Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions

tccmn1

So, no one else has had this issue yet?
Doesn't make me feel much better.
Again, when I go over bumps, speed bumps in parking lots or onto a street from a ramp at an angle, I hear a creaking in the front end...more of a moan on the 'upward' motion of the front end of the vehicle.

Any one else??

gobbler88

I had that problem with my 90 mpv right after I got it. my problem was the rubber's on the struts. When it was cold it made a loud creaking noise. I took it back where I got it and they replaced them and I haven't had that since.

hkshooter

I have a 91 MPV. The rear load leveler air pump is bad and the shocks leak. I would like to convert the rear to standard strut. Is it possible to install the non-air parts and make it work? The air stuff is way to expensive and I'm looking for alternatives. Thanks!

tccmn1

I took it to my 'friendly northern metro Mazda' dealer in the Twin Cities and they FINALLY got it right! I told them it was the SWAY BAR BUSHINGS that needed lubrication...they finally did it and the noise is finally gone!! We'll keep an eye on that one though...maybe they should have replaced them...plenty of documentation on this issue though!!

Eureka!

No more loud creaking when pulling out of the ramp each day! Gee, I'm going to miss all the pedestrians looking at my MPV when they don't hear the noise any more....NOT!

rogerrabbit

My 2002 MPV with 48,000 miles hesitates under light load conditions - up hills, moderate acceleration.
First thought the transmission might be slipping or problems with spark plugs. Once connected to computer, getting fuel trim readings of +2000% to 50% negative but this doesn't make sense - how would it run if readings were accurate. Problem with computer? Any thoughts out there?

subearu

have you had the PCV recall done? That hesitation sounds like what the bad PCV would cause.

-Brian

rogerrabbit

Thanks Brian,

Yes PVC recall has been completed. Forgot to mention that in orginal posting.

sweet_subie

All MPV owners with Dunlop OEM tires. Listen to this. I was almost ready to dispose of my 2002 MPV because of horrible bumpy, firm ride. I could count every bump on road. My both kids hated it.

As advised by Subearu, I put in 17in Michellin Hydrohedge T rated tires. The ride has very much improved & we will keep this Van for another 2-3 years. It also improved the MPV's ride in curvy & winding roads, it has much better grip on the road with very little head spinning. If you don;t like your MPV ride, change the Dunlop tires & you will love them.

Do i love this site or what ?
BTW, i installed a DVD video as well.

slimster

I also have a '00 MPV with the same annoying noise. I've been told that the noise is coming from dirty throttle flaps. I cleaned them, and they were dirty, but the noise is still there. I should clarify "the noise". It's actually more like a whistling, surging sound than just a noise. My RPM'S actually increase when the sound appears. I've also noticed that when I cold start the sound doesn't appear until I turn the steering wheel, put the transmission into gear or touch the brakes. This has me completely puzzled. I'm not sure what an IAC valve is or where it is located.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

subearu

no problemo, seems like that tire is quite popular elsewhere on the 'net.

Just switched back to the OEM 17"s from the 15" AA's for the winter. The 17"s are firm no doubt.

-Brian

mtbiker1

Hi all: we have an '04 LS with about 6K on it. Sporadically we have a problem getting the key out when turning off the ignition. I'm going into the dealer with this problem soon; anybody else have this issue? This is the only problem we've had, other than less-than-spectacular interstate hwy gas mileage, but mebbe that will change as the car breaks in.

kentwong

Can you provide some details on how you installed the aftermarket DVD system? thanks,

sweet_subie

Simple, tweeter in (MASSACHUS) had the Delphi 8 inch widescreen system on 50% off. $900 product selling for $450. + 150 installation. It was a good deal. Circuit city has equally good deals as well.

The Coolest function i like is two things:
1. This system has lights which lights up the distance between 1st & 2nd row seats well.

2. Now, the light button on this system is hooked to all lights in the Van, which MPOV doesn't have this feature. to turn on all lights with one switch.

