Why is my ax5 transmission locked in 3rd

Start with the firs post and have those cables and linkage assembly looked at if those are good then what you have is a loose bolt on the transmission that bolt is responsible to keep the gear in place when loose the transmission will do what you described as well nothing more nothing less.

It could be something minor like a broken linkage, or something serious like, you need a tranny rebuild. You'll need a reputable shop to troubleshoot.

The gear may be stripped, can't catch other gear,have you been grinding this gear,will have to go into transmission and replace third gear, will have to wind second gear out and shift to 4th gear.May be better and cheaper to get a remanufactured transmission cause all parts are new versus just 3rd gear being replaced.

This just happened to me. I drove the beetle in the snow and slid up to a stop sign. The slide engaged the anti-lock brakes. After that, the car was sluggish starting out and would not shift into 4th gear.
Turns out, the transmission was stuck in 3rd gear. If you can believe it, this is by design! It's a fail safe mode that gets triggered by the wheels spinning out of sync.
According to my mechanic there are wheel speed sensors on each wheel. If the computer senses the wheels moving at different speeds it will drop into fail safe mode. This requires a special scan tool to clear the codes.
Once the codes were cleared, ran like new.

This is a fault mode in which the transmission either loses electrical power or the PCM deactivates all of the electronics. The transmission will default to max line pressure. The driver will have Reverse and 3rd, with manual 2nd available by putting the gearshift in 2 or 1 (doesn't matter). 1st, 4th, and TCC lockup will not be available. It will not hurt the car to drive it like this for short periods, but use manual 2nd to get the car moving, and be aware that the trans will generate more heat than normal while operating in limp-home mode due to increased torque converter slippage during 2nd gear starts and no lockup in 3rd gear.

Trans shifts into gear harshly, car feels sluggish off the line, No 1st, 4th or TCC lockup available, Manual 2nd, 3rd and Reverse are only available gears, CEL is on: Transmission is either in limp-home mode or has lost electrical power. If there are lots of error codes in the PCM, check the under hood fuse that powers the transmission, and if it pops again, look for a short in that circuit like an O2 sensor harness touching exhaust. Otherwise, check PCM codes for a particular fault in the transmission causing the PCM to put it in limp-home mode.

No 1st or 4th available; trans shifts 2nd to 3rd by itself in D or OD and locks the converter : ShiftA solenoid failed. Easy fix in the pan. Or a wiring problem from PCM to trans.. or PCM.

Car goes into gear but feels very sluggish like the brakes are dragging, but it will roll easily (starts out in 4th gear), you manually shift to 2 to get it moving, once it's moving you put it back in OD and the car shifts 3rd to 4th on its own and locks the converter at the appropriate time: ShiftB solenoid failed: Easy fix in the pan. Or a wiring problem from PCM to trans.. or PCM.

Hi:

Your transmission has 3 shift rails...
1st - 2nd
3rd -4th
5th- Reverse

If your 3rd gear doesn't work , you have an internal transmission problem, such as a syncronizer, or similar fail... There is not much you can fix, without removeing the transmission.

• No 3rd or 4th gear: “3-4” clutches are worn out. R&R. The car is safe to drive (in 2) until you can get it fixed.
• Trans shifts into gear harshly, car feels sluggish off the line, No 1st, 4th or TCC lockup available, Manual 2nd, 3rd and Reverse are only available gears, CEL is on: Transmission is either in limp-home mode or has lost electrical power. If there are lots of error codes in the PCM, check the under hood fuse that powers the transmission, and if it pops again, look for a short in that circuit like an O2 sensor harness touching exhaust. Otherwise, check PCM codes for a particular fault in the transmission causing the PCM to put it in limp-home mode.
• No 1st or 4th available; trans shifts 2nd to 3rd by itself in D or OD and locks the converter : Shift A solenoid failed. Easy fix in the pan. Or a wiring problem from PCM to trans.. or PCM.

Check to see if your transmission is in the limp mode, which would only give you 2nd, 3rd and reverse gears. No 1st or 4th gear.

I just personally went through somewhat of the same problem, but it happened sporadically when ever the car felt like it, and as it turns out, after i replaces the shift control and the lock-out solenoids along with my speed senor on my tranny, the problem was my transmission ECU, which brand new was 1700 dollars, but i went to the junk yard and pulled one for $48. Its located under the carpet on the passenger side, where the passengers feet would be, and it should be the one on the right, the other computer is the Pgm-fi. If you replace this small box, it should fix your problem.

the rpm should go up before gear change, if the delay is not too long, then thats normal, however check to make sure your transmission fluid is at the proper level, you may also want to flush the transmission and add new fluid and filter.

are u sure the alignment (side to side, up and down) of the trans on the bell housingis not out of spec, that will burn the bearings out very quickly.