Problems with 1999 Mazda 626 POWER TRAIN

I own a 99 mazda 626 4 cylinder i have only owned it for a year and since i bought it the transmission has acted up and after doing a lot of research i have come to the conclusion it isn't just mine everybody's is messed up first it started with the transmission overheating making the o/d light blink on and off and then slipping really hard and now it is out. *jb

A 1999 mazda 626 was purchased in june 2006 from carmax in tampa, fl. we traded in our 2004 ford explorer for this 626 to save on gas. the mazda has been in the shop 4 times for transmission problems, none of which have been clearly explained to us; nor are they explained on the receipts. the first problem we experienced was an overheated transmission which caused it to get stuck in second gear. the mazda dealer recommended a transmission cooler once the transmission was dissected to be sure there was no internal damage. carmax towed the vehicle from the dealer and had aamco do the repair work. new parts were ordered though carmax said aamco didn't know what was wrong with the car. upon driving my 1 year old son home after this first repair, the transmission began to leak and make grinding sounds, none of which did it do before being repaired mind you. the second time we simply experience the stuck in gear issue again, however, this time belts were also squealing and our fuel efficiency has dropped. the third time seemed do be the charm, or so we thought. this morning driving the car to work, we experienced the same stuck in second gear problem we had originally! after calling the local store they said to take it to aamco. i never dealt with aamco before why should i take it there now. i also called the carmax corporate help line and they said they would call the local store we originally purchased the car from. i have yet to receive any phone calls or get the service or guarantee that carmax promised when i purchased this car. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while driving on the freeway at 65 mph, the vehicle geared down suddenly. the contact pulled off of the road and the vehicle was towed to an independent transmission shop. an independent mechanic at the shop determined the transmission had failed and would have to be rebuilt. the mechanic informed the contact this was a common occurrence in these vehicles. updated 7/13/2006 - *nm

Transmission failure, automatic with 4 cyl mazda 626 1999. *nm

Transmission failed four times in two years. the first time (august 2004) it failed it was 24 hours after we bought it from a mazda used dealer, holiday motors in fond du lac wi. they pulled the transmission out and replaced gaskets. i asked then to put on the cooling kit and they did not. a year later (october 2005) my daughter was stranded north of chicago il with this car and a puddle of transmission fluid under it (gaskets again). the third time (may 2006) it was smoking and leaking fluid (gaskets). two months later (august 2006) it was smoking and leaking fluid. this time it left my daughter in a very un-safe neighborhood of milwaukee wi. a cooling kit put on this car two weeks before the last problem but it was already too late. this time the shop is replacing the torque converter (?) they say it over heated. repair cost have been about $600-$300-$150 (cooling kit) $700-$300. *nm

Purchased this vehicle and transmission has been faulty. aware that this is very common as each transmission shop that i have called for repair detailed exactly what it was doing before i even told them about it. repair cost of $2000 with addition of transmission cooler and 12 month warranty were fairly costly and warrants a recall on this vehicle. *jb

The chain in the transmission is "breaking" off the teeth of the sprockets. car sputtering and jerking. makes a clicking/popping sound. have contacted mazda only to be told i would have to have the transmission rebuilt. *jb

My wife was enroute from work to home when the 626 started losing speed. it wouldn't pull-off from stop light. uneventfully it would move for the distance of a football field and quit in high speed traffic. i took it out for a drive and barely made it back home. the transmission will disengage and engage from time to time. *jb

I purchased a mazda 626 (1999 model). the transmission is now overheating. this is such a prevalent problem that mazda needs to pay for it. putting a ford transmission in a big mazda was a huge mistake and then need to make restitution for the thousands of dollars those of us who got duped must pay. bottom line: they manufactured ticking time bombs and all transmission rebuilds do is add a few seconds to the bomb counter. *nm

Transmission replaced twice in mazda 626 first time under warranty at 20 plus miles and just replace again at around 130 plus miles. very disappointed in this car. called the first time and reported to mazda home office and nothing was never done on my complaint. *jb

