Hello all! Glad I found you!

I'm a proud owner of a '99 Protege LX my 16 year old drives, and an '01 Protege ES that I love and my wife has absconded from me.

Here's the weird deal with the auto tranny on the '01 Protege ES, 2.0 liter, 67K miles:

The 2-3 upshift, under moderate acceleration, if the engine is at approximately 4000 RPM, the time for the shift to complete is "drawn-out", longer to finish if you will, and the engine rpm increases by a few hundred RPM as the shift completes.

This problem is very obvious when cold (both engine/tranny, and weather), and mostly disappears at operating temp as was the case yesterday (a warm day), when I drove approx 20+ miles to a shop for diagonsis. I could not make the problem occur during the test drive for the mechanic.

All other aspects of the tranny are perfect at the present; all other upshifts, downshifts, into drive or reverse from park, OverDrive switch and light all normal.

The "slow/delayed/soft/longer-time" 2-3 upshift does NOT occur, cold or hot, under low acceleration, or hard acceleration.

So far I've had the transaxle flushed, fluid replaced, and rear tranny seal replaced. [There was a slow leak that I was aware of, and was topping-off the fluid as needed.] When this work was done, the old fluid was dark and smelly, though no visual evidence of metal wear or mechanical damage.

The scanner/computer diagnosis showed no codes, but erratic readings from the TPS sensor.

I feel (and hope) this is in fact a typical intermittent electrical/computer/solenoid/sensor problem. The tech at this first diagnosis suppects the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). He said that the TPS sensor has an internal plastic "actuator-device" that wears and fails, not sending correct shifting timing to the transaxle. I'm getting additional diagnosis from other shops today or tomorrow.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

I have the same thing happen to my car on a regular basis. The day after I got my 02 P5 it did the same thing. I can actually recreate now at any time I want. Just like you said it happens around 4000 rpm. It has never got worse over the years. I like it because it you get it going and increase the rpm the engagement of the tranny into the next gear is fast and tight and you can go like snot. Change your tray fluid to Redline ATF and you will notice a smoother, tighter shift at all times. As for the erratic TPS……it could be the 16 year old behind the wheel LOL!!

 

Strange stuff Mazdacub!

I can't "make it happen" on my '01 ES. It's truly intermittent, and almost always the drivetrain must be cold, AND weather is usually cold/cold & damp. And the 2-3 upshift has to be either side of 4K RPM. Thanks for the heads-up on "Redline ATF".
Oh, my 16 year-old daughter drives ONLY the '99 Protege LX! My auto insurance is killing me as it is...2nd daughter drives a '98 Civic.

 

...in my city, says there is a known issue with some of the Mazda/Ford transaxles specific to 2-3 upshifts that "flare" the RPM's up while completing a longer/slower 2-3 upshift. I believe he said the problem is corrected with a parts change-out involving pump/valve....???? He did say it's a R/R with the tranny in/on car. Will have an answer for me tomorrow.

 

Welcome to the forum. Stick around for a while, it's a nice place to hang out.
Also, it's nice to have someone else around that's old enough to have a daughter driving, too!
And yes, the insurance is killer! She has a '97 Accord...