NHTSA Complaint #10188335 — 2002 MAZDA MPV

WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO NOT TRANSFER POWER WHEN AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTING OUT OF OVERDRIVE WHEN THE ACCELERATOR WAS PRESSED. AFTER GETTING OFF THE FREEWAY AND COMING THROUGH A BUSY INTERSECTION, THE TRANSMISSION FAILED COMPLETELY (ZERO POWER TRANSFER) NEARLY CAUSING AN ACCIDENT IN THE INTERSECTION AS THE VEHICLE COASTED TO A STOP. THE "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" DID NOT ILLUMINATE UNTIL AFTER THE TRANSMISSION HAD COMPLETELY FAILED. THE VEHICLE HAD ONLY 57K MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND ALL SERVICE HAD BEEN DONE BY THE DEALER UP TO THAT POINT. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO THE MAZDA DEALER AND DIAGNOSED AS TOTAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE FAULT CODE WAS P0752, SHIFT SOLENOID CIRCUIT STUCK ON. DESPITE THE VEHICLE BEING PAST THE 3 YEAR/50K MILE WARRANTY PERIOD, MAZDA OFFERED TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A FACTORY REBUILT UNIT. WE WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LABOR COSTS AND SPLIT THOSE COSTS WITH THE LOCAL DEALER. JUDGING BY THE ALREADY LARGE NUMBER OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS REGISTERED ON THE NHTSA SITE, THIS IS A KNOWN, COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE VEHICLES AND AN INVESTIGATION INTO THIS TRANSMISSION DEFECT SHOULD BE STARTED. *TR