2002 Mazda MAZDA6

MAZDA USA MAZDA MPV 2002 DEAR SIRS: I OWN A MAZDA MPV 2002 MODEL WHICH HAS BEEN HAVING MINOR SPORADIC TROUBLE FOR SOME TIME. BETWEEN 1500 AND 1800 RPM IT WOULD SOMETIMES JERK AND SPUTTER AND THEN IT WOULD SETTLE DOWN AND CONTINUE. I'VE TAKEN THIS TO TWO DIFFERENT DEALERS DURING ROUTINE SCHEDULED SERVICE AND THEY SAID THAT COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING UNTIL THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. WELL AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF THIS, FINALLY THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON , I REPLACED THE COILS 1,2,3 I NOTICED AN IMPROVEMENT BUT EVENTUALLY THE PROBLEM RECURRED AND WAS TOLD TO REPLACE THE REMAINING 3 COILS PLUS A HOSE. FOUR DAYS AFTER LEAVING THE SHOP ON A TRIP OF 50 MILES THE ENGINE LOST POWER ON A HIGHWAY CREATING A DANGEROUS CONDITION FOR MY FAMILY. AFTER HAVING IT TOWED TO THE SAME DEALERSHIP. I WAS TOLD IT WAS UNRELATED AND THAT I NEEDED TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION TO THE TUNE OF $3400 AFTER HAVING ALREADY SPENT $1200. *TR

FROM THE DAY I DROVE MY NEW 2002 MPV HOME THE TRANSMISSION MIS-SHIFTED AND BUCKED. I CALLED THE DEALER THE FOLLOWING DAY AND THEY TOLD ME THAT "THE TRANSMISSION COMPUTER WAS LEARNING MY DRIVING HABITS AND IT WOULD GO AWAY. AFTER 3 MONTHS THE PROBLEM PERSISTED AND BEGAN STALLING AT LIGHTS. I TOOK THE CAR IN AND THEY SAID THEY COULD FIND NO PROBLEM. WHEN I ASKED THEM WHAT THEY NEEDED TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM THEY SAID THAT THERE WERE NO COMPUTER UPGRADES FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND I WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THERE WERE. A YEAR PASSED AND IT CONTINUED TO BUCK AND STALL. I TOOK THE CAR IN AGAIN AND TOLD THEM I THOUGHT IT WAS A "LEMON" AND I WANTED IT REPAIRED. THEY TOOK THE CAR AND "FIXED IT" BUT IT HAS CONTINUED TO MIS SHIFT REGULARLY. AT AROUND 25,000 MILES THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND A DIAGNOSTIC TEST REVEALED IT NEEDED NEW PLUGS. AFTER REPLACING THE PLUGS IT APPEARED TO RUN LESS ERRATICALLY. IT NOW HAS 65,000 MILES ON IT AND A DIAGNOSTIC TEST REVEALS THAT THE #5 CYLINDER COIL IS OUT. APPARENTLY EACH SPARK PLUG HAS ITS OWN COIL. I HAVE ORDERED THE COIL AND AM WAITING TO SEE WHAT PROBLEM WILL COME UP NEXT. IN OCT 2005 MAZDA SENT OUT A VOLUNTARY LABORATORY EMISSION TESTING FORM. SINCE THEY WANTED THE VEHICLE FOR 2 WEEKS AND I ALREADY DIDN'T TRUST THERE COMPETENCY I DECLINED THE OFFER. NEVERTHELESS, THIS TOLD ME THAT THEY MUST BE HAVING EMISSION PROBLEMS AS WELL. I CANNOT BELIEVE THERE HAS BEEN NO RECALL ON THIS VEHICLE FROM THE MANUFACTURER OR A GOVERNMENT REQUIRED RECALL. THE DEALER NEVER FIXED THE PROBLEM FROM DAY ONE, THE CAR IS NOW OUT OF WARRANTY AND NOW I HAVE NO RECOURSE. I HAVE LOST ALL CONFIDENCE IN MAZDA. I WILL BE CONTACTING SOME ATTORNEYS ABOUT A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL TAKE A FATALITY ON A FREEWAY FROM A FAILED TRANSMISSION BEFORE MAZDA OR THE GOVERNMENT WILL LOOK INTO THIS! *TR