They did this without my request, it appears this is normail part of DVD installation.

jipster

You're welcome. Glad to hear you like the Hydroedge as I am thinking of putting them on my 2004 MPV when the Dunlops wear down.

sweet_subie

sell yours & change to michellin now. it is worth it.

sweet_subie

another reason we decided to keep our 2002 MPV is that it has NOT given us a single problem till today (touch wood). but it only has 20k miles

mpv04

I just bought a used 04 LX and had the same problem on the way home from the dealer. I took the van to a different dealer for diagnostic and they said the tran sensor and the coil pack need to be replaced. I requested the dealer to fix them before I can pick up the vehicle. They also said that there are a couple realls on the trans sensor and trans PVC (split) that might cause the trans acted weird. Let me know what your dealer say about the problem.
Good luck!

macnerd

Let me start by issuing a disclaimer: I am completely ignorant of most things automotive, but I'm not an idiot, and I can learn. (I can change the oil and filter and the plugs and plug wires.) I have an '00 MPV, and I get frustrated when the dealer says things like, "Ooh, the color of your transmission fluid doesn't look good. We'll need to flush and replace that!" Well, no one ever FLUSHES and replaces your oil. What's wrong with just draining all those fluids and replacing them? Isn't coolant the only thing that really needs flushing?

But I digress. The whole fluid discussion got me on edge at the dealer's, and 400 bucks later, they called me to tell me my rear exhaust manifold was cracked and needed to be replaced (extremely common in these MPVs), and would I like to hand over $900 so they could do it? I declined and figured me and my good friend JB Weld or Pyro Putty could climb under the van and take care of business. (My 8th grade English teacher is screaming right now! I meant "I figured JB Weld and I could climb under the van...")

The problem is...I've never met JB Weld and Pyro Putty nor my exhaust manifold! They apparently don't post pics of where your rear exhaust manifolds are (I HAVE figured out I have two of them, and it's the rear one with the crack) on the internet free of charge, and minivan engine compartments are notoriously cramped, so it's going to be hard to just poke around in there.

I first have to figure out: How do I find the crack the dealer found? After I figure out the relative location of the rear exhaust manifold and presumably crawl under the van, will I have to have the vehicle running and then I'll see hot fumes escaping from the crack (at which point I'll become light-headed and require medical treatment? )?

Maybe JB Weld will work after all, or will it melt? Or I've heard of something called exhaust cement. Would that be better than Pyro Putty?

I really don't have to remove the exhaust manifold to put the putty on, do I? The husband is pretty good about taking apart his garden tractor and getting it back together properly, but this is the man I had to show how to change the oil and the spark plugs 20 years ago when we got married! (Shame on his father! ) I figure he will come in handy if anything has to be unbolted. (But the bolts on these manifolds are problematic and may need to be drilled then replaced. Makes me wary!)

So you can see I need about as much advice as I can get!

- Where is the rear exhaust manifold on an '00 MPV?
- How would I locate a crack the dealer says is there?
- Could I repair it myself using a putty or cement?
- Would I have to remove the exhaust manifold to repair it?
- Would I need to clean the exhaust manifold to repair it? (If so, HOW?)
- If putty or cement will work, do you have a recommendation on a specific brand of putty or cement?

THANKS!!!!

MacNerd
(Windows Programmer by day, but Macintosh Nerd by night!)

davehenry

I have a 2003 MPV with 65,000 miles. Transmission was replaced but I am not willing to pay $3,500 for the repair. This is the fifth time the vehicle has been in for some kind of transmission problem (during warrarnty and out of warranty. I thing there is a problem with the transmissions and Mazda will not pay for the transmission repair.

I am so disgusted with Mazda and the lack of customer service. Any suggestions or comments?

My only recommendation is for people not to buy a Mazda or get rid of it before the warranty is up.

