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Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions
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When they installed the tethers, they didn't cut the floor mats. I saw the cutouts so it won't be hard to cut but my husband was unsure about cutting the mats. He thought maybe we should take the mats out and just use them when needed. I told him that since the kids are only 1 and almost 2, they will be in car seats for a long time, we could always replace the mats at that point if we needed. (I figure we won't do that but it's an option.)
I think that I have him convinced that I'm right but I wondered what everyone else did about that.
Also, the kids eat goldfish crackers and other things in the van but the fish fall right down the tracks. We managed to get them out with the shop vac but I wondered if anyone had any ideas for preventive measures. Is there a mat or something that I could lay down. I'm afraid of having some get stuck in there and then not being able to slide the seat.
We're loving the van otherwise and finally having a working CD player is great. We can listen to Veggie Tales all the time now.
I did notice one minor thing. One of the "screws" (or whatever it is) that holds the windshield wiper to the wiper arm has already lost it's paint. Since I look at it all the time, I would prefer it to be black again. Is this something I should ask the dealer to fix? The other one looks fine. I hope that this is one of my biggest problems with this van.
Hmmm, sounds all to familiar.
Not to speak ill of my (much) better half, but she has a way of not pulling all the way into the garage, and has a few times put the garage door down on the rear bumper of MochaVan, it hits just below the step plate, leaving a few scratches there so far..ouch! That's okay, yesterday, I backed into a spare monitor I have stored in the garage, woops! Maybe I'll install runway landing strobes next, lol.
--j
Maltb,
Also, we've had the "back-out-before-door-fully-opened" once. No real damage, except to someone's pride. Lol.
--j
Never had a new car start that rough...any comments would be appreciated.
Cold sober, too.
RJ
Blonde, that reminded me of when Mrs. Javadoc tried to wrap our Saab 9000 around a safety pole getting a mocha one morning. I had *just* had it repainted ($4k) the week before. I *almost* wept, almost. Well, at least my home isn't alone in the bone-headed car mishap dept. lol!
-j
This...the guppy...
...this...the boat...
or this, da phat phish. Not me, btw...my brother-in-law-in-law, lucky devil (70#er). These aren't current, but give you a taste anyhow.
--javadoc
Once in the 87 Buick Century she picked me up. Upon getting in the drivers side I noticed a gapping hole between the door frame and the window frame. Large enough for my fingers. When I asked her she had no recollection. After inspecting the door jamb and the door I calculated that she backed out with the door open!
Again in the Buick she ripped the mirror totally off the side. This time the mirror is still intact.
But the topper is in our 95 Olds 88, while I was working in the yard I heard the distinct sound of metal on metal. I walked around to the garage to see my wife cheerfully waving goodbye. Being very curious I looked around for the source of the noise. It didn't take me long to notice the huge dent in the passage rear door on my Subaru. Of Course when she came back she denied having hit the car. You know she had to pull forward to get out of the drive. Once I showed her the green paint on the white rear bumper corner I thought she would confess. However, to this day she does the shaggy song "Wasn't Me!"
I should write a short story book! I have lots of others!
Thanks for the pics. Now that I am fully jealous I need to think about how I was wearing shorts on Christmas day and you folks were lucky to step outside for 5 minutes and not get frostbite.
John,
Either you are very understanding or you don't stand a chance at finding another wife(just joking). Glad to see that you two can still exist with each other. Maybe that's a common thing amongst MPV owners.
I'm not the one to answer this one as I drive 1400 miles/month at 70mph and getting 20-22mpg. I do slow down getting into the garage tho....
(Pun at the above postings )
For the record (and MPV content) we filled 4 60qt coolers and 3 100qt coolers with the kings, halibut and nasty ling cod, and the MPV hauled it and it's four tired (and smelly) fisher-people home in style. They all fit very nicely in the cargo area with the third-row seat stowed.
Oh, this is the "Problems" forum. Problem was I DIDN'T LIMIT OUT, and spun a prop, Waaaaaah.
