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    Transmission Mystery

    In November 2010, I bought a 2001 Mazda Protege with 143,000 miles. In January 2011 I went to Autozone to purchase a liter of anti-slip/anti-leak transmission additive fluid. I foolishly poured it into the transmission, not only overfilling it, but also neglecting to realize that the manual states not to do this whatsoever. 3 weeks later I was driving up a hill and the rpm's suddenly shot up to 7-8k. Since then, the car's rpm's are triple what they should normally be at any given speed. The car will not go over 40 mph, and to get to that the gas pedal must be floored (I only did it one time to see what the top speed was).

    I drained the fluid and replaced it, but I'm not sure if I used the right kind.

    I've had several mechanics look at it. One man said that the springs and cranks must be replaced. Another said that the first mechanic was incompetent because cranks don't even exist in my car's transmission. The rest just gave me vague quotes for a rebuilt transmission, $1600.00 on average. None of them mentioned anything about simply flushing it and adding the proper type/amount of fluid.

    I'm trying to convince my girlfriend that we should just use the $1,200 we have saved up for the repair to instead buy a different car. We don't even have the title to the Mazda anyways, my mom won't give it to me until I pay her an additional $500.00 for it. I've already given her $1,500.00 so far. So we can't even sell the Mazda right now. The last guy who repaired the transmission did it around the time I bought it, and apparently will still honor the warranty, but I'm skeptical of that, he's very evasive on the phone, and his shop is in Texas (that's where I bought the car). I would have to pay a min of $650.00 to have the Mazda shipped there, and then more on top of that to have it brought back. Not to mention it desperately needs new tires and brakes.

    I really want my girlfriend to make the decision to use the money I've given her to just buy a different car. For $1,200.00 she could buy pretty decent Plymouth Neon or something like that, and she would actually have the title for it. We could worry about the Mazda later.

    Maybe someone has the answer to how I can just fix the Mazda for how much I have? That's the route that she would prefer. This car's transmission failure has been a daunting mystery to us for over half a year now.

    #2
    I'm assuming it's an automatic? Have you driven the car since you changed the fluid? If so, how did it behave? Do you remember what kind of fluid you refilled the trans with?
    1995 626: daily beater, mostly stock. Future NASA racer?

    Next up: Speed6 or RX-8

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      #3
      Welcome to CP.

      Assuming an A/T, to completely remove the old fluid you cannot simply remove the transmission oil pan drain plug as this removes only a small portion of the old fluid. The bulk of the ATF is in the torque converter and the entire system must be drained and flushed for complete removal. This must be done by the dealer or a shop that has the facilities for such work.

      The FSM specifies M-V or equivalent (e.g. Dexron III) ATF.

      Happy Motoring!
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        #4
        Thanks for the responses! Yes it is an automatic and I drove it for a week after changing the fluid. That's when the transmission problems started happening. The car wasn't accelerating as normal and I started hearing a slight knocking noise when switching gears, especially when putting the car in drive. I don't remember what brand but the additive I used was a anti slip/stop leak. I can't remember what transmission fluid I used.

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