ATX Can't get into 3rd!!

[Smokehman]

Hello there Forum Friends. I have a 1993 Mazda MX3 GS with the 1.8L v6 and a ATX. I picked her up from my uncle for a smooth 700 smackers about a month ago.. And he had informed me he had just replaced the trans. Now of course I have the infamous flashing Hold Light randomly popping on and off since I got her. She made the 3 hour drive home with the shift cable not properly adjusted. So I was running a good 4500 rpms at 60 mph the whole way home. I adjusted it when I got home and she ran fine and dandy with alil bit of slip but not a whole lot. Just recently though she cant get into third gear and she wont shift into second unless shes over 4000rpms. I notice when manually shifting through the gears with the HOLD engaged she still has decent acceleration but the second I throw her into third she doesn't even grab. Basically just free revs. The trans fluid is still pink as can be. My questions about this are as follows:

1. Who the hell puts in a hold button and not an OD?!
2. I hear the GS had a problem with the Temp. Sensor Circuit getting pinched and shorting out. Anyone know where this pinch occurs?
3. I understand it could just be my tranny is ready to die but has anyone fixed this problem without replacing the whole trans?

I would greatly appreciate any feedback I can use to better diagnose the problem.

[Nd4SpdSe]

1. Who the hell puts in a hold button and not an OD?!.

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65829

Hold is a common Mazda feature on Automatics, an your car DOES have an OD

The Hold button is used to lock into a specific gear. Your automatic has 4 speeds. As well, your shifter has 3 options, D, S & L:

D - Hold locks tranny in 3rd, downshifts to 2nd from a dead stop.
S - Hold's tranny in 2nd
L - Hold's tranny in 1st

Essentially you can engage HOLD and shift like a faux-manual, but the tranny doesn't like that.

Hold is good for forcing a downshift and locking it in that gear when going uphill, especially in scenarios where your at the point where it wants to constantly hunt for a gear (shift up and down), so it'll stop the tranny from hunting for gears. New cars can have an option like O/D Off, it disables the Overdrive gear (typically 4th). I used it in a rental v6 Mustang because it kept up and downshifting on some hills where the torque was high in 3rd, but because of the hi-revs, it shifted to 4th, but in 4th gear it's too low for enough power to get up the hill, so it shifted to 3rd again, and repeat the cycle

For those who drive in the snow, it's handy to downshift and using the compression of the motor to slow the car down rather than using the brakes (especially if you don't have ABS). As well, you can lock it in 2nd for starting in second gear so you don't spin the tires as much when starting off.

You can try to engage hold but if it will go out of the RPM range (beyond redliine) if you engage it, it'll know and disengage it. You can force it, but catch it quck before you blow or break your motor.

2. I hear the GS had a problem with the Temp. Sensor Circuit getting pinched and shorting out. Anyone know where this pinch occurs?

Never heard of that one...

3. I understand it could just be my tranny is ready to die but has anyone fixed this problem without replacing the whole trans?

Typically, swap to a manual. People have spend thousands to get the trans fixed, only to have it to die shortly, even months, after...