Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-80
I bought a 1999 Mazda 626 4cyl three years ago. It had 52,000 miles on it. To this day it now has 97,000 miles on it. I have had no problems what so ever with this car. I am a routine maintenance freak as well as preventative maintenance. I do not wait till the car is broken before I have it serviced. I make sure my oil is changed, tranny fluid is changed, radiator flushed ect. Doing the preventitive maintainance saves a lot of money in the end. Most major auto parts stores have cards with lists of how often timing belts, oil and other things should be changed. I have owned several Mazdas (3 RX7's 1 other 626 and a 323) and the thing I have learned with them is they cannot be neglected. When they do not get the routine maintenance that's when the major problems begin. I will definitley buy another 626 but I am so fond of this one i'll probably keep it just to have it around.
I have bought a new Mazda 626 V6 in 1999. My previous car was Mazda Protege. I bought it used in Quebec and had no problems with it. Quite contrary, I had the following major problems with 626 : at 50,000 miles the engine began to overheat. It occurred that the plastic tank connected to the radiator cracked at the joint and the cooler was leaking out when the engine was hot. At 60,000 miles a noise in front wheels appeared and the bearings on both front wheels were replaced. At 70,000 miles check engine light came on and the oxygen sensor was replaced twice. After the first replacement the light came on the next day. According to the dealership, the new sensor was defective. After a year of driving and 83,000 miles the "check engine" light was on again. My first visit to dealership led to cleaning up the fuel injector. The light came back in a day. At the present time, the computer is replaced.
The first two problems at 50,000 and 60,000 miles were fixed free of charge at Oak Tree Mazda Dealership in Bay Area. The problems with "check engine" light cost me 400$ so far at Royal Moore dealership in Beaverton, OR.
Though the repairs were not expensive, they produced a lot of hassle as it was never clear how long they could take. My friends, who acquired Toyota's and Honda's at the same time as I had much less problems with them so far.
I just wanted to say the I have a 1998 Mazda 626 LX (4 cylinder automatic). I have nothing, but good things to say about my car. It has 130,000 miles on it. It runs perfect. I have had to make some repairs, but none that I would consider to be out of the ordinary. I thought I was having major problems about a year ago, but come to find out it was a bad spark plug that were fouling out and causing it to stutter while accelerating. My next car will likely be another Mazda (probably a Mazda 6).
I purchased my 1999 Mazda 626 4cyl LX (automatic transmission) brand new on 6-28-99 with 200 miles on it. Not sure how those miles got on there. But since new, the reverse has always been a little difficult to shift and engage. You always have to wait for the hesitation before you can give it gas to go backwards and, of course, there is the usual JERK before it moves. I currently have 118,000 miles on it, and it's still a beautiful car. It's just not a very reliable car! The transmission went out (actually the reverse) at 70,000 miles and I paid almost $2000 to get it rebuilt. When I got it back - two weeks later - it was still jerking when shifting into reverse. But at least reverse works, you just have to be patient and wait for it to engage. What a pain... Along with this transmission thing, has come the continuous fight of keeping the check engine light off. And for the last 20,000 miles, I've also been fighting the O/D Off flashing problem. How annoying these two things are! The check engine light was attributed too bad spark plug wires, per one of the many times I've had it on a diagnostic machine (believe me, it's getting mighty expensive just in the tests!). The next time was a problem with a mass air sensor. It just goes on and on. The O/D Off flashing light comes and goes. It'll flash for a few days then just as suddenly, it'll go out for a few weeks. It usually rears its ugly head after I've had a few instances of the stalling or jerking while trying to keep the car running while stopped at a stoplight or just trying to let it idle in a drive-thru. It's almost impossible to keep the car running in these instances. The last time I had the car in the shop, the mechanic told me to prepare myself for the car to be needing transmission work (again). It's for these many reasons that when I bought a new vehicle last week, I went with a Saturn Vue, INSTEAD of going with the Mazda Tribute. Saturn now has a lifetime transmission and engine warranty. Thank you Saturn for offering this terrific warranty!
I have Mazda Protege 1997, 1.5 Litre engine. I frequently get the engine code P0455. Every time I reset with OBD code reader, but after 400 to 800 KMS it comes back. I checked with mechanic, they say it is Evaporation Systems Malfunction problem. What should I do for that?
I have a 99 Mazda 626 ES with 80K miles. Currently getting the tranny replaced - right now the cost is running $1850+.
