1998 Mazda 626 LX from North America - Comments

O/D light coming on.

I have problems with the O?D light coming on at 98,000.

The dealer says that the error code from Mazda says it needs a transmission cooler at a cost of 1K.

There are aftermarket coolers for much less.

Questions: 1. Has any one had a cooler installed, and does it solve the problem.

2. Was it an aftermarket cooler or Mazda cooler

3. Should I bite the bullet and replace transmission?

Any help appreciated.

I would like to respond to the O/D light coming on. I recently had to replace the entire transmission on my 1998 Mazda 626 LX. I took the car to an independent transmission shop and not the dealership. The shop informed me Mazda had many complaints about the drum on the transmission therefore he placed a heavy duty drum in my transmission.

The day after I picked my car up from the transmission shop I was on the freeway and the O/D light started flashing and the transmission blew again. Luckily I had a warranty on the transmission. I called Mazda and they informed me that due to the heavy duty transmission I would have to install a transmission cooler on the vehicle. I informed the transmission repair shop and he replaced the transmission again and placed a transmission cooler on my vehicle. He informed me when the light starts blinking the transmission goes into "safe" mode and will not shift into overdrive. Since then I have had no problems with the transmission.

One may ask why your car needs a cooler in the first place? It actually makes no sense. It should only be necessary if you do heavy towing (and then I would buy a 4x4), but with the Mazda 626 this may make sense for normal driving as well, see example below.

There are MANY issues regarding Mazda transmissions. On a 626 you'll be very lucky if your transmission lasts 100K miles, they simply aren't that durable. The manual trans seem to be much better, though.

Example how bad these automatic trans are: A colleague of mine had a new 2.0 Auto and usually spent his summer holiday in a rented house in Spain, meaning that he had to do some serious German autobahn cruising to get there (doing a steady 160-180 kmh, about 100-110 mph in US terms).

Going down he got trans problems, and stopped half way through Germany. The repair shop said that the trans had overheated, but they though that they could salvage it. They changed fluid etc. and of he went.

Upon the return he had the same exact problem, and called the dealer. The dealer had no explanation, but told him to not exceed 50 mph and contact them when he returned. But the trans got worse, and when he returned he put it into repair at the dealer.

The sales rep said that this was a rare problem, but the mechanic told a different story when asked. These trans are delicate, overheats and breaks easily. The mechanic advised against running this car over 80-90 mph over longer distances (auto trans only, not a problem w. manual trans), although the top speed of this car was supposed to be more than 120 mph. He advised against towing a heavy trailer over long distances as well.

My colleague needed a new trans, and it was covered by the warranty. It was covered by the national Mazda importer, no problem. Still, he traded in the car the same year. Why have a car with top speed of 120+ when you cannot drive it faster than 80-90. This little story is just for your information.

My 626;

The paint is peeling off around the windshield.

I wrote to the presodent of NA Mazda, if he does not repaint the car, I will put a sign on top of it and park it near my local Mazda dealer.

Last chance, for Mazda to make good on their workmanship, before I make life a living hell for them.

I paid over $20K for this car in Feb 1999.

Michael in Suffern.