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Some other brands like Shell and BP work OK most of the time too. Sunoco, Citgo, and Exxon all make it come back every time.
Should the MAF sensor, coolant temp sensor and PCM be checked when the dealer says they're not picking up an computer codes?
The dealer say's the computer already checks those 3 items so they're ok according to him.
Does that sound right?
I'm frustrated that a new car is pinging.
Thanks
I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute with 40,000 miles. The power steering pump starting making crunching noises. The noises get worse if the car idles and gets hot. Mazda wants to charge me $700.00 to replace the pump. I had the fluid flushed and that helped a little. I have been unable to find a power steering pump anywhere so I can do the repair myself or have a garage do it. The idea of paying Mazda $700.00 upsets me. Any ideas appreciated.
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Well I put off the repair for quite a while. Through the winter there was no noise and I finally got a pump online from Showcase Mazda and recently had it installed by a well known mechanic in my area. It was a very difficult install. It appears nothing is easy on a Tribute. The problem is that the crunching noises are still there. I took the car back to the local Mazda dealer, mainly a Lincoln Mercury dealer, and they again told me I need a new power steering pump. I then advised them the power steering pump was brand new and at that point they had no idea what was causing the problem and offered no suggestions.
So I am throwing the question out to see if anyone here has had a similar problem or any ideas as to what I can do. It almost sounds like something needs lubricating but I don't know what. The problem has not gotten any worse but is very annoying. Is there anything in the steering column that could be a problem.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.
nearly $100.00 asking price. I figured it'd be better to stick with the Motorcraft as opposed to buying elsewhere for the price. However, good-quality aftermarket batteries are just as good as OEM. Wal-Mart had their brand for about $60.00, but the baettery-housing looked the same as Motorcraft's.
Also, the passenger side door rattles like crazy. I cannot seem to pinpoint exactly where the sound is coming from. Nothing seems to be loose that I can see or feel.
Other than that it has been Ok. My 2001 Tribute had some more problems, but I got rid of it after 4 years.
Some how the quality feel is not there. It keeps reminding you that it is basically a Ford product disguised as a Mazda.
Next time it will be another make.
Kind of sad. The Tribute has its attributes, but a solid structure is not one of them.
I can deal with occasionally squeaks and creaks, but by far the most annoying issue is the loose door and centre panelling at the front of the car. The panelling on the front doors has a lot of give, and creaks (plastic crunching... I'm sure you know what I mean) when you press on it. The piece between the seats also has the same problem. It will actually move from side to side up to half a centimetre or more! I am quite tall, so my legs are always touching either the door or centrepiece, so I get a constant creaking from them. We have the GT model which has slightly different panelling at the front, so I'm not sure how the doors and centre differ from the regular base model.
Interestingly, the panelling on the rear doors is rock solid, and I never hear anything from them. The impression I get from the front door/centre panneling is that it's not really attached properly. It isn't glued on where it meets the window assembly, so I can actually pull it back slightly. Basically, it doesn't feel very solid. I would REALLY like to know whether loose panelling is normal for this model. I did test drive the same model at the dealer, but it was a different car. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed the loose panelling at the time, but I really can't recall. If the panelling really is looser than it should be, I will definitely be taking it up with the dealer!
One of the main things that I noticed, when I changed out my spark plugs was that the spark plug on the misfire cylinder (Cylinder 2) smelled burnt compared to the other five ( I mean a distinctive burnt smell). I believe that my sparkplug malfunctioned (or burned), and this lead to a malfunctioning of the main electrical items that are connected to the spark plug (Ignition Coil, Wiring Harness, PCM, fuel injector). I ended up replacing the Ignition Coil, Fuel injector, and the sparkplug with no success. PCM reprogram(recall) helped smooth the problem, but didn't fix it. I was thinking about changing the wirning harness, until I saw mikebc780's reply.
mikebc780 says " turned out to be a burnt valve, No. 4 cyl. with low compression. The fix was a new valve head, took 2 weeks to get all parts in. Was apprx. $1800 "
If you fixed your problem, can you get back to me on what you were able to do to fix it? Thank you.
I just had a terrifying experience with my 1-day old Escape and I'm hoping you guys have some ideas. I was in a mall parking lot and the car started fine. I put it in reverse to back up and lightly hit the gas..fine so far. I went to brake and the car would not stop AT ALL. I was on a slight decline so it was going faster than usual. There were 3 people behind me now and the car was still moving. I came *very* close to squeezing those people between my bumper and the front end of the car behind me. I put the car in drive and it STILL kept reversing without the brakes working. I then flipped it into park and that's when it finally stopped with a big forward jerk. The only way to stop the car from rolling backwards was putting it in park. Thank God I didn't hit the people behind me. We're all so lucky for that.
Now I am wedged perpendicular in the parking lot aisle blocking both sides of traffic on a busy Saturday afternoon. I shut off the car and started it again, this time going straight to drive. It again rolled backwards and the brakes didn't work. At this point two people helped me. I put it in neutral and they pushed it back into the parking space where I promptly shut it off and applied the parking brake. Also, the wheel was completely locked during all of this.
