Alright, here is what happened. I went to stop to park, and I put the transmission in reverse to back in. When I did so, the portion of my gauge cluster that displays the gear selection went black. There was no gear selection displayed. I moved the shifter back and forth hoping that it might trigger something to re-engage or whatever, but nothing happpened. I moved it back and forth a couple more times and the "N" for neutral lit up, but northing else light up no matter what the position of the shifter.

The transmission will move my car backwards if I select reverse, it will stand still if I select neutral, it will stay in place if I should select park, but there is no lighted display on my gauge cluster, this has also results in the instant loss of first gear and overdrive. Taking off from a dead stop, the transmission starts off in second gear, and shifts into third at about 2100 rpm.

I know that there is some type of sensor that is attached to the shift linkage. I can only guess that maybe something wore out inside it? More quality Mazda electronics? Somebody please help. This is my daily driver, my only vehicle, and I haven't the time for my auto>manual swap at this moment. Somebody must have had this problem before.

 

^

 

^ anyone?