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Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions
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-j
We have a 2000 MPV ES with 2100 miles, with 6 CD changer, 9 speaker stereo sys and Rear Seat Entertainment System. On Cold morning starts the AM radio and some FM stations (92.5 hertz & below does not work, just static noise). ALSO the LCD screen will not power on even after repeated tries. With the VCR on and movie inserted and playing the LCD screen shows some FUZZY pictures (remember the LCD cannot be powered on!). The dealer concurs and decided to replace the stereo BUT noted on the service receipt that the RSES System "might" not work when the cabin temp is below 32degF. ( Is this their way of telling me this is suppose to be normal? or This is a problem they can not fix?... hmmm....).
I would like to call the attention of MPV owners with similar features if they have tested and found similar occurring problem with their system and how was it resolved.
I am starting to get annoyed since I can't just get started and go and tune in to my favorite AM news and TRAFFIC stations.
the heat output between the front driver's side
vents and the passenger side vents? Our 2000 MPV
(purchased July 00') is pushing hot air out of the
driver side and cool air out of the passenger
side.
We noticed this about 1.5 hours into our
Thanksgiving trip.
Just checking....Sounds like my shopping experience. I bought over the phone, at a different dealership, not so convenient to my home.
I just took my 2000 MPV LX in for its first servicing. I told them it seemed to pull to the left. Having come from a Jeep YJ before I took me the for months to notice that I had to do a lot of corrective steering (a normal occurance in the Jeep). Well the service manager phoned me later in the day and wondered if I had hit a curb or pot hole. The reason he ask is the left rear is so far out of alignment; they cannot get it back into Mazda specs. Yesterday he called and left a message saying they have ordered parts. I post a reply; once I know what they changed. I also will see about the tires and if they have serious wear due to the out of alignment condition.
Ross Peters
Waterloo, Ontario Canada
I have had this van in the dealership for this problem 6 times since purchase and now am in the process of dealing with Mazda Corporation for the Lemon Law. The dealership has given me the same excuses as others have said in their responses. I was amazed but somewhat not surprised to see all the comments relating to this same problem.
This is the first Mazda that I have owned and would have to say the last one. I have owned 6 new vehicles in the past ten years and have never had to visit the dealership for problems like I have with this van. The Mazda Corporation representative that I have spoken with claims that Mazda has never heard of these problems before.
I intend to fight this thing to the end and hope that I will come out ahead.
Good to know other folks won't be buying Mazda so they won't make as much money ripping us the smart ones off.
fwg- Please keep us updated on the outcome of your lemon law claim. My opinion is the tires have nothing to do with it. They just didn't properly align a bunch of MPV's at the factory. Then we drive them around for a while which ruins the tires. Mazda then tries to blame the tires for everything.
I'm more interested in the Yoko tires and possible misalignment right now. The van has a side to side "wandering" problem at 60-70MPH. I've noticed the steering wheel is not "centered" when supposedly going straight. Although it doesn't pull to one side or the other and no vibration is felt I think I'll have Mazda checkout the alignment before those "superior" Yoko tires go goofy.
I have a 2000 ES with one headlight out and looking for anyone who has put in new whitelight blubs? I also had 4 new tires put on by dealer at n/c after 9000 miles. Also was told Mazda would do alignment free once up to 1 year.
I just noticed the pass side of my upper dash pad
may be defective. It's right by the tweeter (2.5
inch round speaker). I originally thought there
was a crack in the dash but, the closer I looked,
there's an actual line outlining the round speaker
cutout. It looks like it may be from the mold when the dash pad was formed. This only exists on the pass side (driver's side has nothing like this.)
PLEASE check your dashboards and let me know if
any of you have the same.
MANY THANKS & happy holidays!
With the folder weather in the Northeast, I have noticed a distinct gas smell coming from the dashboard vents. It seems worst right after starting and while idling in park. I have also "sniffed" around under the hood and noticed the same smell coming from the left side (looking at the windshield) of the engine compartment.
Has anyone else noticed this? I'm bringing it into the dealer tomorrow to have it checked out.
Thanks in advance!!
i contacted the Mazda customer support folks and they informed me that i would have to go to a dealership for troubleshooting since no maintenance technician would diagnose the symptom over the phone. expected!
someone tried to blame the vibration to bad gas, which doesn't seem likely because i've had bad gas (my car, too) and usually the wgole vehicle jerks and sputters. this time the MPV vibrated more like if the wheel was poorly aligned, or mis balanced. this is the first time we've encountered this situation and I was wondering if anyone else has had this sort of problem in the past.
Steve
Edmunds.com Town Hall co-host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
Anyway, here's what I found on the test drives at two different dealers. Of the four MPVs I test drove, two had the distinct shake and pull left at high (>55 mph) speeds. Two, including the one I bought, just didn't. One dealer tried to blame it on "cold radial tires", the other on alignment. In either case, I wasn't going to buy something that had a very noticable problem!
