Driving Your Mazda; Transaxle Ranges; Automatic Transaxle - Page 89

5-9

Driving Your Mazda

Starting and Driving

Form No. 8Q50-EA-01G

Various Lockouts:

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Transaxle Ranges

The shift lever must be in P or N to 
operate the starter.

P (Park)

P locks the transaxle and prevents the 
front wheels from rotating.

R (Reverse)

In position R, the vehicle moves only 
backward. You must be at a complete stop 
before shifting to or from R, except as 
explained under Rocking the Vehicle 
(page 4-8).

N (Neutral)

In N, the wheels and transaxle are not 
locked. The vehicle will roll freely even 
on the slightest incline unless the parking 
brake or brakes are on.

Automatic Transaxle 
Controls

Indicates that you must depress 
the brake pedal and hold in the 
lock-release button to shift (The 
ignition switch must be in the 
ACC or ON position).
Indicates the shift lever can be 
shifted freely into any position.
Indicates that you must hold in 
the lock-release button to shift.

Lock-release button

To prevent unsafe 
shifting

Overdrive button 

For gear selection with either 
a three-speed or four-speed 
transaxle

Shift pattern indicator

Shows shift lever 
position

Holding the Vehicle with P:
Setting the shift lever to the P position 
without using the parking brake to 
hold the vehicle is dangerous. If P 
fails to hold, the vehicle could move 
and cause an accident. To hold the 
vehicle, set the shift lever to P AND 
set the parking brake.

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Shifting into P or R while the 
vehicle is moving can damage your 
transaxle.

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Shifting into a driving gear or 
reverse when the engine is running 
faster than idle can damage the 
transaxle.

WARNING

CAUTION

J94S.book  Page 9  Saturday, June 23, 2001  1:04 PM