me to drive around a while to check if it comes back again but it never did. Gears changing normal and picks up through gears normally. This one time incident makes me worried. Any reason why this happened? the gear box oil and engine oil levels are ok. Also i checked the gearbox oil needs replacement and they said no need to replace since the oil is good.

Machan check if the gear indicator bulb is blinking when the issue comes.then it could be sth wrong with the speedometer sensor.when the speedometer sensor is not functioning properly it would not pass the correct speeds to the ECU hence the gears might not change.Another possibility is due to the pressure switches of the gear box.check on these two bro.check the ATF oil too.

[Jay Serasinghe]

Thanks guys for the valuable inputs,

Kawz, Yes this happened so far only once. But that time i could not drive the vehicle at all. Felt like its moving on with the 1st gear only and stalls after few minutes. This continued untill i stopped the car at the garage (12Km away from the place this happened) and no trace from next day morning onwards. If this due to a plate slippage is this behaviour normal? Also why the engine oil indicator came to light before the car gets stalled ?

prvnrox, No, the gear indicator buld did not blink. Only the engine oil indicator came to light before the car gets stalled.

Also if you guys know anyone whose good with repairing auto boxes please let me know. I'm from maharagama.

Thanks guys

[NRX]

I've seen in many threads that Ajith @ Roadstar motors had been recommended for Auto tranny repairs, his garage is in seeduwa. Contact : 0777383526

[Kavvz]

  On 12/28/2011 at 5:12 AM, Jay Serasinghe said:

Kawz, Yes this happened so far only once. But that time i could not drive the vehicle at all. Felt like its moving on with the 1st gear only and stalls after few minutes. This continued untill i stopped the car at the garage (12Km away from the place this happened) and no trace from next day morning onwards. If this due to a plate slippage is this behaviour normal? Also why the engine oil indicator came to light before the car gets stalled ?

No that scenario isn't normal for transmission slippage. Transmission slippage is experienced as over revving before shifting (hard shifting) into the appropriate gear. And usually its something that occurs on a consistent basis. The scenario you describe doesn't seem consistent with that.

Is your car model known to have electrical issues? Or issues with its sensors? And have you had any check engine lights go off in the past?

Edited December 28, 2011 by Kavvz

[Jay Serasinghe]

Did not had any electrical issues other than i repaired the alternator recently. replaced the coil pack and the alternator regulator IC.

Is there a pulse connection from the alternator to the gear box?

Also theres a error code for P0443 (Evaporative Emission Control System Purge Control Valve Circuit Malfunction). Doesnt think it has to do anything regarding this issue.

Also i dont experience over revving before shifting. Therefore i dont think its worthy to remove the gearbox and check for worn out plates at this stage. Since it will cost a lot and should refill the ATF oil again after the check.

What worries me is the above scenario i mentioned. Car came to a halt with the engine oil indicator lit. Garage people also doesnt give a good explanation other than needs to check this gear plate issue.

[Kavvz]

  On 12/28/2011 at 3:44 PM, Jay Serasinghe said:

Did not had any electrical issues other than i repaired the alternator recently. replaced the coil pack and the alternator regulator IC.

Is there a pulse connection from the alternator to the gear box?

Also theres a error code for P0443 (Evaporative Emission Control System Purge Control Valve Circuit Malfunction). Doesnt think it has to do anything regarding this issue.

Also i dont experience over revving before shifting. Therefore i dont think its worthy to remove the gearbox and check for worn out plates at this stage. Since it will cost a lot and should refill the ATF oil again after the check.

What worries me is the above scenario i mentioned. Car came to a halt with the engine oil indicator lit. Garage people also doesnt give a good explanation other than needs to check this gear plate issue.

Yes absolutely, I don't think you need to do anything with the transmission at this stage. Just ask around for a reputable automatic transmission place in case you need to get your car seen to but really the issue seems far removed from that.

The error code P0443 isn't related but when you investigated the cause what did it boil down to? Why were you getting the error code and what was done about it? [Did it boil down to a faulty fuel filler cap? Was it the solenoid valve that was the issue or did you just reset the code and did the issue not show up again?] And did this occur before or after the alternator repair?

My train of thought is that it could be your electronics which caused this malfunction. Nothing needs to be done urgently as your car is now running fine but if you have time: Check that you are getting the proper voltage and that your battery is charging properly. A low voltage can cause your sensors to give improper readings which in turn cause the ECU to go into limp home mode / shut down systems / throw error codes etc.

Again nothing urgent, as your car is running fine now but the above could be an explanation as to what happened.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Kavvz

[JayZ]

Thanks guys for the inputs. The P0443 issue came after i fixed the alternator. Is there any connection with this error and the alternator fix ? The place i did the scaning didn't had the facilities to check the functionality of the solenoids through their scanner. This needs to be checked soon as well.

I will take the car to a good electrical mechanic and should get the system checked. Thanks again.

[Sylvi]

  On 12/30/2011 at 1:06 PM, JayZ said:

Thanks guys for the inputs. The P0443 issue came after i fixed the alternator. Is there any connection with this error and the alternator fix ? The place i did the scaning didn't had the facilities to check the functionality of the solenoids through their scanner. This needs to be checked soon as well.

I will take the car to a good electrical mechanic and should get the system checked. Thanks again.

'JayZ,

I don't think your alternator is having any issue.

Re: pO443. please read following link.

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0443

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[JayZ]

Dear Sylvi,

Yes, This thread opened for another issue. PO443 i mentioned as other issues currently with the car thinking whether it has something to do with this gear change issue.

Also the PO443 code popped up after i repair the alternator. (Changed the coil pack and regulator IC).

