2000 Mazda 626

THE OVER DRIVE LIGHT IN MY 2000 MAZDA 626 4 CYLINDER KEPT COMING ON AND IT WOULD LOSE POWER AFTER I DRIVE FOR ABOUT 20 MILES ON THE HIGHWAY, WHEN I PULL OVER, SHUT OFF THE ENGINE AND START THE CAR,THE OD LIGHT WOULD GO OFF AND THE CAR WOULD RUN NORMALLY. THE TRANSMISSION WAS ALSO HESITATING. FINALLY THE OVER DRIVE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE TRANSMISSION FAILED,THE CAR HAD 79,705 MILES. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO A GARAGE WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE DIRECT CLUTCH HUB & SHELL,SOLENOID ASSEMBLY,DRIVE CHAIN AND FORWARD TORQUE CONVERTER FAILED. THE TRANSMISSION WAS REBUILT WITH BRAND NEW PARTS AND THE RADIATOR WAS CHANGED. THIS APPEARED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *JB

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