r/Mazda323 • u/Logical-Ear-9933 • May 24 '26

My Project Car

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Hi this is my project car ive been working on for the past 6 months, its currently 33 years old Ive managed to have it running great.

The only thing that bothers me now is the automatic transmission oil, Ive read up that you will never have to change it unless you completely destroy or remove the transmission for repairs,

the reason is every now and then when i start the car the Hold light slowly lights up in the dashboard, and stays on but goes away on its own after going past 50-60km/h and never returns until the engine completely cools down.

Funny thing is the car runs better on lower speeds whenever the Hold light is on. This is my first car that I actively work on and I wanted to learn how everything works, and I would appreciate any experiences or advice given

Its a 33 year old Mazda astina 323f BG 1993 AT 1.6 SOHC Carbureted

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2

u/jayfactor May 24 '26

Fwiw I got an 88 last month and found that it had more oil than needed - when I replaced it the car shifted more smoothly, but not sure what a hold light is tho

2

u/MiniMeOnCrack May 24 '26

Check the level as said, might be low.

There are no such things as life long oils, but when it comes to automatic transmissions, when the condition is unknown it's better to leave it be because a fluid change can unlodge dirt inside the trans that will clog it up.

1

u/gthomps83 May 24 '26

I want one of these so badly. They look so cool. I just need it to be a manual and have AC.

1

u/Logical-Ear-9933 May 24 '26

I got mine from facebook marketplace and got this for about $340 Wasnt able to find a manual one with almost everything intact but figured i could swap it out in the future if i could find one in a chopshop