I'm hoping the shake and pull doesn't surface later in my MPV's life.
They adjusted the heat controls - now I have heat coming in through the floor vents only when the floor setting is selected. When the hi-level setting is selected there is little to no heat coming through the floor vents. So back to the dealer I go.
As for the gas smell - they couldn't detect anything - what a surprise!! The smell has subsided a bit in the last week so I'm hoping it will correct itself. My fingers are crossed.
I also had the tires balanced and rotated while at the dealer. I was beginning to get a little vibration at 60 mph and above. The balance cured the vibration - but now I have a slight pull to the left. Could it be from the tire rotation? Do I need an alignment. Or could it just be from improperly inflated tires??
I know many states require that the evaporative emissions be tested (your gas cap.) The same technology for that test could be applied to the remainder of the vehicle.
Just a thought.
TB
Thanks for the advice!
On a separate note - After reading my two previous posts I realized I had misspelled "colder" as "folder" and wrote "MPG" instead of "MPV"
Can I blame this on the new software?
In November 1999, I installed 4 winter tires and 4 steel wheels at a local tire specialist (Canadian Tire!). The car was vibrating a lot with the new tires at 60MPH because of the bad balance I thought at that time. Went back to the garage 3 times, with no improvement. In the 4th visit 2 weeks later, I claimed a full credit for the "cheap tires" and the wheels, stating that the mechanics were not able to balance tires. They gave me back my money.
So I called the Mazda dealer to buy 4 winter tires (Yoko Gardex 600) and 4 wheels and explained them my adventure with Canadian Tire.
The car was still vibrating with the new sets but much less. And I had enough of going to the garage every week so I endure it for all winter.
When I put back my summer tire, doing a tire rotation, I had a little vibration at 60 mph again but not that important.
In november 2000, I put back my winter tire, and the it started vibrating alot again. Went to get them balanced at the Mazda dealer 2 times...
On the second time, the mecanics even did 4 road test and 4 rebalancing before he gave me back my car 2 hours later...
When I drove my car just after I exited the dealer, the vibration was gone... but came back the next morning. So I called the dealer service boss and he told me he could try something to fix it after the holidays.
The bad news it that I am changing job and the nearest dealer from here is a 90 minutes drive.
I'll keep you posted if I find "THE solution" to this problem. (BTW I hate this problem but still like my MPV!)
Jean-Erik
Thetford Mines PQ, Canada
I replaced the Dunlop 4000's @ 17000 miles because my wife hit a pot hole that broke a belt in one of them. I have three for sale if someone wants them. I will post them on EBAY in a few days, unless you let me know before hand. The other three are in excellent condition.
I went to the Continentals because the tread wear on the Dunlops were 300 something and the Continentals are 560. The cost difference was significant. The Dunlops are 130 bucks a tire! I nearly bought two Continentals for the price of one Dunlop and hopefully I'll get better gas mileage and longer life. All the tire shops thought kids had put the Dunlops on to make it sportier. They were shocked that they are OEM's.
The only major difference is the Dunlops are 94H rated and the Continentials are 94T rated. The difference is a max speed of 118 vs 112. This is a van! Let me know what you think.
Can you tell me which Mazda dealer you went? It's so hard for me to find a honest dealer nearby. Thanks.
I find out from the yokohama rep that Mazda changed their specs for the tires mid-way thru production to a higher rated tire. You may have received the notice in the mail... the one that said " this is not a recall", just be sure to replace any tires with a 94s rather than a 92s next time you need tires. Anyway, he said Mazda should have recalled the tires but didn't and now they want yokohama to take the rap. Sounds familar to the Firestone debacle. I really don't care who is at fault, I just wanted new tires and some peace of mind.
I am very frustrated and a bit angry that Mazda, or any car manufacturer, will sell us a car and take no responsibility for the tires. Why not have me call GE when a bulb goes out or Ford if the engine blows up? Thank God yokohama was willing to take their tires back and help me have peace of mind.
Be aware,
Ahhchew
One of them actually told me (General Tire) that "We don't pu the better tires on new cars..." because they want you to come back sooner fro replacements. The manufacturer of "Tiger Paws" told me that the car rims were out of round, General wanted to shave their out of round tirres and told me that steel belt slippage was normal. Duh!
What it all boils down to is that when you finally throw in the towel go out and get a set of good, premium tires. I know that doesn't seem fair but all auto manuals Ii have ever seen say that they are not responsible for their tires - even tho they are on their cars..
Hopefully, something from the Ford - Firestone mess may generate a change in policy or laws that make the car manufacturer responsible too.
Ever get the impression that the tires were not designed for your new car...?
