Thread: 97 mazda protege has trouble shifting

I have a Mazda Protege 1997. Automatic 1.5L I bought this car from a guy who was the original owner of this car. He took good care of it and the performance reflects this. I seem to have one small problem that I don't want to turn into the destruction of this vehicle. When driving, It seems to have some issues shifting into the next gear. All I have to do is let off the gas a little and it will shift right along but I fear that it is affecting something undetectable and was wondering if there were any quick and cheap solutions as to why this may be occuring? I changed the Transmission fluid about 4,000 miles ago and there is no fluid leakage. All fluids are flush to their correct lines and is in great condition other than this small problem.

If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to reply to this post. Thanks! I greatly appreciate it.

I will start by saying I am not real familiar with this car. Look where the throttle cable connects to the throttle body (intake manifold), is there a second cable coming off of the throttle body? If so, make it a very little bit looser. If there is a second cable on the throttle body, it will be the one going down to the transmission, this will be the one to make a very small adjustment to. If no cable then I would suggest getting the adjustment (voltage) of the Throttle Position Sensor checked. You may be able to get a free quick check of Scan Data looked at by a Transmission shop or Mechanic shop, make a few calls but start with the tranny shops.

Does it act this way all the time, from the time you start it cold through a complete warm up cycle. A cold engine / transmission wants to shift late to help warm up the engine quicker, you may have a temperature sensor on the eng or trans not seeing the proper temps, Scan Data will show that too.