Sincerely,

Davehenry

vinnyg

I am curious if anyone knows where I may be able to get the radio's #5 preset button for my 03 MPV. Seems the original broke off, and I can't fix it. The dealer tells me the only serviceable parts on the stereo are the 2 knobs (volume and tuner), and vehicle is out of warranty. So it's either buy a replacement radio or install an aftermarket one.
Also, does anyone know how to remove the center cup holder in the dash for cleaning?
Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

rogerrabbit

Latest on the random misfiring. turned out to be Mass Air Sensor. I will post separate message re: K&N Filter and Mazda'a take on warranty for this item.

rogerrabbit

In a related posting #4001, my 02 MPV with 48,500 was experiencing random misfiring and erratic fuel trim readings. Dealer diagnosed as faulty Mass Air Sensor but said that Mazda would not cover under warranty because a K&N air Filter was installed. K&N claims no known problems with air filter and Mass Air Sensor. I am moving the issue up the Mazda chain, but wonder if others have had similar issues?

billshoe

Just traded in my 2000 MPV ES on a 2005 Honda Pilot. Had a major problem with the battery going dead in the van since last summer. After 2 new batteries and an alternator, they finally figured out there was water in the right front door lock assembly creating a slow drain on the battery. They had the van for two weeks and the cost to "rip out" the door panel to access the lock assembly was over $1500. MPV was my 3rd and last Mazda purchase. Talked to tech who did the work and he said he felt bad since he had done this before, but I was the first one that had to pay for it since all the others were within warrranty.
ANYONE WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS?

dtownfb

I know the K&N air filters are designed to allow more air to the engines. It sounds like maybe the MPV is not designed to handle it. I woudl do a search on the web for issues with the K&N filters.

I doubt you will have any luck with Mazda covering the cost of the repair since K&N is an aftermarket part not within OEM specs. BTW, what does the Mass air sensor do?

blitzing

We have had our 2002 MPV in the shop 7 times because of water shorting out the driver side sliding door! Lucky for us it was still under warranty. Enough is enough. We just traded it in after a record low, for us, 3 years.

Truth be told, this wasn't the only problem we had. We slid into a curb at under 5MPH and did $2k of damage. When we took it in for service the tech asked whether we had hit a pothole. He frequently sees this amount of damage to the MPV from something as common as a pothole! We can't live with the fear that any random pothole will cost us 2k.

While looking at Toyotas we met another couple that was trading in their '03 MPV because it was, in their words, literally falling apart already!

We loved many aspects of the vehicle, especially its small width verses other available minivans, but will now try our luck with a Ford Freestyle.

My advice ... stay away from the Mazda MPV.

bob57

That sounds a little strange, Rogerrabbit. I believe several people in the past posts have discussed and used K&N on their Mazda's with no problems - at least no one that I remember mentioned. My local Toyota dealer even advertises them.
I'll echo - what is the "mass air sensor"? I wonder if they mean the air intake control valve.
I ran without an air filter for two days once on my '01 (me bad) and I never had any misfirings - it did sound really cool tho.... )

nls

The K&N website specifically mentions that use of their products do NOT void vehicle warranty, so what is their response to Mazda denying a warranty claim?

maz2000

I recently noticed this issue on our 2000 MPV LX. It's the driver side door lock when using key to lock and unlock. It only locks and unlocks the door itself, while it's supposed to lock all doors and arm the alarm. The passenger side door lock works as usual though. And when using key fob, everything works just fine.

Worse yet, if I lock the car, (alarm is then armed), and then use the key to open the driver side door, this will set off the alarm.

Anyone have this problem? any insight? Thanks.

Jason

rogerrabbit

The Mass Air Sensor (sometime called the air flow sensor) sits right after the air filter and before the air hose leading to the manifold. There are 2 wire sensors that detect air flow differences and send result to the computer. When the wire sensors get corroded (or in this case Mazda is saying that oil from the K&N filter is coating the sensors and caking on) the readings go haywire resulting in fuel trim readings that are all over the board. The computer constantly adjusts fuel to deal with variations in the air readings.