After all that, the dealership I went through was closed today (on Saturday!) so I called the Ford road service number. It was towed to the dealership and I'll be dealing with it and the sales agent tomorrow. The sales guy was nice (I called him on his cell) and said he'd do anything to make this right.
I bought this car YESTERDAY!!! I am so frustrated, mad, and still very scared because I almost seriously hurt three people. If this happened on the highway. my 3 year old and I would probably be dead.
Should I take a chance and get a different Escape from the same dealer? I don't care if Henry Ford himself fixed this one, I'm not driving it! What do you guys think they'll say? What recourse do I have? Does the lemon law give you 3 days to return a car with "no questions asked"?
Thanks for reading all this and I look forward to any advice for tomorrow's blow-out!!!
Donna
IN theory, the engine can't overpower the brakes under any circumstances from a standing start.
]
Anyway, first thing you need to determine is if the power brake booster has failed. If someone hops in the car Monday and everything's fine, you're going to have a tough time convincing anyone of anything.
Hopefully the defect will be obvious.
Yeah I'd try to get another Escape from them if they'd go for it. Did you have any witnesses IN the car?
I don't think any lemon law lets you give a car back in 3 days, no.
Be prepared to be very patient if no defect is found. Your story is rather amazing and not everyone may believe you if there is no evidence of a fault.
Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, I had my mom in the car with me as a witness. She kept telling me that the car was rolling back even though I couldn't do anything about it.
The thing that gets me is, when the tow truck driver put it in reverse to check it out, it drove fine. He said that when he put it in drive, it hesitated and then clunked forward into gear. The brakes were no problem then.
I can't figure it out! I have driven various vehicle types over the years so I'm no stranger to the feel of an SUV. There was definitely something wrong with the car.
If it is the power brake failing, would that also account for the locked wheel? What are the "symptoms" of a power break failure? Could it somehow correct itself by the time the tow driver got to it (approx. 1 hour later)?
I'm disappointed because I really liked the Escape. Somehow now I don't feel so safe about it.
Thanks again for your advice,
Donna
So I would say your engine stalled and you didn't realize it.
Otherwise I have to say with all respect that all those symptoms would be, in my opinion, impossible.
Thanks again.
But yeah, I think that's what happened to you. It's the only thing that incorporates all your symptoms.
Since your power steering pump is driven by the engine, when the engine stops, your power steering stops---and with today's modern wide tires, the steering becomes very hard to operate, especially if you are prepared for this.
Also the power brake is fed by engine vacuum, and when the engine dies you only have a few pumps of the pedal before the vacuum reservoir is empty, and then you go to a very hard brake pedal that you really have to jump on with both feet.
Also when the engine dies, the transmission's front fluid pump is no longer working, and so you can't go into any gear----the transmission is hydraulically operated so won't "apply" without pump pressure.
So your problem might be nothing more than cold start stalling,which could certainly be attended to and fixed I would think.
Maybe this whole thing is no big deal for the car. You should find a safe, empty parking lot and at very low speeds, switch off your engine (NOT ALL THE WAY OFF, just turn the key a little, because you don't want your steering to lock up), just so you can experience what this feels like and you can learn to control the car. Rule One: Keep looking in front of you. Your arms and feet don't need your eyes to find the steering wheel and the brake.
In fact, you will find you CAN still confidently steer and stop a car when the engine stalls, but you need to really put yourself into it, like you were on an exercise machine. If you have to use both feet on the brake, do it. And of course use the e-brake if you can.
Same problems as you describe with the battery, but was alternator instead. Cost
almost $500.00 including tow to auto-shop. The alternator itself is ~$270.00, and the labor is 2 - 3 hrs. because they have to drop the right CV shaft to pull the alternator. It was a real pain too. Plus the drive shaft was put back in wrong and it sprayed axle-grease all over the place. The shop paid for their mistake, other than a mystery suspension noise that is still there, but I've gotten used to it, so it
doesn't bother me too much.
The interior creaking and snapping will force me to get rid of the Tribute. I tried to go UAW, and it is not going to work.....unless someone can solve this riddle...
I am now finding that even in colder temps, as long as the vehicle is in sunny conditions, heating the body, the interior is silent. But as soon as the weather is overcast, as it was Saturday, and again today, the chorus of nerve rattling sounds comes back. Yesterday, which was nice and sunny, the interior was quiet. Could this mean that the lower body cladding is the culprit? It's hard for me to believe it could be, but who knows. I have had others in the vehicle who confirm it is all around, on both sides.
In answer to your question, I replaced my battery almost exactly 36 mos. after I purchased the vehicle, so July 2004. The average life-span of a battery in the Texas Gulf Coast area is about 30-36 mos.. The heat kills batteries here, big-time.
