Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions

scott31

I think $2500 for a power seat and dead cows is WAY too much.

Get an LX and several spray cans of 3M ScotchGuard. I have twins due any day now (hence why I bought the MPV in the first place) and I have no concerns regarding stains. I'm enjoying the $2500 I saved (bought a big screen TV with $1000 of it).

acedriver

At least in my area, there were very FEW MPV LX models to choose from. The ES trim was a different story. All the lots had plenty to choose from. Given that it is very late in the 2003 model year, it might be harder to get an LX whereas a loaded ES will most certainly be available.

Well, ES trim does not just give you a power seat and dead cow hide on seats and steering wheel :-) I think traction control and 17" alloys, rear heating and a/c and front side airbags are standard in ES trim. Also, vehicle anti-theft system is NOT available in LX trim.

jeprox

my brother owns a 92 or 93 base MPV with no a/c. his engine always overheats for some reason, specially during summer time. he changed the coolant, thermostat is ok. we heard that overheating is a common problem with MPV's and i also read on www.alldata.com that certain type of coolant should not be used on MPV's.

anyone have the same overheating probs and if so, what did you do to fix it? thanks.

bob57

My '92 started overheating at around 85K miles. By overheating I mean well above norm but not to the point of "end of gauge needle movement".
I changed the coolant, hoses, radiator cap and thermostat and double checked operation of the fan (did that have two fans?). I never noticed any real water/coolant lose during this time, although.
At any rate, the gauge registered the same - of course, the gauge came under suspect but the engine did seem hotter than normal.
Someone mentioned either here or on Mars...(?) that the aluminum heads had some problems back then. But if that was the (my) case I should have seen some coolant drop. I sold the van about 10K miles later - it still ran fine.

jeprox

yeah, same thing with my brother's MPV. temp will keep going up but it never reaches the "red" part of the gauge.

mileage on his van is only 100,000+kms.
he's got only one big white fan. the fan is a "counter spin" type or something like that, can't remember the exact term. it's always turning when the engine is on and not electrically powered/controlled. i personally think the design of the fan system is the problem. it's not electrically powered or hooked up to the thermostat so it's not cooling down the radiator when it's supposed to. when the van is stuck in traffic, engine rpm is low so the fan turns slowly while the temp. goes up and engine overheats.

i think it's a poor design by mazda. just my two cents.

bob57

Wasn't there one or two electrical thermostat controlled fans in the front (nose end) of the radiator in those years? I keep getting my same year Accord (2 fans behind radiator) and MPV mixed up. (Probably was the third martini at the time...)
Anyone?

jeprox

no, there's only one big fan behind the radiator and it's not hooked up to anything (electrically). when the engine starts turning, the fan turns the other way. i think it's called counter-spin or something like that. when the engine rpm slows down, same thing with the fan.
the van doesn't have a/c.

chet7

Never had any overheating problems with my '89 MPV until about a year ago. Replaced the radiator and all has been normal since, temp-wise. Currently at 133,000 miles.

jolly2

My '02 MPV is in the shop for two weeks due to a collapsed PVC line. There's a nation-wide shortage of the part needed to replace it. According to the tech. Mazda has been replacing a lot of these lines which tend to collapse during hot weather. If your MPV starts idling rough at stops TAKE IT IN for repair because if it is the PVC line it's considered undrivable and may leave you stranded. This came from the tech. It is covered under warranty. I HATE my MPV and regret buying it. Too many problems in just one and half years.

Also, a response about the loaner car comment made earlier. I have a loaner car while my van is in the shop but have to pay $12.00 a day for Loss of Use insurance. (I tried to get this coverage through my insurance company but they don't offer it.) I'm in a fight with the dealer manager to have this insurance charge waived since the repair will take so long - as yet it is unresolved.

LIFE!!!

bsvoller

-jolly2: I've never heard of a PVC line, did you mean PCV?

If so, isn't the PCV line simply a piece of hose?

I don't mean to make light of your troubles or frustration, just looking to offer constructive help.

If the hose to the PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation valve) has collapsed, buy yourself a piece of standard hose at your local autoparts store, and replace it.

I don't see how a collapsed hose could mean a 2 week wait, but perhaps I've misunderstood your problem.

Hope this helps,

-brianV

mazda_guy

jolly2 is right. There is a problem with PCV hose and my co-worker had to wait 2 weeks to get it replaced. The same happened to me but my service manager made right decision keeping a lot of these hoses in stock and I had it replaced the same day.

jolly2, I wouldn't generalize that MPV is a bad car because it is not. You are not lucky with your van and as they say if you are not lucky then even in a wooden church a brick will hit you on the head.

MB

bdbomber

I have a 03 lx and noticed rust buildup on the lower track on each of the sliding doors. The roller bearing took the paint right off. My wife took it in and the sevice manager said it was because of the door drainhole. YEAH Right! It's Metal on Metal . Poor design by Mazda. Just wondering if anybody else out their has the same problem

glideslopes

Jolly, we have 15,500 on our 02 LX and it has been flawless. I'm sorry you no longer feel good about your vehicle. Better to sell it now and move on.

