NHTSA Complaint #10543768 — 2010 MAZDA CX-7

WHEN DRIVING WITH THE A/C ON, THE ECM SEEMS TO MALFUNCTION AND INCREASE THE SPEED OF THE CAR WHEN THE AC COMPRESSOR TURNS ON. IF YOU ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BRAKING, THE CAR WILL NOT STOP AND IT WILL REQUIRE THE DRIVER TO PRESS HARDER ON THE BRAKES. THE CAR GETS AND EXTRA BOOST OF ENERGY AND EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE BRAKING, THE CAR LUNGES FORWARD AND CONTINUES TO ROLL FURTHER. IF THE DRIVER IS CAUGHT OFF GUARD, THIS WILL LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. I CRASHED MY CAR INTO A FAMILY MEMBERS HOUSE AS I WAS PARKING. LUCKILY, THE PARKING BUMPER SLOWED DOWN THE CAR ENOUGH SO AS TO ONLY SLIGHTLY BUMP THE HOUSE. IT HAS HAPPENED IN REGULAR TRAFFIC AS WELL. LUCKILY, I KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE FROM CARS AND BRAKE EARLY BUT NOW I BRAKE EVEN EARLIER JUST IN CASE. VOLKSWAGEN HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND THEY DID A LARGE RECALL ON THE VEHICLE BECAUSE OF THE SAFETY ISSUE IT INVOLVES. IF YOU OWN A CX-7 KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THIS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE A/C IS ON. IT ONLY HAPPENS WHEN THE TIMING IS JUST RIGHT THAT YOU ARE BRAKING AND THE COMPRESSOR TURNS ON A THAT PRECISE MOMENT SO IT WILL CATCH YOU OFF GUARD AND SCARE THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU. I'VE BEEN LUCKY SO FAR BUT THIS COULD DEFINITELY CAUSE MAJOR DAMAGE IF NOT RECALLED IN ORDER TO FIX. HERE IS THE INFO FROM A RECALL FROM VOLKSWAGEN. VOLKSWAGEN IS RECALLING APPROXIMATELY 4,000 OF ITS CARS. THE AUTOMAKER WILL FIX ENGINE CONTROL MODULE SOFTWARE THAT CAN TRIGGER AN UNEXPECTED INCREASE IN ENGINE RPM, ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION. "THESE VEHICLES HAVE AN ENGINE CONTROL MODULE CONTAINING SOFTWARE THAT MAY NOT PROPERLY CONTROL ENGINE IDLE WITH THE AIR-CONDITIONING TURNED ON," NHTSA SAID IN ITS SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM. "IN RARE CASES, THE ECM MAY UNEXPECTEDLY INCREASE ENGINE RPM. AN ENGINE SURGE CAUSED BY AN UNEXPECTED INCREASE IN ENGINE RPM MAY SURPRISE THE VEHICLE OPERATOR AND CAN RESULT IN A CRASH WITHOUT WARNING." *TR