When my alternator went it was quick, no warning lights, no nothing.... my radio went dead first, and then about 30-seconds later my dashboard lit-up like a Christmas-tree, then the vehicle went dead. I was on the way to work and called my emergency-service for a tow. I had it towed to closest shop that was reputable, and they diagnosed it within 10-minutes after arrival that it was the alternator. This happened about 4-months ago now. The shop had never replaced the alternator on an Escape before, so it was first for them. They followed the necessary procedure by pulling the wheel, CV-axle (or half-shaft) and getting the alternator from below. It cannot be gotten from the top d/t the alternator proximity. The vehicle was ready later that day with a re-built alternator. Total bill $495.00:
Tow- $65.00 (I got a refund from the vehicle service)
Alternator- $265.00
Labor+Misc. shop b.s.- $165.00
Was it worth it? Had to have the alternator, but the cost(s) particularly for re-built, are a bit high in my opinion. You can order alternators online from various sources, but you run the risk of it not being right, etc... for some reason. My best advice is get it tested if you're in doubt. Bad alternators can be diagnosed reasonably quickly. But don't discount that there may be an additional problem too.
- Bad CV-joint (clicking or craking sound when wheel is turned w/power on).
- Bad Control Arm which contains the ball-joints and bushings.
- Bad struts or connection points (make sure all of the nuts/bolts are tight).
- Bad front-stabilizer bushings.
- Bad strut-links (these caused thumping and cracking noises until they were
changed).
Hope this helps.
The Continental Tires that came with the truck were in my opinion garbage. I spent $700CDN to buy 4 Yokohama Geolandar's. These are Japanese made....so you know that they are quality product. Right away the noise decreased by about 60%.
The rest of the wind noise was being created by the Roof rack. I took off the 2 middle panels and left the 2 side ones on. Since I do not carry anything on the roof, they were just there for show. When I went back on the highway, there was hardly any noise left. Now even at 130 - 140 KMH, there is not much wind noise.
Granted, it's not as quiet as my 2004 BMW 325i, but then again I paid 40% more for the car then this SUV.
Try it, see if these things work for you. My wife on the other hand could not have cared less. She is just happy to drive anything. I on the other hand am a perfectionist....every little sound/creak makes me upset.
Good luck with your problem
Solution: Sell it
I've reached the end of my rope in putting up with and trying to get rid of the creaking gremlins inside my Tribute. I don't blame Mazda; I blame Ford for design and execution. Next go round, I am buying 'real' Japanese. No wonder when my Honda Accord was test driven by a private buyer, they came back and said it was like being in a limousine. To me, it what was expected of a car. And yes, it was Japanese-built, previous generation, unlike the current Accord which has its share of interior issues.
Anyway, no matter how pretty the Tribute is or how competent it might be on the road, it reminds me daily how bad some vehicles can be. I want to be reminded how good vehicles can be.
So, it's going into the paper. And if I really get anxious, it might be traded. Mazda is still on my list, Mazda 5 that is. Not to worry, I drive manuals, so I don't think spontaneous combustion will be a worry for me...
I will have my climate control selector set for the dash vents. During acceleration the air flow will change by itself and the air will be directed to the defroster. Then, when de-accelerating the air flow returns to the dash vents. This will also happen if I have to the selector set to the floor vent, air will be directed to the defroster.
What I have found out so far is that the defroster is the default mode of the climate control. If anything goes wrong with the control all air is directed to the defroster for saftey reasons (ice, fog on windshield).
The direction of air flow is controled by vacuum. If there is a vacuum leak anywhere in the climate control system the symptoms I have stated will happen.
I have been told to look for a few things, neither of them could I find on the vehicle. One a vacuum check valve device which directs air to the defroster in case the unit screws up as described above. Two, to look for the vacuum source and reservoir? where are these? More importantly to look for the vacuum junction block on the left side of plenum and check that the vacuum hoses are securely plugged in???
I think I found the plenum under a plastic cover on the passenger side under the windshield, the same spot where you would change the cabin filter if you use one. I found no vacuum junction block anywhere in that area.
Sometimes the air flow will change at anytime, but I can always make it happen during hard acceleration.
Can someone direct me to the area where this check valve is located and where the vacuum junction box is located (if there is such a thing). I am not 100% sure if either of these two things are the source of my problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks..
Long story short, they test drove and did hear the pinging this time. A PCM update was loaded and we haven't heard the pinging since. I'll try to remember to report any updates as they come but hopefully you won't hear from me about this again.
Also, replaced the muffler itself with a Magnaflow high-performance one. I believe I picked-up an extra 10-15 HP, but have not dyno'd it yet. I left the resonator on the back-end. It has a nice, mellow, low-noise, rumble. Kinda cool. I replaced the stock-size 235-70-16's with 255-65-16's, and the tires fill the wheel-wells better with some room to spare too. I realize I changed my speedo somewhat by doing this, but not by much. I replaced the struts/shocks within a month of each other and can really notice a difference in handling and ride-quality. If you haven't done this and your mileage is getting up there, then this is a worthwhile investment if you plan on keeping the vehicle for a few more miles like me.