2006 Mazda MAZDA3

CAR CONTINUINGLY SHOWS EVAP DTCS INCLUDING P0443 AND P0446 AS WELL AS EITHER TOO RICH OR TOO LEAN FUEL MIXTURE AND AND O2 SENSOR ISSUE CODE. BOTH O2 SENSORS WERE REPLACE PREVIOUSLY. THE MAIN CONCERN IS DANGEROUS AND HAS ALREADY ALMOST CAUSED SEVERAL ACCIDENTS WHILE THE ISSUE HAS OCCURRED AFTER DRIVING FROM A STOPPED POSITION. THE ISSUE IS, WHEN THE VEHICLE STOPS AT 0 MPH, THE NORMAL IDLING RPM SPEED IS AROUND 750RPM. DURING STOPS LONGER THAN A SECOND, THE CAR WILL LOWER THE IDLE RPMS TO ABOUT 500RPM AND STAY UNTIL THE THROTTLE IS ENGAGED. WHEN THE THROTTLE IS ENGAGED THE VEHICLE HESITATES AND COMES CLOSE TO STALLING. THE VEHICLE WILL NOT POWER THE WHEELS ABOVE ABOUT 1000RPMS WHEN THE THROTTLE IS FULLY DEPRESSED AND THE CAR WILL HESITATE UNTIL THE CAR STARTS TO GRADUALLY MOVE FORWARD. THIS ALL IS HAPPENING IN THE INTERSECTION. AS THE CAR GETS TO THE INTERSECTION, THE CAR STARTS TO PICK UP TO ABOUT 1000 TO 1500RPM AND ONLY THEN WILL THE CAR START TO FULLY DRIVE FORWARD WITHOUT RELATION TO DRIVER'S FORCED DEPRESSION OF THE THROTTLE. BASICALLY THE VEHICLE IS DEFIANTLY NOT GOING ABOVE 1500RPM UNTIL THE VEHICLE IS A CERTAIN WAYS FORWARD. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND I HAVE ALREADY HAD VERY CLOSE CALLS WITH A DODGE DURANGO, A TRACTOR TRAILER, AN UNIDENTIFIED SEDAN, AND A TOYOTA PRIUS (OF ALL THE VEHICLES IN THE WORLD). I WAS ALMOST "T-BONED" BY A PRIUS. THIS ISSUE IS I BELIEVE TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE FUEL SYSTEM OR ENGINE AS THIS ISSUE ONLY REALLY OCCURS WHEN IT IS VERY VERY HUMID OR HOT OUT. USUALLY ABOVE 80 DEGREES WITH ANY HUMIDITY AT ALL. COULD BE A VAPORLOCK, ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL FOR A FUEL INJECTED VEHICLE, IT ISN'T IMPOSSIBLE.

MAZDA3 ABRUPTLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY SHIFTED FROM 5TH GEAR DOWN TO 3RD GEAR ON ITS OWN WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE CAR JERKED VIOLENTLY AND THE TRANSMISSION LIGHTS CAME ON. SEEMED LIKE THE STEERING/TRACTION WAS IMPAIRED. CAUSED THE MOTOR TO WRACK AND BLOW RENDERING THE CAR INOPERABLE. TOWED IT TO A REPAIR SHOP WHERE THEY DETERMINED THAT SHIFTING THAT SUDDENLY CAUSE THE MOTOR TO BLOW. HAD ISSUES IN THE PAST WITH THE SAME TRANSMISSION PROBLEM AND HAD IT REPAIRED, TURBINE SPEED SENSOR. THIS LAST OCCURRENCE AFFECTED NOT ONLY THE TRANSMISSION BUT THE ENGINE AS WELL. HAS CONSTANTLY HAD MOTOR MOUNT ISSUES, AS WELL, WHICH REQUIRED REPAIRS. THIS IS VERY UNSAFE BEHAVIOR AND IS UNACCEPTABLE. WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN RECALLED?

MY CAR IDLES REALLY ROUGH. ONCE I GET CLOSE TO FREEWAY SPEED MY CAR CONSTANTLY SHIFTS GEARS FROM 3 TO 4 TO 3, SO ON. THIS CAUSES MY CAR TO JERK, IT REVS FROM 3,000 TO 1,000 AND EVEYTHING IN BETWEEN. DURING THIS MY BRAKES BECOME PRACTICALLY USELESS, I HAVE TO COMPLETELY PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL TO MAKE IT DECELERATE. AND BRAKING DISTANCES ARE DRASTICALLY INCREASED. IT FURTHER WORRIES ME THAT I DONT HAVE ANY DASH LIGHTS ON SUCH AS CHECK ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, ABS, ETC.

