1994 Mazda 626

THE "HOLD" LIGHT ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER BEGAN TO BLINK THIS MORNING. NOW THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS VERY ROUGHLY - LIKE A PERFORMANCE TRANSMISSION... BASICALLY CRASH, BANG, SCREECH. I'VE CHECKED SEVERAL WEBSITES, AND HAVE SEEN REPORTS THAT THIS PARTICULAR TRANSMISSION HAS SEEN THIS PROBLEM COMMONLY. SO FAR MAZDA HAS NOT ISSUED A RECALL, I THINK IT'S ABOUT TIME THEY CONSIDER IT. THIS IS STILL A LOW MILEAGE CAR!!!!*AK

I TOO AM EXPERIENCING THESE NOTORIOUS TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WITH MY 94 MAZDA 626 WITH ALL THE COMMON SYMPTOMS LIKE OD LIGHT FLASHING, ROUGH AND JERKY GEAR SHIFTS, LOSING POWER ALL OF A SUDDEN, FIXING IN LOW GEARS ETC. ITS SO AGONIZING THAT DESPITE SO MANY PEOPLE HAVING TO GO FOR COMPLETE TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENTS, MANY EVEN MULTIPLE TIMES ON THE SAME VEHICLE, NO ONE IS ABLE TO MAKE MAZDA TO FIX THIS FOR GOOD ON ALL THE 94 MAZDA 626S. ITS SUCH A PITY THAT EVEN MAZDA DEALERS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ITS NO LONGER A QUESTION OF IF, BUT WHEN THESE POORLY DESIGNED TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS FAIL. I HOPE NHTSA CAN INTERVENE AND INVESTIGATE THESE ALL TOO COMMON AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS FAILURES NOW, RATHER THAN WAITING UNTIL FATALITIES ARE REPORTED. HAVING READ SO MANY SAD HISTORIES WITH THIS MODEL, THERE IS NO POINT SPENDING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN HAVING THIS TROUBLING TRANSMISSION REPLACED FOR MY CAR, ITS OBVIOUS THE PROBLEM IS BOUND TO OCCUR AGAIN. I CAN'T AFFORD ANOTHER CAR IN THIS ECONOMY. I CAN'T TRADE-IN MY CAR EITHER (I HATE TO VICTIMIZE ANOTHER INNOCENT BUYER WITH THIS LEMON). SO, I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE RISK CONTINUING TO DRIVE THIS, UNLESS MAZDA CAN EITHER PICK UP THE TAB FOR THE REPLACEMENTS, OR ATLEAST OFFER TO FIX IT FOR A FAIR PRICE WITH A REASONABLE GUARANTEE PERIOD.*AK

THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN SLOWLY GETTING WORSE FROM 08/2000 TO 07/02. WHEN THE CAR IS UNDER 40 MPH AND THE OVERDRIVE ENGAGED THE CAR WILL SLIP. WITH THE CAR UNDER 40 AND THE OVERDRIVE MANUALLY DISENGAGED, THE CAR WILL RUN, BUT CAN NOT BE QUICKLY ACCELERATED. I REVIEWED THE COMPLAINTS FOR MAZDA'S FROM 94-97 WITH 100 COMPLAINTS PER YEAR. HONDA ACCORD WAS 7.5 AND PONTIAC GRAND AM WAS 14. APPEARS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH MAZDA??*JB

THE 'HOLD' LIGHT STARTED BLINKING WHILE I WAS DRIVING AND THE TRANSMISSION STARTED CHANGING GEARS WITH DIFFICULTY. WHEN I CALLED A MAZDA DEALER, I WAS TOLD THE LIGHT PROBABLY INDICATED A NEED FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION. AFTER TALKING TO A MECHANIC THERE, HE SAID IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE WITH THE LIGHT BLINKING BUT TO BRING IT IN TO BE CHECKED. I TOOK IT IN A FEW DAYS LATER, AND THE SERVICE ATTENDANT SAID 8 OF 9 TIMES THE FLASHING LIGHT USUALLY INDICATED A NEW TRANSMISSION WAS NEEDED, COSTING ABOUT $2500-$3000 FOR REPAIR. I ASKED IF IT WAS OKAY TO DRIVE WITH THE LIGHT BLINKING AND WAS TOLD NO. HE SAID THE TRANS. COULD FAIL COMPLETELY WHILE DRIVING IN THE NEXT 10 MIN. OR THE NEXT 100 MILES. I TOLD HIM HIS HEAD MECHANIC TOLD ME IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE W/ THE LIGHT BLINKING; HE SAID I WAS TOLD THAT INCORRECTLY. I ASKED HOW LONG THE NEW TRANSMISSION WOULD LAST. HE SAID IF SERVICED REGULARLY EVERY 30,000 MILES AS RECOMMENDED, IT WOULD LAST AS LONG AS I HAD THE CAR. I TOLD HIM I HAD THIS TRANSMISSION REPLACED ABOUT 3 YRS AGO AFTER A SIMILAR PROBLEM. HE TOLD ME THIS MODEL MAZDA WAS BAD ABOUT NEEDING NEW TRANSMISSIONS. I DECIDED TO TAKE IT TO THE ORIGINAL DEALER WHO HAD REPLACED MY TRANSMISSION. I CALLED & EXPLAINED THE BLINKING 'HOLD' LIGHT PROBLEM AND WAS TOLD I PROBABLY NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION, THAT THIS MODEL TYPICALLY NEEDED ONE W/ A BLINKING 'HOLD' LIGHT. I WENT ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND NUMEROUS '94MAZDA 626 TRANS.FAILURE REPORTS. THE NHTSA SITE REGISTERED OVER 70 COMPLAINTS ON '94 MAZDA 626 4-CYL. TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS -- OWNERS REPLACING THEM AS OFTEN AS TWICE IN JUST A FEW MONTHS, SOME REPLACING THEM 2,3, & 4 TIMES SINCE NEW. I WENT TO MY MECHANIC WHO RAN A DIAGNOSTIC TEST WITH A FORD ADAPTOR AS REQUIRED BUT COULD NOT GET THE CODES NEEDED TO INTERPRET THE RESULTS (HE SAID I WOULD HAVE TO GO TO A MAZDA SHOP). THE LIGHT QUIT BLINKING AND SHIFTING IS SMOOTH NOW -- COULD THIS BE A RESET COMPUTER PROBLEM MAZDA HAS NOT ADDRESSED? IS MY TRANS. GOING TO FAIL AGAIN? IS IT SAFE?*AK