Refer to odi 10150361. want to clarify that purchased vehicle new 6-28-99. trans went out at 87000 miles. had rebuilt. never shifted correctly when new. even worse after rebuild. reverse shifted very roughly after very apparent pause. called mazda dealership purchased from, they didn't care. said nothing was wrong with it. had rebuilt 23 months ago. already went out at christmas 2005. had rebuilt. lasted two days - returned to trans shop. went back to the shop today for the 5th time since was "rebuilt" again at christmas. no one drove the car/sat in driveway after picked up the last time. decided to take through car wash today, and didn't make it out of the driveway - so no car wash. wanted to get it ready to trade off, and trans started slipping and jerking again. o/d light flashing, check engine light on again. won't shift into reverse. same thing again. i certainly wish i was a millionaire and i would pursue a lawsuit against ford and mazda for their "expensive junk" cars! my car has always had regular maintenance, oil changes, tune-ups, etc. it has never been abused and still looks like brand new inside and out. too bad it's not reliable. just like everyone else has said here, word of mouth, saying they will never purchase another mazda or ford again. the same definitely goes for me. so, in the last two years i've spent over $4000 for transmission repairs, and it still won't run correctly! i'm just fed up!*jb

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle began jerking, and then the reverse would not engage. the vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop, were the transmission was rebuilt. less than two years later, the overdrive light illuminated intermittently and the reverse failed again. the transmission was rebuilt a second time. the overdrive light illuminated and the vehicle began jerking less than a week later.

If only i did more research on the 626! wife drove 30 miles with no problem. had previously replaced cable linkage for the transmission. wife tries to put car in reverse, but couldn't. o/d light flickering on and off , fluid coming out of dip stick onto motor. mechanic says the trans is completely gone or some electrical problem. *jb

Several month back, after 2 hours of a 3 hour trip on i-77, the o/d off light began flashing on my 1999 mazda 626. it remained in the od (4th) gear, but i slowed down anyway as i thought this may have something to do w/ overheating. after checking with my neighbor (has his own transmission shop) he noted inherent problems with this model transmission, and that it was likely due to overheating. this was at around 96,000 miles. now, at 104,000 miles, the transmission has failed completely. at first, it was slipping on the highway. then it would only go forward if shifted into 1, 2, or drive, but not overdrive. lastly, it lost all forward power while almost at the top of a hill at a red light. fortunately, i was able to coast in reverse down the hill and into a parking lot, let the tranny cool, and get a police escort to my apartment 4 blocks away (in reverse), up a one way street. replacement costs per my transmission guy (for a used tranny) around $1000 + labor.*jb

The o/d light started flashing while driving down the highway. stopped and found that there was a large amount on transmission fluid all over the engine compartment. i filled the trans back up and it all leaked out within five minutes. the fluid is coming out of the vent tube. i will be taking it to get it fixed. this is one of many problems i have had with this car. just replaced the cooling lines that rusted in half!*ak

Faulty automatic transmission in mazda 626. this will be my second transmission failure. both transmissions began slipping and overheating many miles before failure. the dealer never informed me of any bulletins or problems with the transmissions. *nm

(1) the transmission started slipping at 120000 miles when accelerating hard (2) i had the car checked out prior to departing for my cross-country trip from fl to ca, only to find out that i did not have the time nor money to replace the transmission; i had to take my chances and barely made it. the car now cannot be driven, it cannot make it up a hill, and i'm stuck with no transportation. (3) nothing has yet been done; i'll be dropping the car off either at a mechanic to get it fixed (if i can get a credit card) or at a dealer as a trade-in for another car. *nm

I own a 99 mazda 626 w/ 120k miles on it. on new years day i was driving home on a highway and the check engine light came on. about 20 minutes later the car started revving up persistently. it seemed like the transmission was slipping. quickly the car acted like it was in neutral in all the gears. there was enough momentum to get the car to a side road. luckily i was nearly home. i had the car towed to a local transmission place to get looked at. the final quote was about $3000 dollars. supposedly the transmission pump went out and the tranny burned up. the torque converter, solenoid block, 4 gears, and all the bushings need to be replaced. i thought this was just bad luck but after checking online i found that transmission failures were common for 93-2001 mazda 626's. apparently there have not been enough complaints or publicity for mazda to issue a recall, yet they stopped producing the vehicle due to problems with the transmission. *jb