I was driving on the freeway and it started jerking whenever switching from 3rd to 4th gear. Then after awhile it started jerking whenever it switched gears. It drove better with the o/d off, but then that started driving like crap too. I never had any major problems except flat tires and the serpentine belt went 8 months ago. Oh wait one of my backseat doors doesn't open and the high beam switch doesn't work. What a piece of garbage. I'll never buy a mazda again. zoom zoom boom!
My wife bought a 1999 Mazda 626 LX brand new. Ever since she drove it off the car lot, it had a hard jerk when the gears would change. BEWARE... this is not normal!!! We had the tranny replaced at 118,000 miles. The service center said that the front plate was broken in the tranny causing it to over heat. It only cost us a mere $2,100.00 to have it rebuilt for a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty. It's a beautiful car, but don't let the good looks fool you!!!
My girlfriend just bought a mazda 626 1999 and it is runing OK, I believe it is a good car. We have about 3 months with the car and we have no problems since we bought it. I just note that sometimes when I go faster in the freeway for some reasons slow down a little uphill but I think it is normal because it is automatic. I am driven my mitsubitshi eclipse since 1 year ago and mine is manual, maybe because of that I note the diference. the mazda 626 lx has no lights on, it is really comfortable and spacious and is really a good car. maybe mine is the excluded from all others that have problems with their cars even though it has 175 000 miles on it. but I think the last owner just change new transmission and it is running normally. thanks God that we have no problems yet.
I just bought my 99 Mazda 626 LX and after reading all these comments. It was extremely discouraging. My "check engine" light just recently came on. I've only had the car for about 2 months and it was fine at first. Then it started idling when it was in park and warming. The engine would seem as if it was going to die then start up again. I am currently experiencing all the problems of all Mazda owners. And reading the tips on how to deal with the problems, I don't have that kind of money to put into this car, especially when my work requires me to drive around town.
I'd initially thought it was the spark plug wires, but I highly doubt it. And the first time I popped the hood opened, I was somewhat surprised at the mixture of car parts in the engine, both ford and Mazda. Well, I will do what people have written down, take out the battery to see if the "check engine" light will go off. And maybe replace the air filter, I'd just done an oil change with oil filter replacement. Hopefully this problem is a minor glitch and the light goes off or I will be extremely disappointed. I'm worried just reading the comments and knowing I'm experiencing the same problems. I am truly disappointed at Mazda and their failure to meet the expectations of their customers. please email me if you have any tips or advices. muasxyooj@gmail.com.
Thank you and hope everyone has better luck with their next car. As long as it's not a Mazda.
My wife and I purchased our Mazda 626 LX back in 1997. It has an automatic transmission, which is where the majority of 626 problems reside. I have had the check engine light on forever, I just ignore it anymore. The transmission has had heavy bouts of the dreaded flashing OD light coming on.
See this link for more information.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.ee9965a/1048!keywords=allin%3Amsgtext%20limit%3A.ee9965a%20timing.
I have a 1998 Mazda 626 LX. I bought the car used with 98,000 miles on it in Feb. of 2005.
A couple of comments:
1) If the check engine light has come on there is a reason. You can buy an OBDII code reader for those cars older than 1996 and find out yourself what the error code is saying.
2) The transmissions put in the 1994-2002 4 cyl 626 are from Ford and is known as the CD4E transmission. This transmission is too small for the 626 4 cyl. and needs an external transmission cooler. Otherwise the transmission fluid gets too hot and ruins the transmission.
I installed an external transmission cooler immediately after I bought it and so far so good with 109,000 miles on it.
3) Also added ground wires can prevent computer problems in your car that could be mistaken for transmission trouble.
Go to www.mazda626.net and do a search to find out how to do it.
If you have to replace the transmission DON'T! I would not since $2K-$3K more money into a 626. Your better off biting the bullet and buying a Honda or even a V6 version of the 626.
Good luck!
