Automatic Transmission Cooler problems of the 2000 Mazda 626

2000 Mazda 626 2. 5l auto. Complete transmission failure due to lack of fluid cooling. Design flaw is to blame. Trans fluid is in contact with cooling agent(air, antifreeze) for a distance of four inches.

Driving down highway 5, over drive light started flashing. No information in manual regarding flashing over drive light, so continued driving. About 50 miles later, lost power and speedometer dropped to zero. Through aamco, found out about TSB regarding problem with at in my model year (2000) that caused it to overheat. Failure caused me to spend extra money on towing, hotel, and rental car. Car took approximately 2 weeks to repair at aamco, which included a rebuilt transmission and a cooling unit added to help prevent future problems.

I own a '00 626 that I bought from my grandmother in 2-04, who had bought it new in '99. I have since had tranny issues on 2 occasions with the most recent requiring a complete replacement with what the tech. Described as "an identical failure prone unit". My grandmother had a new (not rebuilt) and identical transmission installed at ~42k miles as noted in the service log. I did a search on the web and I was shocked at what I found. Numerous cases of failure, at alarmingly similar intervals and all had the commonality of being equipped with auto. W/ od tranny mfg'd by Ford and installed in 4 cyl. Mazda 626's. From what I can gather the high failure rate has something to do with "the inadequate cooling design" and subpar materials used in the "clutch packs". So because of this when it's all said and done with we will have shelled out ~$2500 (exc. Labor) for a rebuilt tranny that is expected to fail in less than 30k miles regardless of the service intervals. There are suggestions on the internet how to gain some addl. Life out of a unit, albeit small. To me it would seem this responsibility should fall on the manufacturer and not on the consumer. As a consumer I'm expected to trust an automobile manufacturer to properly design and test a vehicle and it's subsystem prior to releasing it upon the public. Failing that it would seem to me the manufacturer should be held accountable for flaws such as those not related to normal wear and tear as is apparent in this case. Which in turns is what brings me here. When all else fails the consumer and public at large has only one advocate and that is the u. S. Government, which in the interest of safety and consumer rights has the authority to enforce this accountability. Everyone single person privy to this complaint should take a moment and consider anyone they know who owns or drives an automatic Mazda 626 of the years 98-02 with the above mentioned generic and common configuration is impacted by this design flaw.

Faulty/defective transmissions are being used in Mazda vehicles well after the issue was known about by the manufacturer. There are literally hundreds, of not thousands of individuals and companies who have had their transmissions go out. . . Many with well under 60k miles. And, many have been through several transmissions before 100k miles. All of the problem vehicles share the same symptoms: od light flashing off and on, and transmission slipping in and out of gear, as the transmission burns up, literally from poor design and implementation which doesn't allow for proper air flow and cooling. This problem is widely acknowledged by the manufacturer, car owners, dealers, service centers, and other automotive professionals. Proof of this fact was a notice sent out to dealers that there is a cooling kit "available" for this transmission that should aid in keeping the transmission cool. However, this is not a free addition! Mazda is actually charging customers to add a fix to their design flaw! I feel this problem is not only a fraudulence issue, but is also a safety issue. People could (may have already) be severely injured, or killed, by having their transmission go out as they attempt to enter high traffic, high-speed areas, such as a freeway. Personally, I expect to receive the difference between what I could have sold my car for, and what I actualy had to sell it for due to this known defect. I also expect to see Mazda make good on this problem with current and previous owners, as well as correcting this issue once and for all, to ensure that this problem doesn't continue. Thanks, david williams.

I have a 2000 Mazda 626 lx. I was accelerating onto freeway and suddenly lost all power. I was able to quickly take next exit and was not in a collision. I had vehicle towed to repair shop and was told that a complete rebuild of the automatic transmission was necessary. The mechanic stated that the cause of failure appeared to be a loss of pressure within the transmission and subsequent damage occured. He also stated that there was a known cooling problem with this model transmission. The total cost of repair was $2500. Judging from other complaints I reviewed there seems to be a history of failure in these vehicles. The vehicle had 75000 miles at the time of failure.

Od off light on our 2000 Mazda 626 lx started flashing. Took the car to a local dealer (berge Mazda in mesa az) and they diagnosed a code p1718- transmission overheating. They recommend to install a transmission cooler kit and perform a transmission service to correct the problem(estimate given -$1014. 00-way too expensive!!!). Went to another dealership (earnhardt's Ford/Mazda in chandler az) to get a second opinion and they made the same recommendations. Both dealers stated that Mazda issued a technical service bulletin about this problem (cd4e transmission) and addressed this issue with a transmission cooling kit install. We decided to have the work done at earnhardt's (total cost $344. 00-more reasonable estimate). We purchased this vehicle at hertz car sales in Nov 2001 with about 30,000 miles on it. Shortly after we got it, the transmission was replaced by the dealer(berge Mazda) because it was slipping. Since the car was still under the manufacturer's warranty(3 yr/50,000 miles), we didn't have to pay the cost of repairs. Our car currently has 51000 miles and since it's out of warranty, we had to shoulder the cost this time. I have been researching the internet and have found numerous complaints about Mazda transmission failures. I believe that since Mazda was aware of this problem, there should have been a recall for this type of transmission and remedied it by installing the transmission cooling kit free of charge to consumers.

Purchased vehicle in January 2000 from jeff sikes Mazda in huntaville, al. In October 2001, transmission failed and was replaced by bentley imports (bought out jeff sikes Mazda). In February of 2002, od light on dash started flashing. Dealership determined that transmission had overheated. Transmission cooler was installed by dealership in montgomery al. This was supposed to fix overheating problem. In may 2002, transmission failed again and was replaced by jim ellis Mazda in marietta, GA. This vehicle has had 3 transmission in 2. 5 years and 38,000 miles.