Transmission went out; failure to engage and overheating when running; had to have transmission completely rebuilt at 85k miles. *nm

Replaced 1999 mazda 626 transmission three times in 100,000 miles. *nm

Have a 1999 626 with 72000 miles on it and transmission has failed. i understand that this is not an isolated incident with 626 owners. *nm

Dt: the contact stated the vehicle jerked while driving. he took the vehicle to a mechanic, and they were unable to diagnose the problem. also, noticed the check engine light and the odometer light flickered on and off. at one point, the vehicle would barely move while attempting to accelerate. in addition, the contact smelled something burning. the vehicle was taken to a mechanic. after the diagnostic test they found that the transmission needed to be replaced. the contact traded the vehicle in and no longer owned it. *ak updated 03/28/06. *jb

I own a mazda 626lx (4cyl) year 1999. the car has never been in any kind of accidents or any harsh conditions. it currently has 102,000 miles on it. i just had a major transmission failure right on the state highway while driving in the right lane. the transmission failed and would not even pick-up a first gear. i had to call a towing truck and now i am facing a major repair bill. i filed an official complaint with mazda customer service, however that is all they could do for me. i would like to point out, that honda has a first tune-up at 100,000 miles, not a major repair! i think this is unacceptable.*jb

Transmission failed after 80,000 miles. i had it repaired and i am still having problems with the transmission overheating a year later. i now know that the problem is the the transmissions mazda used the the 626 were too small for the larger 626 cars. *nm

Complete transmission failure. *tr

My car is mazda 626 lx 1999 with 66k miles. this car has bad transmission. 1. from 30k miles. this car sometimes had transmission jerking 2. one day my wife drive this car. the she put shift on reverse, but the car was forward on flat parking lot. she shifted back on park then shifted on reverse again, the car was still forward. so she turned off the engine, then started the engine, the car worked fine. 3. july 30,2005. after driving one and half hours. the o/d off light came out, then the transmission began jumping and the car lost power. i took exit right away. i stop the car and took a look. i found white smoking and a lot transmission oil already spilled out. the transmission was overheated. for this car i took all maintenance service since i bought this car. actually i found the transmission fluid leaked many times. i let mechanic guy checked. they didn't found anything wrong because i didn't drive the car more than one hour before checking. *nm

I have a mazda 626 1999 model. the transmission went bad at about 80k miles last year and i had to send it to a shop (spending over $1600 for it to be rebuilt). in less than 1 year, the same problem occurred and was more serious. now the car starts very slow and takes several minutes to reach 40 mph. whenever i try to speed, the rpn going up wildly and does little to speed. recently i just searched several internet bulletin board and found out many mazda 626 owners have the same problem. they point out that mazda admitted that they put a ford transmission meant for a small-sized cars on its mazda 626 model. the government should force mazda to recall the model and ask them to reimburse all 626 owners for repair. until the problem is solved, this will be my last mazda car. *nm

1999 mazda 626 transmission died i have been informed by reading on the forums about transmission problems on the mazda 626. i just purchased this car about a year ago with about 110k miles (the car was in excellent shape). i have put about 7k miles and three weeks ago the transmission started to slip. a couple of months ago i took a trip and on the way back home the o/d light came on and it did not turn off until i stopped at a rest stop and the car cooled down. i guess it was a sign the transmission was overheating. well, i have since taken it to a transmission shop and have been told that it needs to be rebuilt ($1500 min.). i have since tried driving it to another shop and now it runs for a couple of minutes and quits. will not move at all. i turn if off and wait a couple of minutes to let it cool off and it works again for another couple of minutes. what a crock!! if mazda new about this issue and reluctantly issued a tech bulletin about the transmission overheating, why did they put this car out to begin with. motor and tranny are the life of the car, if neither work what is the car good for! *jb

