Mazda5 Transmission Problems

shinkueiten · January 2012

Hi, I am a new member, and we also have the same problem. We bought 08 Mazda 5 new in May 2008. The clutch failed last week in the middle of the highway with only 20,382 on the odometer. We didnt notice any hitch, but the clutch started to slip a week before. This is not our first MT car, and we never had any problems with our old cars.

edvmazda · February 2012

I'm a new member, and I'm afraid I haven't had time to read a lot of these posts. I'll come back soon and do so, but, for now, I'm going to post my story below. Anybody with similar experiences, please reply to this post. Thank you.

I used to love my 2006 Mazda5. Then it betrayed me.
A few days after this last Christmas, I was on my way to work at 3:30 a.m. when the transmission on my 2006 Mazda5 burned out. I managed to get it off the highway pretty quickly and parked in the driveway of a trucking company, with big-rigs coming in and out on a dark, narrow roadway. I had it towed and eventually brought to a shop, where the mechanic found that the front pump had failed. When it stopped pumping lubricant through the transmission, a couple of bearings melted together.
The mechanics theory is that the metal for the pump housing was poured incorrectly and was therefore too soft. There was obvious damage inside the pump, including a large chip out of the housing and gouges on a flywheel, that he said could not have been caused by how I drove or maintained the car, nor by damage from outside. The pump was defective.
Of course, the car is well past its warranty at 90,000 miles (in fact, somebody at the dealership where I bought it said the drive train never had a warranty. Im checking on that), so Mazda has told me there will be no assistance. I think everybody can agree that I shouldnt have to replace the transmission on a six-year-old car. Ive driven Buicks, Fords, Toyotas, and another Mazda before this. The only one that burned out its transmission was a 12-year-old Oldsmobile station wagon.
I used to love my Mazda5. I recommended it to friends, and some of them bought one. Now I feel obliged to warn people. It is not likely that this problem was just with my transmission, according to my mechanic. There was probably a run of similarly weak pump housings made at the same time. If you have a 2006 Mazda5, built at the Hiroshima plant, ditch it now, before its too late.
A few days after this last Christmas, I was on my way to work at 3:30 a.m. when the transmission on my Mazda5 burned out. I managed to get it off the highway pretty quickly and parked in the driveway of a trucking company, with big-rigs coming in and out on a dark, narrow roadway. I had it towed and eventually brought to a shop, where the mechanic found that the front pump had failed. When it stopped pumping lubricant through the transmission, a couple of bearings melted together.
The mechanics theory is that the metal for the pump housing was poured incorrectly and was therefore too soft. There was obvious damage inside the pump, including a large chip out of the housing and gouges on a flywheel, that he said could not have been caused by how I drove or maintained the car, nor by damage from outside. The pump was defective.
Of course, the car is past its warranty at 90,000 miles. The dealership from which I bought the car referred me to Mazdas 1-800 number, and on Jan. 3, I spoke with a woman named Christina who told me there would be no assistance for a vehicle past its warranty. I do not accept that answer, considering the clear defects that were in this vehicle that have cost a significant amount of money.
A couple of weeks ago, after I made my complaints known in the companys Twitter stream, they messaged me to ask that e-mail my complaints to them, which I did. Two days ago, after pushing them for a response on Twitter, they called me.
And gave me the same answer!
I think everybody can agree that I shouldnt have to replace the transmission on a six-year-old car. Ive driven Buicks, Fords, Toyotas, and another Mazda before this. The only one that burned out its transmission was a 12-year-old Oldsmobile station wagon. I feel like there should be some process of appeal for at least partial compensation in a situation like this.
If you read this, and it changes your mind about buying a Mazda, please go to my Facebook page Malfunctioning Mazdas at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malfunctioning-Mazdas/331936906837667?skip_nax_wiz- ard=true, and like the page. If you already own a Mazda, or you decide to go ahead and buy one, may you have better luck than I.
:lemon:

edvmazda · February 2012

Well, at least you're still under warranty. Count yourself lucky for that, because the company will offer no support otherwise. Anyway, I would advise you to consider ditching the car once you finish the warranty. Carmax could offer you a good deal. Good luck!