[Kavvz]

  On 12/30/2011 at 1:06 PM, JayZ said:

Thanks guys for the inputs. The P0443 issue came after i fixed the alternator. Is there any connection with this error and the alternator fix ? The place i did the scaning didn't had the facilities to check the functionality of the solenoids through their scanner. This needs to be checked soon as well.

I will take the car to a good electrical mechanic and should get the system checked. Thanks again.

You could probably check yourself if you have access to multimeter. So did the transmission incident occur after the alternator repair or before?

Edited December 31, 2011 by Kavvz

[Kavvz]

  On 12/30/2011 at 1:24 PM, Sylvi said:

'JayZ,

I don't think your alternator is having any issue.

Re: pO443. please read following link.

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0443

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

The thread was opened due to an unknown ONE TIME issue with the automatic transmission.

When JayZ initially posted it seemed that there was a problem with the transmission. Going through his feed-back and knowing he's had other error codes go off; I don't really think it was a transmission issue. I'm thinking it could be a voltage issue or some other electrical problem with his car that caused issues with his sensors. This would explain why the automatic transmission failed to shift as well as the other error code with the fuel vapour recovery solenoid value. At the end of the day I'm not too sure, but that seems to be a likely explanation.

The other thing to note is that JayZ's car is running fine now.

Any thoughts on what may have caused JayZ's issue?

Edited December 31, 2011 by Kavvz

[Sylvi]

  On 12/31/2011 at 2:42 AM, Kavvz said:

The thread was opened due to an unknown ONE TIME issue with the automatic transmission.

When JayZ initially posted it seemed that there was a problem with the transmission. Going through his feed-back and knowing he's had other error codes go off; I don't really think it was a transmission issue. I'm thinking it could be a voltage issue or some other electrical problem with his car that caused issues with his sensors. This would explain why the automatic transmission failed to shift as well as the other error code with the fuel vapour recovery solenoid value. At the end of the day I'm not too sure, but that seems to be a likely explanation.

The other thing to note is that JayZ's car is running fine now.

Any thoughts on what may have caused JayZ's issue?

'Kavvz',

As far as I know if the alternator is working correctly there cannot be any connection with any other components of the vehicle.

He says he had changed a new IC regulator. I think if "JayZ's" do get his voltage checked up it is better. Alternator Voltage should be under 14.5 Volts DC.

If voltage is more than that then there can be problems prop up in the electrical system.

I am not very good at new ECU systems.

Alternators yes can do from A to Z. That was my early subject for few decades.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[Kavvz]

  On 12/31/2011 at 3:02 AM, Sylvi said:

'Kavvz',

As far as I know if the alternator is working correctly there cannot be any connection with any other components of the vehicle.

He says he had changed a new IC regulator. I think if "JayZ's" do get his voltage checked up it is better. Alternator Voltage should be under 14.5 Volts DC.

If voltage is more than that then there can be problems prop up in the electrical system.

I am not very good at new ECU systems.

Alternators yes can do from A to Z. That was my early subject for few decades.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

Interesting...thanks for the reply.

Also what if the voltage is lower? Will that cause issues or cause sensors to give incorrect readings?

[Sylvi]

  On 12/31/2011 at 3:16 AM, Kavvz said:

Interesting...thanks for the reply.

Also what if the voltage is lower? Will that cause issues or cause sensors to give incorrect readings?

'Kavvz',

To my knowledge ECU has a tolerance of voltage.

I think it is from 9 Volts DC to 15 Volts DC.

Any member who reads this if I am incorrect please correct.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[Kavvz]

  On 12/31/2011 at 5:07 AM, Sylvi said:

'Kavvz',

To my knowledge ECU has a tolerance of voltage.

I think it is from 9 Volts DC to 15 Volts DC.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

Good to know- Thanks for the info.

[JayZ]

  On 12/31/2011 at 2:32 AM, Kavvz said:

You could probably check yourself if you have access to multimeter. So did the transmission incident occur after the alternator repair or before?

Kavvz, Yes the transmission incident occurred after the alternator repair. When initially i repaired the alternator checked the voltage and it was between 12.5 - 13 V as i can remember. And the battery was charging fine. After this incident also i checked the alternator voltage and it was the same. Can it be due to some ECU malfunction? If that so shouldn't it be a more regular issue than a one time incident?

[Kavvz]

  On 12/31/2011 at 1:11 PM, JayZ said:

Kavvz, Yes the transmission incident occurred after the alternator repair. When initially i repaired the alternator checked the voltage and it was between 12.5 - 13 V as i can remember. And the battery was charging fine. After this incident also i checked the alternator voltage and it was the same. Can it be due to some ECU malfunction? If that so shouldn't it be a more regular issue than a one time incident?

I don't think its an ECU malfunction. I suspect that the voltage or some electrical fault caused the sensors to give faulty inputs to the ECU causing it to shut down systems / trigger a limp home mode of sorts.

There is however, no conclusive indication of that at this time for: As per your feed back the voltage was in the normal range after the repair as well as after the incident with the transmission. Furthermore 'Sylvi' states that the ECU has a pretty good tolerance to voltage fluctuation. The only question, or area of doubt then are the sensors? Could it be that faulty inputs from voltage sensitive sensors threw the ECU off camber momentarily?

Anyways JayZ: IMHO at this point it does not sound like your issue is mechanical. It is interesting that all this popped up after the alternator repair, and as such that's where my suspicions lie, but for all I know; I could be completely off base.

As you've done a fair bit of leg work and since the car is running fine at this point; the best thing to do might be just be to run it and monitor things closely. If this incident is prognostic of something that's going to be an issue it'll manifest itself again pretty quickly, hopefully with more conclusive symptoms, which will allow you to address it as appropriate. As long as you're the primary driver of this car and you pay close attention to it (which by the sound of things you are) I'm pretty sure you'd be able to catch the issue at an early enough stage to address it before it gets out of hand.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Kavvz