I bought a 1999 mazda 626 lx in november of 1998. vin [xxx] the time the warranty ran out i had taken my car into an oil change franchise. they suggested that i flush and renew the transmission fluid. so i did. that's when all the problems began. i then drove the car from nj to fl where i lived. it started burning up a lot of oil so i took it into to mazda. they said that it was well known that my make and model car runs hot. they said they could not see anything wrong with what the oil change franchise did. they recommended that i put a radiator on the transmission to keep it from boiling...which is what it was doing. i believe it is the boiling transmission which has cause my engine to heat up so much that the oil has gunked my engine. anyway, i took the car to a mechanic and they put in a radiator which seems to help some but now i'm continually having problems with the oil burning up without there being any leaks. i have continually had problems with the vehicle every since. in and out of the shops. no one seems to be able to get the car right. i have seen numerous reports of other mazda owners having problems of this similar nature on the net. mazda should take care of these problems and admit publicly that they've got problems with their vehicles and they should make it right. *jb updated 07/19/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

I was driving in my mazda 626 99 lx on hwy 41 to chicago and near milwaukee it lost power and slowing down. i pull down to the side.i try to start the car again and found that the car doesn't move. i have to tow the car to nearest mazda dealer.

Transmission failure - 1999 mazda 626. mechanic indicated that transmission overheated causing failure.

Auto transmission has been leaking and shifting poorly since about 40,000 miles. now at 87000, the o/d light is flashing on and off. suspect i'll have to have it rebuilt. found many complains on this transmission, but mazda and ford appear to want to do nothing about it.

The 1999 mazda 626 that i purchased had cost me over 4,000 in transmission repair cost and had been the worst mistake of my life. *jb

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 mazda 626. the contact has experienced transmission failure twice. she only had the vehicle for approximately six months when the first failure occurred. while driving 45 mph, the engine light illuminated. she took the vehicle to a repair shop and the mechanic stated that the transmission failed. the transmission was rebuilt and a year and a half later, the vehicle would not shift into reverse and the contact felt as if the gears were jumping when driving. she returned to the repair shop and was informed that the transmission failed again. she does not believe that a vehicle should go through two transmissions within two years. the vehicle is currently parked in her driveway. the current mileage was 87,000 and failure mileage was 76,000.

Dt: the consumer stated while accelerating the transmission slipped. there was a slight chattering noise. once the vehicle was in gear it worked correctly. a local mechanic changed the spark plugs and the wires. also, checked the cv joints and they were fine. the mechanic had not looked at the transmission. he eliminated all of the other things first. this has been happening for about three or four months. *ak (11/17/05) the mechanic suggested that the automatic transmission was the problem. *sc

Dt: transmission quit working while the consumer was driving. she was less than mile from home when this occurred. the consumer had the transmission replaced by her mechanic. the new transmission was purchased from mazda. the new transmission has slipped twice. the vehicle jerked while trying to accelerate. the consumer took vehicle to a dealership and they ran a diagnostic test. they found nothing, and that there should be a warning light coming on if anything was working. there were no other problems with the vehicle at this time.*ak

Driving for a couple of hours, 1999 mazda 626 the transmission od light flashes and the transmission overheat and blows the extremly hot transmission fluid out into the envronment and onto the exaust pipe and engine component and could cause a fire. not very environment friendly if all mazda and ford do this, and according to http://atxprobes.com/cd4e.html and mazda tsb 05-005/02 this is a common problem. mazda say to replace the radiator and add a transmission cooler at owners expense. i say you and the epa need to make mazda and ford recall and make the repairs.

Transmission failure made it impossible for me to move my car ,and allowed emergency vehicles to access an mva further ahead in traffic.*ak

Normal city driving. automatic transmission failure. overheating, catastrophic. rebuilt.