--java
I'd appreciate any other thoughts. I think this local mileage is as low as I have seen posted. I don't see gas leaking. Van was made 8 or 9/99 and bought 2/00. White LX touring with GFX, moonroof, etc.
Then, take off style could contribute. I've never tested this, but you could do a "burn-n-glide" from a stop light or a gradual accel. Obviously, a *very* gradual accel will net you the most miserly of economy, but I really wonder if the (non-rubber laying) fast take off to speed, and then easy on the gas burns less fuel than the moderate accel that takes more time/distance.
A steady right foot will also give you better econ then one that's on/off all of the time. My 2 shillings.
--Javadoc
I'd be glad to pitch in for some seats for the Mochavan. It's a wonder you have any friends at all, the way you treat them. ;>)
RJ
--javadoc
p.s., what's all this about trannies being replaced? Stevehess, let us know if you find anything out from the service dept. about your problem. Wow, our's shifts "like butta"
Our van is at 10K miles now and I have never noticed any problems so far. In fact, there's almost no rough shifts between 1 and 2 gear when accelerating. It might be because I'm getting used to it but mostly it's because it is broken in...
When I haul fish I ...wait, wrong posting..nevermind...
I took it in to the Rohrich Automotive Group this morning and explained the problem to the service writer, Mr. Bob. I got a series of uninterested grunts and "We'll hook it up and see" in response (Great guy, Mr Bob, by the way. Just the sort you hope your daughter will marry some day, if you can overlook the calluses on his knuckles and the all-pervading odor of bananas about him)
Here's what happened when I took a car in to Rohrich. It came out cleaner than when it went in. It is otherwise unchanged. They couldn't find a thing out of specs. They didn't notice the stench that was making hardened mechanics drop over in a dead faint when they walked past my car in their garage ( Hey, I'm used to it, and it almost made me gag when I got out of the car this morning). They couldn't reproduce the smell later on when "the mechanic and the Service Manager each took it out for real long test drives (.3 miles, total! I checked the odo. .3!)
So as of tonight, "The Prez" is still flatulent, and I've crossed one dealer off my list. Oh well, I suppose I could always toss in a bottle of Beano with every tankful. And if the engine ever melts, I'm on record. And as I said, It doesn't bother ME!
Aside from this one embarrassment, it's still a pure, unalloyed pleasure to own and drive.
RJ
Immensely entertaining as your story is (you truely have a way w/words!) I'd say you've got yourself a bad cat, and I don't mean a dead cat on your exhaust manifold...at least I hope not, yech. How many miles on the odometer now for you? I know that in the first 1,000-2,000 you'll probably smell protective coatings (waxes?) coming off of hot engine pieces, but nothing like you've so colorfully described. I guess you could say that this is a breaking (wind) story!!! Sorry, I just had to.
That or lay off the Taco Bell my friend.
--javadoc
About 1225m as of today (1225.3 after extensive testing).
Supposedly, they checked the cat. It was the first thing I mentioned to Mr Bob. When I asked him if it was likely on so young a car, he grunted. Is there any way you can tell a yes grunt from a no grunt?
RJ.
So try a couple of tanks of different brands to see it that makes any difference.
I typically burn Texaco, Mobil or Phillips66 without drama. However, MrsTBoner has something wrong with her smeller. This works to my advantage if I need to float a silent "air bisket"
Cheers,
TB
Are you always greeted with the lovely scent when you drive or is it something that comes and goes? My suggestion is to leave the vehicle running when you get to the dealer and demand that they look at it while you are there in the service drive. Any service manager worth his/her salt should be willing to go on a 5-10 min test drive with you.
Have them check your emissions settings/operation. I had a simular problem with another auto. It caused a lot of people around me to roll up their windows at stop lights. It turned out to be a part on the emissions system (don't remember which) that crapped (pun) out. It took the dealer (and me) three trips to find it but eventually it was cured. Leaded gas - which I don't think you can find anymore - will also cause the same problem aside from "poisoning" the catalytic converter. I don't know if the new "blended" gas could cause this - anyone out there have a handle on that?
Many thanks for the input [and thanks for the kind words, Doc].