oljohn · April 2012

I really like my '06 Mazda 5. When we bought it it had about 70,000 miles. at around 92,00 on a trip to Florida the transmission failed in Orlando. It took a week and 3500.00 to get back going. About 4 months later it failed again, this time in Atlanta. The Orlando shop shipped the parts to the Atlanta shop, so this time it was only 2500.00. That was June and September of 2010. Now in April of 2012, at 125,000 miles, back home, the transmission is failing again. The shop guy here tells me it's the same transmission as Nissan Quest, Ford Focus and several other popular cars and they typically are very reliable. The options seem to be very limited, either get it fixed and sell or get it fixed and drive it for 11 months and then sell it. (This overhaul has a one year 12k guarantee) I should have sold it last time, but I really thought they had fixed it. live and learn...

libmendonca · September 2012

I have a 2008 Mazda5 with 180K km on it.
It's been a reliable and trustworthy car since I bought it in late 2007.
Yesterday the AT (automatic transaxle) warning light came on, today I'm told I need a new transmission, $4,300.

I've owned several cars for a decade or more and never had a transmission fail like this. Is there a history of automatic transaxle failure with MAZDA or is this likely a outlier?

qbrozen · September 2012

How was it maintained/serviced during these past 180k km?

libmendonca · September 2012

Regular service at the dealer at the recommended intervals, never any serious problems.

qbrozen · September 2012

Ok... to put it simply: was the transmission fluid EVER changed?

I don't want to know what the book told you or the dealer to do. There are way too many vehicles on the road where the manufacturer is claiming "lifetime fill" of transmission fluid, and its complete bunk.

gunboat · November 2012

Well, perhaps it's time for a lawyer now! I bought my 2008 Mazda 5 new from the dealer. The transmission failed at @ 64,000 miles. After getting 3 separate diagnosis' and all agreeing that the transmission would have to be rebuilt or replaced, I was fortunate to find a transmission from a car (another same year and model) that was totaled with only 16,000 miles. I had it professionally installed and used the high $ transmission fluid recommended by Mazda and all was great (for about another 40,000 miles.) Then, the exact same symptoms started occurring.
When in automatic mode, the transmission slips when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, and 3rd to 4th gears. At highway speeds it's fine. It also functions fine in manual shift mode. Just like to original transmission when it started to go bad, it's making sort of a clunking noise when I hit even small bumps. I've had everything else checked, ie. struts, bushings, bearings, etc. and everything else is fine. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is fun!

qbrozen · November 2012

I don't see what a lawyer could do for you on a car with 104k miles. No idea why your car seems to be eating transmissions. Could be a great number of causes, not the least of which is driving conditions and care/maintenance.

rayray0131 · June 2016

My sister purchased a 2008 mazda 5 sport auto with manual option last april with about 106,000 miles. Mechamic checked it said everything was fine but tranny fluid was a bit dark. (Had i known i wouldnt have let her purchase) a few months later i had an issue with the car jerking into 3rd and 4th in auto, my check engine light came on a few months later pulled an o2 code, then pulled weird codes mechanic reset computer, light came back on after 150 miles pulled a coolant temp code. A couple weeks ago while driving car started to feel like it was running on 3 cylinders would get past 2 rpms trying to get from 30mph to 40mph the whole car jerked back and forth. Took to mechanic he changed thermostat, oil and tranny fluid. He said tranny fluid was black so possible problem but with no codes nothing he can do. Said car didnt act up for him at all and is fine. Taking it to tranny shop tomorrow to get diagnosed, they say and i know definite problem. Still have a bit over 6k on the loan. Not sure what to do after reading all this. Dont want to spend big money i dont have to have the problem resurface.

Derrya · January 2019

My 2008 Mazda 5 has 270,000 miles, and I have a AT and engine trouble light come on and the transmission would not shift or go into manual shift mode. It is off now, and diagnostics is picking up nothing is wrong. Oddly enough when I turned off the cruise control i was able to manually shift again.

Mazda5 Transmission Problems

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