Mark. : )

jolly2

to: sbvoller

Thanks for correcting me. I transposed.

bsvoller

Again, if it's really just the line (and not the valve), then a long wait for a piece of hose just isn't necessary.

Don't mean to be argumentative, just want to point out other options. A piece of PCV hose is a piece of PCV hose. This is not a high-tech part of the car. Unless it's routed near a heat source or something, it ought to be a simple fix.

Hope this helps,

-brianV

Karen_S

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If you have any questions/concerns, please direct them to me in email.

KarenS
Senior Host
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javadoc

Are the 'Club' threads still pleasently pop-up/banner-ad free?

Such an oais!

stever

The only time I see a new window around Edmunds is when I appraise a car or click on TireRack or PeopleFirst or something. Are you getting popups just navigating Town Hall Java?

Steve, Host

javadoc

I guess it's more banners, which IIRC, the 'Club' areas were pleasantly devoid of. But you're right, the only Pop-Ups that I come across on Edmunds are the 'dealer locator' ones. Hardly bad at all, really, but my pop-up/banner blocker just gives them a Karate chop anyway.

I had a pop-up problem, and haven't tracked down where my laptop picked it up. I suspected Edmunds, but can't say. It'd surprise me if that were the case. I got some crazy Xupiter junk. Now, that stuff just drives me nutz (not in the mpv... content), b/c you'll just get random pop-ups. But, I don't think I picked that up at Edmunds, but from some shopping my dw was doing. <rolls eyes>

stever

I notice them in all the Subaru discussions - chat promos mostly.

Steve, Host

mazda_guy

I really don't know if this PCV hose is any special hose or not. Quite honestly I don't care because I have three Mazda dealers around here and for me it is no big deal to drop the van for repair especially that it is under warranty. While they replaced my PCV hose they also took care of two recalls (fog lights and door sticker).

On the other hand if I had to drive to the nearest dealer 60 miles then I would probably cut off a piece of a hose from my cloth dryer and installed it as modified PCV hose :-)

mazda_guy

bsvoller

Well, yes, I'd prolly do the same in your circumstances. On the other hand, for those folks who are having a bad experience, there must be a better solution than wait around for 2 weeks due to a piece of hose...

'nuff said.

-brianV

bob57

Watch that Xupiter - it will reside in your registry - need to eliminate it there too.

Ok, content (transpose from other topic) - Mazda never came back with my red, eh? I guess I still have a classic.

javadoc

That's why they called it 'Classic Red,' bob.

jdthrs

We have a 2000 Mazda MPV. We absolutely LOVE it! We've not had any trouble with it - until now. Our check engine light came on. We found out it was a problem with our transmission. It's in the process of being repaired right now. We only have 81,000+ miles on it. We drive it a lot - but never roughly. Has anyone else had any trouble with the transmission?

jolly2

Because of the nationwide shortage of PCV lines the dealer put a temporary line of some sort on my van to make it drivable. It's running fine so far. Still waiting on the real part (which has been re-designed to hopefully not collapse.)

bsvoller

Glad to hear that you're at least back on the road again. Good luck.

-brianV

once_for_all

what is with the Cayman Islands logo? Have the salmon migrated south, or were you looking for a better blend of coffee

Content: '02 LX runs perfect at 13,000 miles, but it has been 100+ for 3 weeks here in Central Cal, I think I will look at the PVC hose and see what the big deal is.

John

javadoc

The Cayman Islands flag is something from waaaaaay back in TH time machine... <w> back a few management changes ago... but I won't go there.

(content) Actually, here's some real content. The dw keeps complaining about this. Let's see if any other 2000-2001 owners can relate. You're going up a hill, slow to an intersection and then turn right, but after turning right, the road is level. The tranny kicks down 1...2 gears in the process. I always chock this to the fuzzy-logic, but anyone else experience this?

once_for_all

after 30 years monkeying with cars I would have sworn I could find any PCV hose/valve within 30 secs of opening the hood. Not so with the MPV... the obvious location goes to the brake boost and nothing else in sight remotely resembles it... I think it must be underneath. Anyone know exactly where?

John

bsvoller

Not sure of the location exactly, but I did notice that there are a number of hoses running to the air filter box, most of which look like vacuum lines (most run to electrically controlled valves), but I wonder if it's among those?

Otherwise, my next best guess would be that it's under the engine cover plate (looks nice, but gets in the way, frankly, it's hard enough to get around in a van's engine bay...). I haven't pulled that to look yet.

I don't get the heat issue, since the exhaust manifolds are on the bottom of the engine, well-removed from where you'd expect a PCV line to run...

There's also all kinds of stuff running underneath and around the battery, although that's not a likely place for a PCV line, IMHO...

-brianV (pondering the layout of his engine bay)

once_for_all

i am thinking in the box, the typical location of PCV valves are in the valve cover. No reason that it needs to be there, it could be on either end of the block or even near the pan. I hate reading instructions, but I might need to go get a Chiltons' or Haynes, unless I get really inspired with a flashlight and floor jack.

