I have had a loss of power and the check engine light started coming on at around 60,000 miles. The light will stay on for one or two days then go off.
For everyone that has a 626 with over 20,000 mile and the check engine light is coming on you may have a bad Oxygen Sensor. This will be the sensor that is located on the tail pipe just before the Catalytic Converter. This is a big problem with all Mazda 626's. This is the only real problem that I have had with my car.
I had the same problem at 100,000 miles.
I had the same problem with the O2 sensor at about the same mileage. Bought mine new in 99. It now has 150,000 miles on it. At 120K I replaced the timing belt, water pump, O2 sensor, clutch and front brakes (original). Total cost around $2K. Prior to this the accelerator pedal was sticky, and I fixed that myself by removing and cleaning the throttle body. Simple job for a backyard mechanic. I consider the maintenance pretty inexpensive. Others' problems seem to come from used vehicles that were abused. I replaced the headliner at 100K. Had to re-glue the weatherstripping on all the doors, but have averaged over 32MPG since day 1 - and I have the records to prove it. I won't buy another 626, but only because they don't make them any more. Darn.
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