K&N site does say that their filter should not void warranty but when I asked them if they had any experience similar to above, no reply was received. I still have the old sensor and offered it to K&N for analysis - again no response. Unfortunately K&N does not make the decision about the warranty, Mazda does. My advice is if you have a K&N filter installed, change it out with a standard filter before visiting your Mazda dealer with similar types of problems.

once_for_all

our '02 is an LX with the 16" 'Lops. They are much softer than the 17" and I don't see a need to change brands.

My only issue is tire wear. After 30K, not much is left.

John

nls

What is the definition of a "standard" filter? Is Mazda saying that we cannot use any aftermarket filters, and should only use genuine Mazda filters from a dealer? If I go to an independent service station or an oil change place, I don't even know what brand air filter or oil filter they put on. I just assume that they know what they are doing, and use good quality products.

bob57

Didn't think about the oil in the filter - that makes sense. So it's not the flow - it's the sensor getting "lubed". Probably why I didn't see any problems with my "no" filter for two days.
The last one I purchased from a local auto supply was not a Mazda brand but it looked and felt just like the original and I haven't noticed any problems except for the bruised knuckles putting that thing in...

doxsons4us

We just bought a 2003. We live in Tucson and it was mildly hot today. We noticed that when we were stopped in traffic the cold air disappeared. When we resumed driving it would get very cold again. The blower worked all the time. Does anyone have any advice. We replaced our 1995 MPV which is still running great, almost never a problem. The a/c was one of the best we ever had, never over heated once. After reading this forum, I am getting nervous about the 2003!! Too late now.

je2

Check to see that the air is circulating within the car, and that the system is not pulling air in from outside. There is a little oblong button at the bottom of the air control panel that controls this. Make sure sure that your air flow isn't coming through the defrosters before you do this - you won't be able to get the "circulate within the car" setting to come on if any windshield defroster flow is on. I spent the first 1-1/2 years of MPV ownership (I also have a 2003) wondering why the air conditioning didn't work very well - especially when we were stopped. I live in San Diego, so this wasn't a big deal, but then we went to Palm Springs last summer and I got serious about figuring it out very quickly! Hope this helps!

dtownfb

I think they are refering to OEM spec filters. K&N are not OEM specified filters and considered by some to be performance enhancers. So you can use Fram, Puralator, etc since they meet OEM standards but not K&N.

I normally buy what they have in stock at my local auto parts store. I figure I change it every 15k miles so evena cheap brand won't do too much damage.

drdoogie

My husband and I just bought a 2005 MPV ES 3 weeks ago. There is a very loud air noise coming from the dash. It sounds like you have the defroster on full blast but it's not. We can't feel any air coming from there but the noise is driving us crazy! Also, it sounds like we're in a wind storm above our heads. Could it possibly be air moving around the roof rack? Has anyone had this problem before?

jipster

Don't know about dash.Did you read your owners manual on this subject? Sometimes the roof rack crossbars are installed improperly or may need adjustment.We had a whistling noise caused by the rear hatch that needed adjusting...but it looked like they moved the crossbars back as well. All of that is covered under the Mazda 4yr bumper to bumper warranty...take it in to your Mazda dealer and have them look at it.

mcspak

We just replaced our MPV (2001 - ES) Dunlop tires with Michelin HydroEdge tires and they are incredible.

We had 40k on the Dunlops and they were almost bald. The Dunlop's on the MPV were lousy!
The Michelin Hydro Edge are a "S" rated tire and are perfect for the MPV.....have a 140k warranty and are rated one of the best tires in rain and snow, quiet handling and smooth.