There's no question it's the traditional H2S smell--smells like that infamous chemistry experiment at school, which smells like -- well, you know what it smells like. It only occurs in a thoroughly warmed up car, and it dissipates rapidly when I shut the car down. It's also intermittent. Some days I never smell it; other days, it's very strong [my first clue is usually the number of dead birds dropping out of the sky behind me].
I'm in the process of switching gas dealers; just put in my second different tankful today. And I was rewarded with a smell strong enough to pucker cast iron. On the other hand, when I parked it in the garage 10 miles later, there was no odor.
Go figure.
Again, thanks to all.
RJ
The other day our oil change guy noticed that the tires were showing too much wear for the miles and brought it to our attention.
So finally, we started the lemon law process in Georgia.
Mazda brought in one of their regional reps to meet with us and take the van for a drive.
The dealer kept the van for four days and put a brand new set of Michelins on the van.
So far, so good. But we are keeping our options open in regards to the lemon law.
I am amazed at how some dealers have treated customers with this pulling problem. Of course, our dealer said they had not heard of any pulling problems. But I must admit, they have worked really well with us, and we didn't even ask for the new set of tires.
We are now holding our breath.
Yeah, I've seen all of those postings, but my Mazda dealer says he has never heard of this problem before.
Thanks--
RJ
My MPV is only 4 weeks old with 600km (less than 500mi ?). I noticed this recently. When the transmission warmed up after driving, I pulled the transmission dipstick to check the ATF level. There is small patch of white stuff stuck on the dipstick. Cleaned the stick, inserted back in, pulled it out, again a patch of white stuff on the dipstick. Tried 4-5 times, the white stuff is consistent, but on different part of the dipstick and was always above the fluid level area. Initially I thought it was greasy, but concluded it is foam (?) from the ATF because the paper towel absorbs the white stuff. So it cannot be greasy. I did not notice this when I took delivery of the vehicle, wondered why?
I pulled the dipstick when the transmission is cold (car not driven, engine cold and off), tried several times, no white stuff! So the white stuff appears when the drivetrain is warm/hot.
Is this normal? Is this a Dexron III ATF characteristic, which is being used according to the owner manual? Can someone check their tranny dipstick and post the observation.
My wife has a 93 Mazda protege with auto, don't know what ATF used, but definitely not Dexron III, never observed the white stuff!
Thanks again
The answer, as always is, it depends.
What are the ages of the children etc. And do you mean across town or longer road trips.
For example, we took our MPV with three adults and two children from St. Louis to Memphis for a three day weekend last fall. No worries, plenty of room to put all of our stuff, including the baby stuff. (Why is the volume of luggage inversely proportional to the size of person traveling? I could put my stuff in the glove box, while the four ladies have to pack steamer trunks?)
Anyway, the only issue we had was who was going to sit where. Well, I always knew where I was sitting, behind the wheel. The baby right behind me, wife or MIL riding shotgun. The then 10 year old in the "way back"
Now with four adults, one adult will need to crawl into the "way back"
But that is not unique to the MPV. We would have this problem with any minivan we purchase.
I hope this is helpful with the limited information you have given.
BTW, we had no problem maintaining speeds in excess of the speed limit. Obviously acceleration is not the MPV's strong suit, and the transaxle needed to downshift. But even through the hills the powertrain was able to keep our loaded van within 2MPH of the cruise control set speed.
I don't think the shifting is a problem, just needed to provide the right torque at the right time. I've only seen one post on a transaxle failure here IIRC.
Cheers,
TB
Let me know and thanks again.
ss
I think the reliability issues with the MPV are few and far-between. The duratech motor has more than proven itself by its track record in many other vehicles, and the Mazda tranny seems good also.
I didn't remember if you said you had two or three kids, but if you have three, then at least one will be on the rear bench seat, and you'd have to take into account how much space your scuba gear takes up in the cargo well, but it's probably more than enough. The Ody doesn't have really that much more room back there.
Price-wise, I don't thinky anybody can touch the MPV, given all the great features it has.
Tb...I'd have been putting the MIL in the far back...no, not really. lol.
--javadoc