1998 Mazda 626

I HAD STARTED TO NOTICE ROUGH SHIFTING AT AROUND 90,000 MILES. I TRAVEL WITH MY WORK AND AM GONE EVERY WEEK MON-FRI AND PUT ABOUT 1000 MILES A WEEK ON MY CAR. SOME WEEKS MORE THAN THAT, ALL HIGHWAY MILES. I THOUGHT THE ROUGH SHIFTING WAS DUE TO THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND FILTER AND HAD THE TRANSMISSION FLUID CHANGED. YOU CANNOT GET TO THE FILTER IN THE CD4 WITHOUT TAKING THE WHOLE THING APART. I WENT ANOTHER 10,000 MILES AND NOW THE TRANSMISSION WILL ALLOW ME TO TRAVEL ABOUT 10 MILES THEN QUITS. AFTER SITTING FOR A FEW MINUTES, I CAN TRAVEL ANOTHER 5-10 MINUTES THEN IT QUITS AGAIN. I HAVE CONTACTED MAZDA'S CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND A LADY I SPOKE WITH WAS NO HELP AT ALL. SHE TOLD ME TO GO TO A DEALER AND THE CLOSEST IS 125 MILES AWAY. I ASKED IF THEY HAD A TECH DEPARTMENT I COULD TALK TO AND SHE SAID NONE EXISTED. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THIS FORD TRANSMISSION IS NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. I CANNOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FIRST 100000 MILES ON THIS LITTLE CAR. THE ONLY REPAIRS WERE BRAKES AND A BATTERY PLUS THE NORMAL MAINTENANCE. I CANNOT SEE WHY MY TRANSMISSION IS ACTING SO WIERD THOUGH. I HAD ONE GO OUT YEARS AGO AND IT NEVER WOULD SHIFT AGAIN. THIS RUNS, THEN QUITS, THEN RUNS, THEN QUITS AGAIN. OH WELL, I WANTED TO VENT AND I HAVE. IF THERE IS A RECALL OUT THERE ON THIS I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT IT. THANKS FOR LISTENING. FRED MARTINO.*AK

TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT RELATIVELY LOW MILEAGE, DEALER SUGGESTS REMAN. TRANSMISSION AT A COST OF $2700. TRANSMISSION REPAIR SHOP REPORTS INTERNAL FAILURE OF SOME SORT, COMPLETE REMOVAL AND DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED TO DETERMINE EXACT NATURE OF THE PROBLEM - $700 LABOR, PLUS PARTS. THERE SEEM TO BE QUITE A FEW COMPLAINTS OF THIS NATURE WITH THIS YEAR AND MODEL. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. HOW MANY COMPLAINTS MUST BE FILED BEFORE A RECALL IS WARRANTED?*AK

THIS 5 YEAR YOUNG CAR HAS BEEN GARAGE KEPT AND USED AS A THIRD VEHICLE FOR WEEKEND DRIVING. OVER THE LAST FEW HUNDRED MILES, THE TRANMISSION BEGAN JOLTING INTO FIRST GEAR WHEN STOPPED AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS, ETC. ON JUNE 19TH, I DECIDED TO TAKE THE VEHICLE TO MY MECHANIC TO CHECK FOR WHAT MIGHT BE AN EMERGING TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE WOULD BARELY BACK OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY. IT SEEMED TO JUMP OUT OF GEAR, AND SEEMED TO SHIFT GEARS RANDOMLY AND WITHOUT WARNING. I HAD TO STOP SEVERAL TIMES ON MY TWO MILE JOURNEY TO PLACE THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND EASE IT BACK INTO DRIVE. THESE EXTREME SYMPTONS HAVE MANIFESTED THEMSELVES INTERMITTENTLY SINCE JUNE 19TH, PROMPTING THE INTERNET SEARCHES THAT LEAD US TO NHTSA'S WEBSITE. I WILL BE TAKING THE VEHICLE TO MAZDA IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND WILL REPORT MY EXPERIENCE BACK TO YOU. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN TELL ME IN DEALING WITH MAZDA SO THAT THIS CAN BE FIXED WITH MINIMAL EXPENSE AND AGGRAVATION? MANY OF THE MAZDA TRANSMISSION REPORTS TO NHTSA RELATE STORIES OF COMPUTER FAILURE BUT IN MOST CASES THE TRANSMISSION IS REPLACED. WHAT HAS NHTSA LEARNED OF THIS MATTER RELATIVE TO THE MECHANICAL VERSUS COMPUTER PROBLEM? HOW DO I KEEP FROM BEING TAKEN? FRANKLY, IT IS CLEAR FROM THE COMPLAINTS LODGED ON YOUR SITE AND ON OTHER SITES DETAILING MAZDA TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS, THAT MAZDA/FORD HAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH THIS TRANSMISSION THAT THEY ARE PASSING ON TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE. I THINK THAT TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT ONLY 32150 MILES IS NOT REASONABLE SERVICE AND I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH A FAILURE WITH ANY OTHER VEHICLE. LOOKING AT THE NHTSA WEBSITE, APPARENTLY, YOU HAVE NO INVESTIGATIONS OF MAZDA TO REPORT. THE NHTSA MAZDA 626 TRANSMISSION COMPLAINTS ARE DATED STARTING 1997. THE PROBLEM SEEMS LONGSTANDING ENOUGH TO WARRENT INVESTIGATION. WHAT HAS BEEN THE EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER MAZDAS AND COMPARABLE COMPETITORS? I AM WRITING TO YOU IN ADVANCE IN HOPE YOU CAN OFFER SOME ADVICE IN RESOLVING THIS. REGARDS, JOE BACHALIS.

MY 1998 MAZDA 626 DID NOT QUALIFY FOR RECALL #92007, ENGINE TIMING BELT TENSIONER, DUE TO "VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER PROVIDED DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR THE RECALL 92007. DUE TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES, WE ARE CLOSING THE FILE (FILE #764436)." THE SPRING ON THE TIMING BELT TENSIONER BROKE CAUSING THE CAR TO KEEP STALLING. THIS IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM STATED ON RECALL #92007. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY MAZDA HAS REFUSED TO COMPENSATE REPAIRS FOR THIS CAR.*AK