One problem related to noises during shifting has been reported for the 2002 Mazda 626. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2002 Mazda 626 based on all problems reported for the 2002 626.
I own a Mazda 2002 626 lx with an automatic transmission. It was purchased on December 12, 2004 and has only 43,700 miles on it. The routine maintenance on the car has always been performed as outlined in the car maintenance manual. On July 13, 2007 the transmission started to have problems. Some time when shifting from park to the reverse gear it will make a screeching noise and the gear will not engage. On July 14, 2007 I called two Mazda dealerships and was told that the transmission was out of warranty (time wise, not mileage wise) and there were no recalls related to the transmission. On July 16, 2007 I took it to an aamco shop. A day later I was told by aamco that the transmission had to be re-built. It cost me $2510 to get the transmission re-build. This was a huge unexpected expense because transmission completely failed at such a low mileage due to some inherent defect.