While driving,the vehicle stalls the driver was able to maintain control of the vehicle and pull over. the driver tried to restart,but was unable to do so. the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the mechanic informed the driver that the transmission needed to be replaced. please provide additional information. *nm

Mazda 626 transmission failure with only 69,000 miles in the engine. bought the car brand new and perform routinely maintanance on it and it still failed.*ak

At approximately 65,000 miles, the transmission failed, with fluid spraying the interior of the car with fluid, shorting several fuses. the family (one baby, one toddler and 2 parents) were stranded 300 miles away from home and needed an expensive tow and repair. the transmission was replaced with a re-build. *jb

Driver was accelerating up on a hill and vehicle started decelerating. then, vehicle jerked uncontrollably. driver was able to maintain control, pulled over, and turned the vehicle off. driver was able to restart vehicle, and took the it home. the next day, driver was unable to shift the vehicle in reverse and unable to move it. *ak

I have had consistant transmission problems after around 50,000 mile. i have spent thousands of dollars taking the advice of mazda transmission experts and other techs. i have experienced tranny leaks that would make the car look like it was floating on a cloud caused by the fluid falling on a hot exaust. now at 104,000 miles right after having my seals changed the transmission apears to heat up within a few minutes and leaves me stuck in first gear hoping i can make it home. this transmission is garbage and has given me nothing but problems. who ever let this engineering disaster be sold should pay for all the problems they have caused.

On march 27th 2005, i was returning from a 4 hour trip when the overdrive light on my dash started flashing, the transmission shifted into overdrive and smoke began coming from under the hood, transmission fluid covered my engine. i stopped to allow for the transmission to cool, it was fine after this. the same thing happened 7 months ago. at that time i had the transmission fluid replaced. mazda dealership told me that the mazda transmission were known for this problem, that on long trips at roadway speeds they tend to overheat and should have a transmission cooler installed. this is the second time this has occurred, my fluid has only 5000 miles on it. there is no reason for this to continue happening, or happening in the first place. mazda/ford, whoever, should be replacing all these transmissions. *jb

1999 mazda 626 with 68,000 - according to dealer transmission is failing and requires replacement. vehicle will not shift out of overdrive and several times od light has begun flashing while driving. dealer claims code 736 - "improper gear ratio." dealer explained that she had seen this exact problem "many" times and requires $2900 replacement of transmission. *ak

I brought a 1999 mazda 626 at around 64,000 miles. i always got my fluids check and change around every 3,000 miles. it drove fine until recently at 115,000 miles when it had a hard time going into 2nd gear. the check engine light came on and the o/d light also started flashing. it finally got the place where it wouldn't move forward at all. i had to miss a day at work because of it. i had to get the car towed and look at by a mechanic. the mechanic said that it sounded like my 2nd gear was about to go out. he tried to get it to work by changing my transmission fluid and replacing my alternator belt. the car ran good for only one day and on my way home from work the check engine and the o/d light came on. luckly, my car made it home, but the next day it wouldn't even move forward. it will cost between 1,200 and 2,500 dollars to get it fixed. this is money that i do not have! i still got two years worth of payment to make on it and i have no idea how i'm going to get to work every day. hopefully i can come up with the my to fix this problem.*ak

I have a 1999 mazda 626 and i have changed the automatic transmission on this vehicle twice. the transmission has overheated twice. i have the regular maintainance on this vehicle and have spent $5000.00 for both transmission.*ak

While driving to a weekend getaway with my wife and a few friends my 1999 mazda 626's (85,000 miles) overdrive light startet to blink. i thought since i was going 80 mph and i have never driven that fast that it ment that the overdrive would not work. i checked the users manual and there is nothing in there about a blinking overdrive light. so when i got off the exit i noticed that it was shifting hard so i pulled ofer and the car was smoking. there was nothing wrong with the temperature or the coolant but there was transmition fluid all over the engire. i have just had the car towed to the mechanic and i belive it will need a new transmition. i have heard many many horor stories of 626's transmitions going out with relativly low miles and thought i would bring it to your attention since this should not be happening at 85,000 miles

Complete trans failure at 76,800 miles. required a complete rebuild 1950.00. *jb