As for not putting good tires on cars so you'll come back earlier for tires, I doubt if the General Tire person who made this claim was in a policy making position for the company (i.e. he was just giving his opinion).
In fact, there is a difference that automakers ask for in OEM tires. They want them to do well in EPA mileage tests. To get tires with better mileage they have to make an adjustment somewhere else, since tire making is, like many manufacturing endeavors, subject to trade-offs. They may trade off cost, i.e. get a more expensive tire, but that would hurt bottom line. They could trade off some aspect of performance, e.g. braking, noise, or roadholding, but those could affect sales of the car and perhaps safety. So it's not suprising that one of the trade-offs they favor is tire wear. After all, how many people pay attention to the tire mileage warranty when buying a car?
Actually, the car companies probably make a better choice than many consumers as to the trade-offs. When you go into a tire store, the mileage warranty and the price are often the only two quantifiable pieces of information available. (Maximum speed rating is also quantifiable but of limited value). It's difficult to compare tires for quiet, roadholding, wet braking, dry braking, mileage etc., so you really don't know what you're trading off to get the 80,000 mile rating.
Out for now,
Kevin Kalstad
Noblesville, IN
Let me know if you plan on checking them out. Them seem to have quite a few MPVs, both 2000 and 2001, on the lot. And since their undergoing construction, they're anxious to get some space.
mail me at vi@writeme.com if you wish.
Anyway, we've managed to locate a 2000 MPV ES, nicely loaded, priced under dealer invoice. The van looks and drives nice, but I have one concern. Dealer showed us a copy of the invoice and it's been on the lot since May. Isn't that a little strange? I'm going to call and ask the internet sales guy why (we didn't notice 'till we were home), but wanted to get someone else's take on this.
You folks don't seem to shy about sharing your opinions, so let me know what you think please!
Yes, this is a duplicate of the post on the 2000 MAzda MPV Van board - just trying to widen my net.
thanks for the tip on the 'backward' clutter catcher. I got mine at GI Joe's at Walmart price. I printed the ad at walmart.com and the upc # was the same so GI Joe's met the price. It was under another name but is exactly the same. I think it fits much better backward.
My 626 sat on a Texas dealer's lot for seven months, was driven to Oklahoma, and sat on a dealer's lot there for five more months before I showed up.
I have 6 months old 2000 MPV LX (bought in August 2000) and somewhere in November I started to notice a high-pitch squeeking sound coming from the brakes. It doesn't sound like the brake pads are worn out (and is not likely to be at 11K km). It's getting louder now and usually happens what braking at low speeds (going out of garage, stopping for an intersection while going 20 km/h). Doesn't seem to happen when stopping at higher speeds (while braking harder).
I have also experienced a very annoying dashboard rattling somewhere near the right end (passenger side). It happens more frequently when the van is cold. Anyone else?
Another annoying thing is that the rear window wiper doesn't wipe the entire glass surface evenly. It appears not too follow the glass curvature especially in snowy conditions. I have to do 5-8 wipes before the glass becomes considerably clean. Also the water seems to bid off (the right word?) making the view fuzzy before it evaporates. Looks as if the glass was greazy. I tried to use detergent to remove the "grease" to no avail. Could it be the tinting that causes this? The windshield is perfectly clean though...
Other than that no other problems so far. There was one though. The engine coolant seemed to be leaking quickly and I had to refill it at 4K and 8K oil changes but then asked the dealer to inspect and I was told that there was an airpocket somewhere in the system. After the air was let out the coolant level seems to be at the same mark...
The transmission is noticeable smoother but still does rough shifts between 1 and 2 when accelerating especially when cold.
I know, doesn't sound very technical, but my indy mechanic verified that this was the problem and the solution.
Regarding your windscreen wiper issue, I had that happening until I installed new Bosch wipers. They work great now ($14).
cheers,
--java
Also what are the Bosch wipers you installed? Where can I buy them and what is the type (part number or anything)? I'm not that "literate" with cars - this is my first car ever so I'm a little bit hesitant. Thanks a lot for your help.
I have the Bosch Microedges on my van as well and agree that they are excellent; I bought the entire Bosch blade assemblies, not just the refills. There was a vast improvement over the previous Teflon coated blades that I had. Installation was a snap at just about 1-3 minutes for each side.
A tip though...try throughly washing your windshield and wiper blades with car wash soap, and then use some rubbing alcohol to clean the rubber blades even further. If there is grease and other dirt on your blades and windshield, the blades are going to streak no matter how good they are.
Hope this helps!
Drew
Host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
They did not necessarily do a "Recall" for safety reasons. The bumper met the government standards. However, the damage sustained exceeded what consumers perceived as acceptable. Mazda has in fact initiated it's own campaign to strengthen the bumpers. Several owners have already had them fixed. I know they fixed ours several month's ago. You should contact your dealer and have them install the inserts.