John

fredsw

I took my 2002 ES in for the foglight recall and had them look at the TSB for the mirror temp. fix.
They applied the TSB fix and the mirror is right on the mark for accuracy.
As for tires; has anyone tried a different size tire? I noticed that MPVCLUB had a listing of tires and the effect they have on the speedo, but is there any other effect a size change would have?
I also noticed that Michelin is now making two tires in the 215/60-17 size, but the snow rating wasn't that much better than the Dunlops. I didn't think the Dunlops did very well last winter.

maltb

The PCV valve is located in the valley between the heads and under the intake manifold. The hose goes from there to the top of the intake manifold closer to the throttle body.

rutger3

Anyone else had this problem? gas pedal sticks on our 01 LX. Only has 35k miles. The dealer when making the appt. wanted to do a fuel injection cleaing and throttle cleaning. The fuel injectiion was done about 10k miles ago when my wife brought it in,so this is not the problem and I believe the whole fuel inj deal is a rip off anyway. Think I will bring it in myself next time.

backy

Dirty fuel injectors causing a gas pedal to stick?? LOL, that's a good one! Tell that service advisor he/she should do stand-up comedy.

crissman

I've had this problem for at least a year now in my 2000 model. It's really only there when first starting out and quickly goes away. It has not gotten worse. I think someone said throttle cleaning is the fix, but I can live with it until it gets worse.

stever

This is a common problem with Quests like mine. Cleaning out the throttle body fixes it. Some like to burn Chevron or use some Chevron Techron additive to try to slow the carbon build up on the throttle plate.

It's not hard to d-i-y on the Quest; maybe that stuff is accessible on your MPV?

Steve, Host

mainsail2

Yep. Definitely the throttle body. Had it cleaned ($80.00), and my 2000 MPV runs like new at 48k.

mariaj3

I have a 2002 mpv with approximately 20,000 miles. First i have to say that the dealer has been very good, and they have gotten me very good rental suv's and vans while the car is in the shop..but it's STILL going back to the shop.
A few weeks ago, i noticed some rough idling. A few days later the check engine light came on. The dealer said it was the pcv tube that everyone here talks about. It was backordered for a week. the dealer put me into a rental car and somehow got the part much sooner and put me back onto the road, but the same day, i noticed the engine was still idling slightly rough. 2 days after getting the car back from the shop, the check engine light is back on.


ideas anyone? the car goes back for service first thing tomorrow, but this is getting old fast.

<BR
this is our 3rd unreliable minivan. are there no reliable vans out there ????? just last year we lost over 8,000$ on a bum silhouette.

stever

Opinions (and surveys) are pretty widely distributed:

What's the most reliable minivan on the market?

Steve, Host

javadoc

...dealership service department. It shouldn't be difficult for them to diagnose and fix a problem like rough idle, esp when the CEL is on, meaning that there's a code stored... to point them in the very specific direction.

dave_h2

Hello.

I recently purchased a 2003 MPV ES.

I now have 1,000 miles on the vehicle.

The auto door on the passenger side is now malfunctioning. When we attempt to close it using the auto function (either the remote or the buttons on the vehicle) it closes 3/4's of the way - then abruptly reverses direction and opens again. It does this repeatedly now.

Looking through the manual, I see that they recommend you don't try to "force" the door when it is opening or closing. I may have done this once. Is this enough to screw it up like that?

The door on the other side works fine.

Has anyone else experienced this?

What solutions can anyone suggest?

Thanks.

rutger3

The Mazda Tech is blaming poor quality gas for sludge buildup causing the pedal to stick. Will do a throttle cleaning for $65, change gas and see if that does it. Does this sound reasonable. I thought most gas was the same anyway. He did not reccomend going to a higher octane, just use a name brand gas. We get our gas from various places, but usually where it is the cheapest.Any thoughts?

rutger3

According to Mazda, need front brake pads. Cost for pads and resurface of rotors $260. How does this compare to other places like STS,American Tire, or Meineke. Anyone had experience with these chain shops? Does the brand of pads matter?

subearu

You can reset the door system by removing the ROOM fuse, stepping on the brake pedal, and then replacing the fuse.

-Brian

dave_h2

#3039 of 3039 "You can reset the door system by removing the ROOM fuse, stepping on the brake pedal, and then replacing the fuse."

Thanks for the tip, anyway.

I found the right fuse and did what you said. Didn't help. The right power door is still closing only 3/4's of the way, before it then reverses and stays open.

Looks like I will now take it to the dealer.

subearu

Does the door close freely with the power off? Could check the lower track for debris or something that would prevent it from closing.

-Brian

dave_h2

"Does the door close freely with the power off? "

Yes.

"Could check the lower track for debris or something that would prevent it from closing."

OK. Thanks Brian. I will do a thorough inspection there.

subearu

The reset procedure has worked for a few people that frequent another internet site that can't be mentioned here. IIRC, there's was doing the same as yours - not closing. The dealer will likely try the same procedure, but may pull the battery cable instead of the ROOM fuse. But they should be able to sort it out for you.

-Brian