I too bought a 99 Mazda 626. It had 10,000 miles on it at purchase in 2000. In 2004, the engine light came on and the OBDII showed bank 1 and 2 oxygen sensors and the transmission began to shift very hard. To verify this, I called the dealer and was told that was the problem and at 70,000 miles, this wasn't a warranty. Working at the parts store, I bought both at $158 each, disconnected the and replaced them myself at a cool temp. in our parking lot. I left work and about 10 minutes up the road, the light was on again. I turned around went back and got the same reading again. I defected out the two and replaced them once again. I reviewed recalls and service bulletins on this car and it showed a malfunction in the engine light. I took it to the dealer again and was told the converter was bad and no one could get this except them at the cost of $600. They never once said Mrs. your vehicle exhaust is under warranty let us fix it. At that time, I took the dash out myself and removed the bulb from the socket of the engine light. At about 71-72,000 miles, the transmission stopped shifting as I tried to pass other cars on the road and I saw smoke coming from under the hood. I called Mazda themselves sometime in 2004 and made a report in which I was told that it would be put on file. I went home and researched these cars and found that Mazda failed to install the proper transmission coolers in these cars in which I did install one on mine. What happens is the fluid gets so hot without the cooler that the overdrive malfunctions, causes the light to come on, sprays trans. fluid from the vent tube located on the air filter housing. In turn, causes the valve body inside the trans. to burn out. Needless to say, in March of 2005 with about 80,000 miles, I had a used trans. installed that failed so I bought a transmission at $2300 plus the core charge, had it installed and before leaving the garage, it also began to slip. I had another one placed on order and waited to have it replaced. Of course this caused another labor bill. Before I had this transmission installed, I called Mazda again with this problem and was told yes ma'am, I do have where you called this in back in 2004 on file. At that time, I was told that the dealer should have informed me the the warranty was still good on the exhaust until 83,000 and that the transmission should have been replaced as well. I argued, and kept calling until finally someone understood the dates of the failures and Mazda agreed to warranty the trans. I took the other defective one back for a refund. The dealer called and stated that the speed sensor and shift cable broke and all they needed was the rubber grommet to go back into the end so the car would shift. This grommet, no bigger than the tip of your little finger cost $150 as well did the speed sensor. Another $300 total added to the labor. I told them that I would find the cable and I did at a salvage yard for $35. I took it in and left. About 15 min. later was called and told that one broke. I told the dealer to fix the car back the way it was and I would have it towed from their bay. It was about 20 min. later, I got the call of the car being ready. I paid the labor, picked the car up and went home.
On the way, I could still feel the slipping from 1st to 2nd gear. I called back and was advised to bring it in at my convenience. It was a little later when we notice that we had large puddles of trans. fluid in our front yard. So we checked the fluid and it had all leaked out. I took the car in and the mechanic failed to attach the transmission cooler lines correctly. Needless to say, this will be the 4th transmission and the car is nice in appearance with only 100,000 miles. For the hard working customers, there should be consequences to those dealers who mislead and take advantage of the innocent. Our vehicles are not given to us for free and we work very hard to keep them up and pay for them. We should not be repairing a vehicle of such cost or such low mileage.
I purchased a Mazda 626LX two years ago, I read the comments on line about the car. I was warned to buy the cooler for the transmission by you great people, however, I needed to wait a couple of months until I had extra money. BIG, BIG, BIG, mistake! As a result of my procrastination and the mistake by the Mazda, I was left with a $2,000 bill. If you have this car, please don't hesitate to amend the cooling problem like I did. It's better to spend the $150.00 than to spend the $2,000 for a whole new transmission.
We also have had the car taken in for check engine light (it is still on)
Problems with the idle also occurred.
The car has been running fine for the last nine months or so and hopefully the worst is over. All in all the car has cost us approximately $3,000 in repairs since the purchase in 2005.
I must say it is a fun car to drive and even though it has caused us headaches and debt, I am glad to have this car.
I have a 1999 MAZDA 629 4 Cyl. Can anyone tell me where I can obtain battery cables for it. I had a battery put in last year. Apparently, the cables are two short (according to the mechanic at Precision Tune). The last place I want to go is the dealership. I know that will automatically cost me an arm and two legs. Can anyone help?
I purchased a 1998 626, 4 cyl, 5 speed last year with 118K on it. I now have 145K and the car is doing well. My check engine light comes on every few weeks with the P0421 code, I reset it and continue on. I did have an idle problem. When I came to a stop and put the clutch in, the car would drop to 500 RPM's and almost die. It would then jump back to about 800 RPM's. If I sat at an idle for about 2 minutes it would begin to surge between 500 and 1000 then die. It turned out that my intake manifold gasket had a 1/4 inch section that had been sucked in on the #2 port. I purchased a new intake manifold gasket (FelPro) for $8 and spent about 2 hours replacing it (the dealer wanted $300 for the job). It now runs great.