2000 Mazda 626

I OWN A 2000 MAZDA 626, FOR THE LAST WEEK AND A HALF THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN AT THE MONTGOMERY MAZDA (CHARLOTTE, NC) DEALERSHIP TWICE AND IT IS STILL NOT REPAIRED. THE FIRST TIME I TOOK IT, I CLEARLY TOLD THEM THAT WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO ACT AS IF IT IS TRYING TO CHANGE GEARS BUT CAN'T (AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AND I AM ALREADY IN GOING 45 MPH SO IT SHOULD BE IN THE 5TH GEAR) THE RPMS GO UP TO 4 AND THEN IT JERKS (HARD) WHEN IT CATCHES UP AND THE RPMS DROP. THEY CLAIMED THAT IT NEEDED A TUNE UP, NEW SPARK PLUG WIRES (I ALREADY REPLACED THESE TWICE) AND A NEW FUEL FILTER. I SPENT $356 TO GET ALL OF THIS DONE AND ON THE WAY TO WORK THE CAR DID THE SAME THING AGAIN. I CALLED THEM BACK AND TOLD THEM THAT THE PROBLEM WAS STILL NOT FIXED AND THEY CLAIMED THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT COULD BE. I TOOK THE CAR BACK AGAIN THAT FOLLOWING MONDAY AT 7:30 AM (ORIGINALLY TOOK IT THERE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2006) AND THEY CLAIMED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO LOOK AT THE VEHICLE AND FIND OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. AFTER WAITING FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS I CALLED SINCE I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING FROM THEM AND ANOTHER SERVICE PERSON TOLD ME THAT MY CAR HAD JUST BEEN SITTING THERE. WHEN I WENT TO PICK IT UP, THEN THEY TOLD ME THAT IT MIGHT BE THE ENGINE RELAY OR MAYBE THE TRANSMISSION. I ASKED THEM IF THEY CHECKED IT THEY STATED NO. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO ANOTHER TRANSMISSION PLACE AND THE PERSON STATED THAT IT WAS LOW ON TRANSMISSION FLUID AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM BUT AFTER THEY FIXED THAT THE CAR WAS STILL DOING THE SAME THING. I LOOKS AS IF I WILL NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION. EVERY MECHANIC I HAVE TALKED TO SINCE THINKS IT IS THE TRANSMISSION, I FOUND THAT MAZDA RELEASED A BULLETIN TELLING THE THEIR MECHANICS WHAT TO DO IF OD OFF LIGHT IS FLASHING AFTER LONG DRIVING AND THE TRANSMISSION IS SLIPPING AND THE MAZDA SERVICE DEPARTMENT DIDN'T EVEN MENTION IT AND I CLEARING TOLD THEM THAT IT ONLY DOES IT AFTER I HAVE BEEN RIDING FOR A WHILE. *NM

1) DRIVING ON LOCAL AND INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 HRS, TRANSMISSION BEGAN SHIFTING IRREGULARLY AND ERRATICALLY. SOMETIMES IT WOULD SKIP A SHIFT, OR DOWNSHIFT SUDDENLY CAUSING VEHICLE TO LURCH TO A STOP, OR SLOWER SPEED. 2) TOOK CAR TO MAZDA DEALER. HIS DIAGNOSIS WAS COMPLETE AND TOTAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THIS WAS CONFIRMED BY ANOTHER INDEPENDENT. THERE WAS NO FIX AVAILABLE OTHER THAN A COMPLETE REBUILD. THERE WAS NO ADVANCE WARNING OR EARLIER SIGNS OF TROUBLE. 3) HAD TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY REBUILT. COST WAS $2,000 PLUS COST OF A RENTAL CAR. *JB