I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN MY CAR WENT FROM 5TH GEAR TO NEUTRAL...THE CAR JERKED/BUCKED AND I WAS THROWN INTO THE LANE NEXT TO ME. THANK GOODNESS I DID NOT HIT ANYONE ELSE OR CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. EVEN DRIVING IN TOWN THE CAR DOES NOT GET INTO GEAR LIKE IT SHOULD AND STALLS OUT THEN BUCKS ABRUPTLY. THE AT LIGHT FLASHES AND ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. HAD THE CAR DIAGNOSED BY 3 DIFFERENT SHOPS AND THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT WAS THE TCM (TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE). MY 2006 MAZDA3 HAS BEEN MAINTAINED EXTREMELY WELL AND ALWAYS SERVICED WHEN SUGGESTED. I JUST HIT 95K MILES. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY OTHER PROBLEMS BESIDES THIS ONE. I'M EXTREMELY CONCERNED FOR MY SAFETY WHEN THIS PROBLEM HAPPENS WITH THE TRANSMISSION SO I HAVE TRIED TO GET IT FIXED PROMPTLY BUT NONE OF THE AUTO SHOPS CAN ORDER THIS PART. THEY ALL HAVE TOLD ME IT'S ON "BACK ORDER". EVEN THE DEALER IS NOT ABLE TO GET THIS PART FOR ME. IT'S BEEN 3 WEEKS NOW SINCE MY CAR STARTED HAVING THIS PROBLEM AND I'VE HAD TO GET A RENTAL CAR TO GET TO WORK SINCE IT'S UNSAFE TO DRIVE MY CAR. I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT MAZDA CAN'T SEEM TO TAKE CARE OF THIS ISSUE. ALL THE AUTO SHOPS I'VE SPOKE TO INCLUDING MY LOCAL DEALER HAVE SAID THIS TCM PART IS THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINT AND PROBLEM FOR THIS MODEL. IF THIS IS SO COMMON WHY CAN THEY NOT GET THE PART NECESSARY TO FIX THE PROBLEM? AND WHY HAS THIS PART NOT BEEN RECALLED BY MAZDA?... ARE THEY NOT CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THEIR DRIVERS?... I CANNOT KEEP PAYING FOR A RENTAL CAR ESPECIALLY WHEN I'M GOING TO HAVE TO SPEND A TON TO HAVE THIS PART FIXED ONCE THE PART IS ACTUALLY AVAILABLE. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS? I THOUGHT I HAD A RELIABLE CAR FROM A RELIABLE AND DEPENDABLE MAKER BUT NOW I'M WORRIED I MADE A MISTAKE PURCHASING THIS CAR.

I WAS ON A FREEWAY OFF-RAMP AT APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH, WHEN LOUD GRINDING AND CRASHING NOISES CAME FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE CAR THEN BECAME DIFFICULT TO STEER, AND WOULD NO LONGER PROPEL ITSELF. I COASTED INTO A DRIVEWAY NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE OFF-RAMP. UPON INSPECTION, I DISCOVERED THAT THE TRANSMISSION "MOTOR MOUNT" HAD BROKEN. THE ENGINE APPARENTLY LUNGED FORWARD, SHEERING OFF BOLTS TO THE OTHER MOTOR MOUNTS, AND LANDED ON THE SUSPENSION, SEVERELY DAMAGING MANY FRONT-END PARTS. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST MAZDA DEALERSHIP, WHOSE SERVICE DEPARTMENT CONFIRMED MY ASSESSMENT OF WHAT HAD OCCURRED. THE REPAIR ESTIMATE IS APPROXIMATELY $3,000. BEFORE THE INCIDENT, THE CAR WAS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION, HAVING BEEN WELL-MAINTAINED. (I HAVE SERVICE RECORDS.) I DISCOVERED THAT MAZDA HAD RECALLED A NUMBER OF MAZDA 3'S FOR MOTOR MOUNT PROBLEMS, BUT MY CAR WAS NOT AMONG THOSE RECALLED. WHILE THE CAR IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY, THIS IS A VERY UNUSUAL TYPE OF FAILURE, WHICH, UNDER OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES, COULD HAVE CAUSED A SERIOUS COLLISION. I HAVE OWNED NUMEROUS CARS OVER THE YEARS, WITH FAR MORE MILES ON THEM, AND NEVER HAD A MOTOR MOUNT FAIL IN SUCH A CATASTROPHIC MANNER. THIS SEEMS LIKE A DESIGN/ENGINEERING FLAW.

VEHICLE HAS HAD, ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, BEEN DRIVEN, NOT AT ANY PARTICULAR SPEED AND LOST 4TH GEAR, THE ENGINE LIGHT APPEARS, AN AT LIGHT APPEARS, AND THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED TO DOWNSHIFT THE CAR DOWN TO 3RD GEAR. UPON ME NOTICING THIS. I WAIT UNTIL IT IS SAFE TO STOP AT A RED LIGHT OR STOP SIGN AND MAKE A COMPLETE STOP SHIFT THE CAR INTO PARK AND BACK INTO DRIVE. THIS SEEMS TO FIX THE DISAPPEARANCE AND REMOVAL OF THE 4TH GEAR AS WELL AS THE AT LIGHT, BUT ONLY OCCASIONALLY. IT DOES NOT HOWEVER REMOVE THE ENGINE LIGHT. THOUGH AFTER A FEW DIFFERENT TRIPS ON DIFFERENT DAYS THE LIGHT WILL NOT APPEAR ON START UP AND DOES NOT SHOW UP UNTIL THIS ISSUE HAPPENS AGAIN. THE CAR SHOWS ERROR CODE P0715 AND IS POSSIBLY NEEDING A NEW TRANSMISSION SPEED SENSOR. THIS ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN FIXED.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 MAZDA 3. WHILE AT A STOP LIGHT, THE OIL PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE OIL HOUSING FILTER FRACTURED. THE CONTACT DIAGNOSED THAT THE MOTOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 150,000.