2002 MAZDA MPV TRANSMISSION AND WATER PUMP WENT OUT AT 58,000 MILES. NOT UNDER WARRANTY AND MAZDA WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REPAIR. THE CAR JUST DIED IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC, AND LUCKILY NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THE FIX WAS $4,000 IN REPAIRS PAID BY ME. SIX WEEKS LATER, I AM TOLD THAT I HAVE TO REPLACE A COIL AND SPARK PLUG FOR ANOTHER $500. THE MECHANIC EVEN SAID THAT I MAY HAVE TO REPLACE MORE COILS IN THE COMING MONTHS.*AK

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 MAZDA 6. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE HAS NO ACCELERATION POWER. WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, THE VEHICLE HESITATED AND SHUT OFF. THE CONTACT PLACED THE VEHICLE IN PARK AND IT WAS RESTARTED. THE SLOW ACCELERATION OCCURS EVERY DAY, BUT THE STALLING AND SHUTTING OFF IS OCCURRING MORE FREQUENTLY. THE VIN, PURCHASE DATE, AND ENGINE SIZE WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 57,000.

DRIVING THE MAZDA TRIBUTE INTO A PARKING LOT AND THE CAR SUDDENLY WENT TO FIFTY MILES PER HOUR AND THE TACH WENT UP TO 3000 RPM, APPLIED THE BRAKE AND PUT CAR INTO PARK TO STOP THE VEHICLE FROM GOING ANY FURTHER. DEALER WAS CALLED AND CAR WAS BROUGHT TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. CAR HAS BEEN SERVICED AT THE MAZDA DEALER EVERY THREE THOUSAND MILES. DEALER CHECKED THE VEHICLE AND FOUND THAT AN ERROR CODE CAME UP THAT SHOWED THAT THE ECT TEMPERATURE SENSOR FAILED WHICH CAUSED THE COMPUTER TO SEND EXCESS FUEL INTO THE FUEL INJECTORS WHICH CAUSED A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. DEALER FIXED THE PROBLEM AND CHARGED $400.00 FOR THE REPAIR. THE INCIDENT COULD HAVE CAUSED A MAJOR PROBLEM IF I WAS DRIVING IN OPEN TRAFFIC. MAZDA SHOULD BE REVIEWING FOR POSSIBLE DEFECT AND NHTSA SHOULD BE OPENING A SEARCH FOR OTHER VEHICLES HAVING A SIMILAR PROBLEM. CAR IS A MAZDA TRIBUTE 2002. *NM

ON COLD STARTS THERE IS A LOUD TICKING SOUND FROM THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE. ONCE ENGINE WARMS UP THE TICKING GOES AWAY. WE BROUGHT OUR 2002 MAZDA MPV TO A LOCAL CERTIFIED MECHANIC AND HE DIAGNOSED A CRACKED FRONT EXHAUST MANIFOLD. WE CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE AT MAZDA TO REPORT THIS PROBLEM AND PER MAZDA SINCE WE EXCEEDED OUR WARRANTY BY 5 MONTHS IT WILL NOT BE COVERED. AFTER ASKING US ABOUT OUR REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE HISTORY WITH MAZDA WE REPORTED HAVING AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SERVICE DONE, BRAKE SERVICE, AND COOLANT FLUSH SERVICE DONE AT THE DEALERSHIP. THE GENTLEMAN AT MAZDA ASKED US TO HOLD SO HE COULD TALK TO THE SUPERVISOR. WHEN HE RETURNED HE ASKED ABOUT THE OIL CHANGES. I STATED THAT I DO THOSE EVERY 3,000 MILES. AFTER PUTTING ME ON HOLD AGAIN, HE STATED THAT HE COULD NOT HELP US AFTER ALL. WHEN WE BOUGHT THE VAN I ASKED IF I COULD DO MY OWN MAINTENANCE AND WOULD IT VOID ANY WARRANTY PROBLEMS AND THE SALESMAN SAID "NO". I WENT TO ANOTHER MECHANIC WHO SPECIALIZES IN EXHAUST AND EMISSION SYSTEMS. I EXPLAINED THE SITUATION TO HIM AND HE SAID HE WOULD LOOK INTO FOR US. HE CALLED BACK 3 DAYS LATER AND STATED THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION WE ARE HAVING. IN DOING A NATIONAL PARTS SEARCH AT ALL NATIONAL SALVAGE YARDS TO FIND AN EXHAUST MANIFOLD FOR THE VAN HE FOUND ONE IN FLORIDA, BUT IT ALSO HAD A CRACK IN IT AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAVE HAD NUMEROUS INQUIRIES ABOUT THE SAME EXHAUST MANIFOLD PART. WE TOOK IT UPON OURSELVES TO DO RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND WAS SURPRISED TO FIND NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS OF CRACKED EXHAUST MANIFOLDS ON MAZDA MPV'S. WE WERE QUOTED OVER $1,000 TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, BUT WE FEEL AFTER CONSULTING WITH SEVERAL MECHANICS THIS PROBLEM SHOULD NEVER OCCURRED AND THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD ON THESE ENGINES ARE MOST LIKELY DEFECTIVE FROM THE MANUFACTURER. WHAT IS OUR NEXT STEP? BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU?? *NM