Hope that hleps!

mcspak

This tire is perfect for the MPV, Costco for example will not "step down" from what the manufacturer recommends, however from my research, the manufacturer recommends an "S" rated tire which is a tire that high end sport cars need, not a van!
The "T' rated Michelin Hydro Edge is highly recommended for the vehicle by many tire specialists...they claim the manufacturer's alway go above an beyond what is actually needed.
We have the Hydro Edge on our 2001 MPV ES and they are amazing tires.

mcspak

Has anyone had a problem with a cracked water pump - only have 52k on the van. I have 2 months left on my warranty, which the water pump is covered, however Mazda Canada is refusing to cover the Water pump ($415 repair) unless I provide them with proof that I flushed the coolent at the 3 year mark/72k mileage.

Obviously I didn't flush the coolent last May (3 year mark) as I only had 33k on the vehicle - why would I do this service when it is recommended at 72k.

Mazda Canada claims I voided the warranty by not doing so at the 3 year mark - regardless of the mileage!!?

Has anyone had similiar problems with the water pump at such low mileage? ">

jipster

Did you buy 2 sets of tires mcspak? 140k warranty???
Who did you get to put them on since they are a different heat rating?

Mazda Canada is trying to pull a fast one. You don't have to prove anything, the water pump broke and they need to fix it under warranty. The burden of proof should be on Mazda Canada. If your antifreeze is still in good condition you should prevail.

mcspak

We bought a set of 4, from a tire shop that my local Mazda dealership sent me to - Discount Tires - White Rock, BC Canada.

Thanks for the feedback on the water pump - will push it further with.

drdoogie

Dealership just called and said that one of the crossbars on the roof rack was installed backwards at the factory. The windnoise coming from dash is really wind going around the outside mirrors. I am very disappointed and husband is mad. Can this be correct? :mad:

jipster

Man..where are these dealers coming up with this stuff. There is no way in hades that the loud windnoise you described in previous post is coming from your outside mirror. Unless, they put it on backwards as well...or you like to drive above 100mph???
Ask the service manager to go for a ride with you in another MPV...then take a ride in yours. If he doesn't investigate further, file a complaint with Mazda or take it to another dealer.

phil121

My 2000 MPV has never been able to extract the spare tire from the spare tire hoist. As early as 2002, I've been flatbed to different tire shops because tow truck drivers couldn't get this to release the tire. Now, I'm past warranty and I brought it to the dealer requesting him to free the tire. He tells me it's broken and it's $600 to fix. He did offer to blow torch the tire off so I can carry in the back (what a guy).

Has anyone dealt with this? The dealer admitted it was a poor design as road salts, etc get kicked up in the mechanism and jam the works. Does Mazda corporation have any policy on this?

tccmn1

Wow, that's tough. I've never attempted to pull my spare down, but I read the manual and looked at that goofy setup they have underneath and can see where there may be problems. Knock on plastic; I have not had a flat in a vehicle in many years. I have road hazard coverage on the current set of Bridgestones but, living in MN., I can emphathize with the salt causing havoc issue. Something for sure to check out.

d_law1

The sound of my k&n filter has recently changed. After about 40,000 revs the filter will make a more high pitched banger racing car type sound. is this normal? It has been fine for about 3-4 weeks now and suddenly decides to change its tone. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

nls

Looks like Mazda has goofed in several areas which causes corrosion due to snow/ice/salt. Unfortunately they only have TSB's and no recalls. One is the alternator, and the other is coolant leak from rear heat lines, and I am having problems with both. Repairs are very expensive, $600-$700 for the first, and $500-$600 for the second. Ironically enough, one TSB indicates the use of a cover over the new alternator to prevent snow/ice getting in to the alternator, while the other TSB indicates the removal of the plastic shroud over the coolant lines in rear wheel well to prevent accumulation of snow/ice there!

rdworski1

Anyone have any idea what could be causing a click noise when you first apply the brakes for the first time after starting the engine? It happens only the first time you apply the brakes and sounds kind of like a clicking or maybe even a popping sound. Thank you

sweet_subie

actually, mazda recommends H rated for MPV. T is only one step below. Mroe importantly, micheling has the same load rating as mazda recommends.

so, it is OK. yes, some dealers will not install T because Mazda recommends H.