Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
On my protege I had to use 2 hands and force it into first so I'm going to say the hard shifting part is very true. But sure the dealer make money off if what they sell but I bet in that case it was legitimate because they do shift hard as heck.
On the same ZX2 I posted about above (which has a Mazda transmission in it, presumably the same design as the Protege), I too had really bad shifting issues as well as the clutch issues. I would have to literally jam the shifter into 2nd gear to get it to engage in cold weather. It would make a really loud "CLACK" and the car would actually lose acceleration and then pick back up. At a stop, going from 5th to 1st was also a chore. I found I almost always had to shift from 5th to 2nd and then to 1st. It was pathetic. The really sad part is the car was a low-miles, never-abused car that had the proper fluid and fluid level in the transmission. I suppose it's just bad design or the recommended fluids are just too thick in the winter weather.