I HAVE A 2002 MAZDA TRIBUTE ES V-6, I PURCHASED IN FEBRUARY, 2002. I BEGAN COMPLAINING OF ELECTRICAL ISSUES (...SPECIFICALLY BATTERY CHARGING/MAINTAINING CHARGE), AT 15000 MILES. INITIALLY, THE CAR WOULD LOSE BATTERY CHARGE; BUT IN JANUARY, 2005, THE FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM WOULD NOT OPERATE PROPERLY. THE BATTERY WAS DETERMINED TO BE FAULTY; AND WAS REPLACED AT NO CHARGE. THE MILEAGE WAS 29,527. APRIL 22, 2005... I WAS IN THE WEST-BOUND LANES OF INTERSTATE 90, IN SPOKANE, WA. THE FREEWAY IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, WITH 3' SHOULDERS; THEN CONCRETE BARRIERS. IT WAS 5:30 PM, RUSH HOUR. THE CAR DIED COMPLETELY; NOT EVEN ENOUGH ELECTRICAL POWER TO ACTIVATE THE EMERGENCY FLASHING LIGHTS. I IMMEDIATELY DIALED 911 AND THE STATE PATROL; AS I COULD SEE THE POTENTIAL, FOR A MAJOR, MULTIPLE CAR CRASH! I EXITED THE CAR AND GOT OUTSIDE THE CONCRETE BARRIER, RUNNING BACK ABOUT 100 YARDS; WAVING TO THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC TO SLOW DOWN, AND "MERGE." I THEN RAN BACK TO THE CAR; AND GOT OUT MY EMERGENCY BATTERY BOOSTER, ATTACHING IT DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY. I WAS FRIGHTENED OF BEING RAMMED; BUT FELT IT IMPORTANT TO WARN ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THE BOOSTER HAD ENOUGH RESERVE POWER, TO START THE ENGINE!! I DROVE DOWN THE SHOULDER, WITH THE HOOD UP; UNTIL I REACHED THE NEXT EXIT. I PULLED OFF ON THE SHOULDER, CLEAR OF TRAFFIC...FEARFUL THE BOOSTER WOULD NOT KEEP THE CAR RUNNING MUCH LONGER. THE STATE TROOPER PULLED-UP, AND CONGRATULATED ME FOR "BEING VERY COURAGEOUS; BUT PERHAPS FOOLISH."SHE COULD SEE THE WEST-BOUND LANES, FROM PINES ROAD, WHERE SHE CROSSED THE FREEWAY, TO GET TO ME. TRAFFIC WAS "BACKING-UP" VERY QUICKLY...AND FAR TO THE EAST! SHE WAS VERY SURPRISED THERE HAD BEEN NO MAJOR ACCIDENT. THE DEALER INFORMED ME, THE BATTERY WAS DEFECTIVE. THE BATTERY IS ONLY 3000 MILES "OLD." IS THERE AN ONGOING ELECTRICAL PROBLEM, THAT WILL LEAVE ME STALLED AGAIN; OR CAUSE A FIRE?! THERE ARE ONGOING PROBLEMS WITH THE SUSPENSION, TRANSMISSION, AND VALVE TRAIN. *AK