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Seems like mazda 626's aren't the apple of eyes to many. I have a deal of a used 2002 Mazda 626 with 65k miles to buy. After reading the posts, I am worried if I should spend my scholarship savings on this car. I have to make a careful investment so kindly suggest me if I should look out for other brands (toyota, honda etc.).
Thanks in advance,
Mike.
the original color is dark green, almost black in the night. if not the original color a matching door will do.
My car is a year 2000. :mad: " alt="image" />
The other thing to try is mazdausa.com, go to the owners section and sign up for that if you haven't already. When I bought my Mazda6 they had a link to it's owner's manual in PDF format once I logged in and entered the VIN of my new car. I was already registered for my 626 before that, but I don't remember if I ever saw a link to a manual for that car.
Consumer Guide's® Auto Editors have scoured repair bulletins and questioned mechanics to search for commonly occurring problems for a particular vehicle. In some cases we also give possible manufacturer-suggested solutions. In many instances these trouble spots are Technical Service Bulletins posted by the manufacturer, however, we have our own expert looking at additional vehicle problems.
http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/Used/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/2384/act/usedc- arreviewshowall/
It goes on to list the specific trouble spots and also the recall history. Neither mentions anything about the automatic transmission.
So could someone point me to the data on the problems with the auto tranny in the 4-cylinder 2000 626? Or is this just people thinking that if it's made by Ford, it must be bad?
You need to look up the ratings for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique w/the 4 cylinder motor, it's the same (CD4E) transmission and it's very unreliable. It would seem to me that looking up the Ford/Mercury might be a better sampling, since there were quite a few sold over the course of it's 4 or 5 (95 to 2000?) year run. BTW, I have had three 4 cylinder Contours, two I got rid of-one with 75K on it, the other with 90K on it, both for transmission problems. AND I take care of my cars.
If the automatic were very unreliable on the Contique, I would think it would rate some mention there--it looks like a pretty comprehensive list.
What years were your three Contours and what were the two with the failed auto trannies? Sometimes automakers make fixes to problems like this, e.g. the DC vans used to have a horrible 4-speed auto tranny, but it improved over time.
I had a '96 w/ the Duratec V6 and CD4E -it FAILED. I had a '98-- with the Duratec V6 and CD4E it FAILED. I had a '97 Mystique and it was OK. I don't trust car magazines including consumer reports. Consumer reports is one of the worst.... very biased!
As far as my motivation is concerned, the motor (v6) was co-designed by Porsche and it was one of THE BEST HANDLING cars on the road at the time. They were often referred as the "poor mans BMW!". It was sold in Europe as the Ford Mondeo and won high praise.
If you want your tranny to last-change the transmission fluid right away and spend the $100.00 bucks on a after market transmission cooler--it might help it last longer. You are on the down-hill side of the expected transmission life of the CD4E.
I leased a '95 Mystique 5-speed for two years so I know what you mean about the handling. I liked that, and the traction control--very rare on a low-priced stick shift car at that time. I thought the rest of the car sucked, however--dumped it after the lease ran out. It was in the shop most of the first six months I owned it for various problems and recalls.
The answer is "YES".
Lt me add this: Several years ago I talked to a Mazda tech at a certified Mazda dealership and asked him if the rumors about these transmissions failing are true. He said yes, and confirmed that they were replacing these transissions left and right, often on cars with less than 80K miles.
You know I didn't want to beat "that dead horse" but other sources on the internet confirm what you are saying.......
I wish him luck, and I would add a tranny cooler and change the fluid ASAP!
So if you can find this Mazda tech and ask him how many failed auto trannies he has seen on 2000 MY 4-cylinder 626s with less than 80,000 miles, that would be useful information to me. Otherwise it's just anecdotal.
I hope your 626 gives you lots of miles of good service.
BTW, my Mazda has a 5 speed manual transmsission, doing very well at 135K miles. I am not worried about it failing.
G.
Dolby
Anyway, even the gaskets were expensive: $ 30/piece for the valve cover gaskets, $ 80 for the valve cover bolt sealing washers, and $ 30 for the two intake manifold gaskets. Note that my valve covers were not leaking when I replaced the gaskets, but I figured that they might after 105k miles. If I keep the car I hope not to touch the valve cover gaskets or the timing belt until 210k miles (140K miles or 210,000 km on it now). I change the spark plugs and plug leads every 60k miles. I always use the OEM plugs and leads. Change oil and filter religiously every 3k miles, use Castrol GTX 10W30 and Mazda OEM filters. Cheap insurance, and so far the engine is running like a champ. In fact, it feels stronger than it did when it was new.