THIS IS ACTUALLY THE SECOND FAILURE OF THE TRANSMISSION. THE FIRST FAILURE OCCURRED IN EARLY 2003 WHILE THE CAR WAS STILL UNDER THE 3 YEAR/36,000 MILE WARRANTY (IT HAD ABOUT 33,000 MILES ON IT). THE PROBLEM WAS THE ONE OUTLINED IN THE MAZDA TSB # 0500502. I HAD THE FLUID COOLER INSTALLED AT THAT TIME AS WELL AS A REPLACEMENT FACTORY REFURBISHED FORD/MAZDA TRANSMISSION (THE DEALERSHIP SOLUTION). I WAS TOLD AT THAT TIME THAT THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY MORE PROBLEMS FOR THE LIFE OF THE (NEW) TRANSMISSION, WHICH I TOOK TO MEAN THAT IT WOULD LAST ABOUT 100-120,000 MILES. WELL, HERE I AM, LESS THAN 50,000 MILES LATER AND THE TRANSMISSION HAD A MAJOR FAILURE. WITHOUT WARNING, THE CAR BEGAN TO MAKE A SOUND I CAN ONLY LIKEN TO TIN CANS IN A TUMBLER. I IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER AND WITHIN A FEW MINUTES, THERE WAS A PUDDLE OF TRANSMISSION FLUID ON THE GROUND. A GOOD MECHANIC WILL REBUILD IT FOR $2800. THAT IS MORE THAN HALF THE VALUE OF THE VEHICLE (~$5000). THIS DEFECT IS APPARENTLY MUCH MORE THAN A SIMPLE MATTER OF KEEPING THE TRANSMISSION COOL, IT IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM THAT AFFECTS THE MECHANICALS OF THE TRANSMISSION AND HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH THE OPERATING TEMPERATURE OF THE FLUID. SINCE THE WARRANTY ON THE CAR HAS EXPIRED, AS WELL AS THE WARRANTY ON THE WORK THE DEALERSHIP DID 3 YEARS AGO TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM INITIALLY, I AM STUCK WITH A HUGE REPAIR BILL AND NO DESIRE TO OWN THE CAR. WHEN THE REPAIR IS COMPLETE, I WILL BE SELLING THE CAR. *JB

2000 MAZDA 626 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILURE TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN REPLACED AFTER 82,000 MILES BUT HAS FAILED TWICE SINCE THE REPAIR. IN ALL THREE CASES THE AUTOMOBILE TRANSMISSION HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO SWITCH INTO REVERSE FROM BEING PARKED. WHEN THE PROBLEM OCCURS, SWITCHING INTO REVERSE IS COMPARABLE TO SWITCHING INTO NEUTRAL. *JB

2000 MAZDA 626 LX 4 CYL. ON MARCH 1ST 2006, MY SPEEDOMETER DROPPED TO ZERO WHILE DRIVING AT A CONTINUOUS SPEED (45 MPH) THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES WITHIN A HALF HOUR PERIOD BEFORE THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. ON MARCH 2ND, I DROVE THE CAR TO THE LOCAL MAZDA DEALERSHIP FOR A DIAGNOSTIC. ACCORDING TO THE DEALERSHIP, THE DIAGNOSTIC REVEALED THAT THE SPEED SENSOR WAS BAD. HOWEVER, THEY ALSO RELATED THAT THE SENSOR WAS REPLACED AND THAT THE PROBLEM WAS STILL THERE. THE DEALERSHIP PROCEEDED WITH A SEARCH OF THE WIRING IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. THIS WAS DONE AT AN HOURLY RATE OF $85.00 AN HOUR. ON MARCH 6TH, A BROKEN WIRE WAS FOUND AT THE FIREWALL. IT TOOK THEM 7.5 HOURS TO MAKE THIS DETERMINATION. ON MARCH 11TH, WHILE ON THE EXPRESSWAY, MY O/D LIGHT BEGAN FLASHING OFF AND ON CONTINUOUSLY. IT ALSO BEGAN BUCKING AND JERKING AND WOULD SLIP IN AND OUT OF GEARS. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED WITH THIS CAR. I JUST HIT 95,000 MILES AND I PURCHASED IT NEW IN MAY 2000. *NM