NHTSA Complaint #10366640 — 2005 MAZDA MAZDA6

THE VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED FOR OVER 8 HOURS OUTDOORS IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK. FAILURE OCCURS ONLY ON EXTREMELY HOT DAYS - TEMPERATURES OVER 95 DEGREES AND ONLY WHEN ALL THE WINDOWS & SUNROOF WERE COMPLETELY CLOSED. VEHICLE WAS ALLOWED TO SIT WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING AND AIR CONDITIONER ON HIGH FOR ROUGHLY 15-20 MINUTES. WHEN INTERIOR TEMPERATURE OF CAR LOWERED, THE CAR WAS ABLE TO SHIFT OUT OF PARK. THE PROBLEM REPLICATED SPORADICALLY BUT ON AT LEAST 10 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS OVER THE COURSE OF 2 YEARS. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO DEALERSHIP ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS WHERE THEY WERE UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. DURING ONE SERVICE VISIT A MECHANIC CLEANED THE MICROSWITCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHIFT INTERLOCK. THAT DID NOT REMEDIATE THE PROBLEM. *TR