Don't forget to clean out the EGR passages just behind the throttle body in the intake manifold. These passages clog with carbon on these cars after about 100k miles and cause improper EGR circuit operation.(you get a trouble code). Fortunately, the solution is simple cleaning, and usually no need to replace the EGR vavle which is very expensive ($ 360 for the part alone, and a nightmare to get to on the V6 engine).
right now, I filled up with gas #91. the normal use is #87.
after I changed fuel filter, the check engine light will be on again until 30Km or so. then 3 days later, after the code is cleared by code reader, the light will be on after 5-8 km again. the code is still 0171.
the gas that I use is still #91.
I need to get it pass the emission test as my sticker will be expired in May.
wonder if anything else that I can do to clear the issue?
would it be possible to pass emission test if I just leave check-engine light on?
thanks
next I will try to clean MAF by TB cleaner.
I went to Ford's forum and on Ford Expedition, PCV hose was reported to have a hole in a few cases, which causes 0171/0174 . not sure if it will help Mazda 626 as well?
You cannot pass an emission test with a lit engine check light.
I cleared the CEL before I went to the garage for emission test. The readings are all in very good range, much below the limit. so I got the sticker renewed. but after a few km later, CEL came up again.
I will read the book and try to clean them.
also, last time, I used electronic cleaner to clean MAF sensor. today I just bought a Carb cleaner and will try to clean the sensor again.
Thanks,
Silky
I bought a second hand 1997 Mazda 626 V4 automatic 3 weeks back with 93K miles on it. The engine was doing fine until last week when the engine started to heat up all of a sudden and stopped in the middle of the road. I got it towed to the nearest Mazda dealer. He took a week to diagonize and told me that the compressor is bad and would cost a lot to repair it. So he suggested on changing the engine itself for $2600($900 engine[85K miles] + $1700 labor). Before this problem there was a lot of vibration in the engine during drive (D) and would come down a bit when in N or P. I do not know the cause for that! Can this be one of the reasons for the engine to heat fast and stop abruptly? Is there any other reason for the engine to heat up so fast and stall? Should I get the engine replaced or take it to any other local mechanic? I am student and can't afford to spend a lot on the car right now. Can anyone suggest what needs to be done?
Any replies will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
:mad: &
How did you celebrate it? Did you do something special for your 626? Wash it, maybe? Or take it for a drive?
Sorry to say I did none of these. I did fix its rattle in the back (sway bar bushings), but that was it. My son drove it to school, so I didn't even drive the car on Friday. It was pretty clean already, and rain was predicted for the weekend, so I didn't wash it. (The rain never came.)
Thanks.
I never noticed that they put fixed mirrors on the 626 when I test drove it before buying. If I did, I would not have bought the car.
But honestly, if manufacturers are cheap and want to cut costs, why don't they offer these features as optional equipment? I would gladly pay extra to get:
remote release gas filler door (standard on my Protege, eliminated on the 626)
folding outside mirrors (standard on 1992 Protege, eliminated on 99 626)
full size spare tire (if the manufacturers at least provided enough space for a fullsize tire in the truck well I would buy one afterwards)
passenger side door lock
underhood emergency light
I see dark green bands around tops of windshields disappearing on many new vehicles too. Those used to be standard in the past on most midsize and large vehicles.
Some manufacturers, such as GM are so cheap that they do not even equip their full size trucks with plastic wheel well liners in the back. Nothing like painted bed sheet metal to absorb the salt spray and gravel flying from the wheels.
In my case it was the condenser cooling fan motor that burned out. You can make sure it is the motor by unplugging the motor pigtail fromj the harness and connecting it directly to a 12V battery terminals with jumpers. If the fan does not run, the motor is shot. If it turns on, the problem could be the fan relay.
Fan relays are located in front of the covered relay box on the driver's side in the engine compartment. do you have a 4 cylinder or a 6 cylinder? The access to the thermostat on a V6 is very difficult. Why do you think you have a bad thermostat? Most thermostat failures have to do with the thermostat sticking open. In this case it takes very long for the engine to warm up and the car never overheats. Seldom do thermostats stick closed, which would be the failure mode to explain overheating. It could happen, I suppose, but the cooling system would have to be very neglected and have a lot of scale and sediment inside.