Faulty transmission.

- Reseda, CA, USA

I bought my 2000 Mazda 626, 2.0L engine, automatic, in 2001, brand new. I have put ~100,000 miles on it, mostly highway. Then one day, with no warning, the transmission just failed on the highway.

- San Diego, CA, USA

Mine car is an eight years old nice little car. It runs pretty well despite the fact that the transmission fluid get very dirty every 10,000 to 12,000 miles despite old two-year/30,000-mile interval that used to be considered the norm for transmission service is good for the 626; I have to do a full transmission flush to keep it running. Yes, it's expensive for the tranny. Recently, the real problem has appeared. My idle RPM is around 700, when I shift the gear in to reverse, it didn't shift properly. I feel nothing at all. I mean when a car sitting on a flat surface, it doesn't move even a little bit. If I gently step on the gas pedal till the RPM hit around 1000, there is a huge pumping on my transmission and the car inconsistently move backward. If I let the pedal go and hit and then release the brake, it stand till again. I brought it to the shop and have them run the diagnose test. They said there is nothing wrong with it. They have to look inside. It's too problematic. The repair cost is estimated around 2,000. Which is more than the value of my car. And the transmission is not even a new one, it's a rebuilt which is likely to be broken again. I think there is a defects in the tranny system.

- Tampa, FL, USA

I was on my way to las vegas from California and my O/D light started to blink on and off. My speedometer went to 0 and I started to lose power. My engine was smoking so I pulled over and was stranded in the desert for around 45 min. Come to find out my transmission over heated and went out on me.

- Farmington, UT, USA

I was driving from California to las vegas and my O/D light started to blink on and off but there were no other signs. All of a sudden my speedometer went to 0 and I was losing power and the engine was smoking. I had to pull over and stop in the middle of nowhere. Come to find out the transmission overheated and went out on me.

- Farmington, UT, USA

2000 Mazda 626 experienced transmission failure around 70,000 miles. While driving on vacation I noticed some oil on the trunk after arriving at our destination. Before departing I had the car checked at a lube and tune center. Was informed that the transmission fluid was leaking and the likely cause was a loose drain plug. Plug was tightened and fluid was topped off. On the trip home smoke was visible from the rear of the vehicle. Other drivers brought this to my attention. After pulling over and discussing the matter with my mechanic on the phone, I elected to have the car towed to a transmission repair shop in the closest large city. I was told the transmission needed to be rebuilt. Apparently the seal between the two halves of the transmission ruptured. A small leak suddenly grew to a large leak on the trip and ruined the transmission. The technician said that he had been seeing 'more and more' of this problem with these transmissions. The tow was $500 and the rebuild was $2500. Time off work and a rental car for two weeks also were needed.

- Stockton, CA, USA

We recently bought this 2000 Mazda 626 used for our twin boys, as their first car. We had it checked out by our local mechanic and he found a few normal things wrong with it and I was okay with those things. The problem I am having now is this; the O.D. warning light now comes on and flashes. It had never occurred before. This began while driving on the highway for the first time (we never had a reason to go onto the highway) on this day we did and all of a sudden the car begins to de accelerate and the tach needle start bouncing around and the car does not want to accelerate. The O.D. light came on and now comes on very often at all times and roads. The next day I took it to my local Mazda dealer to have it checked out. They found two codes wrong with it ( P1746 and P1783 ). they reset the computer and told me that if the problem persist, that I would need to replace the transmission, they also told me that it is not a repair that is covered by any warranty because the warranty has already expired. I have gone on the internet and have found that this a very common problem with this vehicle and any vehicles with this transmission. It is obviously a defect in the transmission. I have not repaired it yet, because I can not afford to repair it. If this problem occurs so often why doesn't Mazda declare it a recall and fix the problem.

- Lakewood, NJ, USA

I have a 2000 Mazda 626 and it keeps slipping into and out of drive, revving the rpms. A mechanic drove it, analyzed it and says it needs a new transmission.

- Richmond, VA, USA

2000 Mazda 626 ATX cd4E failure @ 88K miles- then rebuilt - another failure @ 121K miles.

- Spring Hill, FL, USA

My car started to shake and have a burning smell and when I took the car in they said that wires were misplaced by another Mazda dealership I took it to about 8 months before. I then called back about a moth later and told them that my car jerks when it shifts gears. At that time they said that I just have slippage and may just need to add some transmission fluid. I did that and it seemed to help until last week when I was driving and stopped at a stop light and when it was time to go my car would not move. The RPM meter went into the red but my mph remained at 0. I had it towed to the dealership then they told me my transmission was gone and that it would be 3700 to repair. More than what the car is actually worth in good condition.

- Hercules, CA, USA

On 11/22/07 my wife noticed that the O/D off light was flashing on her 2000 Mazda 626 and the transmission was not engaging in first gear completely. On 12/7/07 while traveling on interstate highway 894 the car completely lost all forward movement from the transmission. She was lucky enough that traffic was light and she was able to coast to the side of the highway.

- Wauwatosa, WI, USA

(1) hesitation in shifting. (2) transmission failure (3) rebuild with aamco.

- Wilmington, NC, USA

We have a 2000 Mazda 626 and the transmission went out last year, we paid over 4000 to have another transmission installed and this one went out this year. I am very upset because we spent a lot of money, we went to our Mazda dealer here in champaign and they kept telling us it was a seal, until finally they told us it was the transmission. It is quite disturbing to find so may complaints online regarding the Mazda transmission and to realize that the vehicle has a Ford engine, we did not know this, we would have never bought a Ford anything! I understand that Mazda has known about this problem for awhile and did nothing to try to help the consumer.

- Champaign, IL, USA

I bought the vehicle in January of 2004 with 36,000 miles on it. The transmission stopped shifting into 1st and 2nd gears. The transmission was replaced in Feb of 2005 with a rebuilt transmission by the dealer. Recently the car had the O/D light flash and it will not shift into gear. It will not engage in reverse. With 85,000 miles on the vehicle the transmission now needs to be rebuilt again after less than 3 years.

- Rancho Cordova, CA, USA

2000 year Mazda 626, transmission failure 79,483 miles.

- Emden, MO, USA

Mazda 626 ES 2000. Transmission failure. Replaced transmission from Eagle transmission, O/D light flashing after trip to dallas, failed transmission again. 2 months after rebuilding transmission. Now I see tsb on this problem. Mazda knows that this transmission is too small and overheats. What will they do? updated 04/21/08

- Peoria, IL, USA

2000 Mazda 626 LX 4-cyl Mazda is experiencing jerking or gear shifting problem. Took car in to two different Mazda shops-on five separate occasions-within a 60 day span- and the problem still was not corrected or diagnosed. Spent more than $1100 in repairs. Later researched on my own and found out that Ford transmission model cd4E used in my model car was possibly defective. After discussing with Mazda, I was told to just drive the car until the transmission completely failed and then have it replaced for $3000. I asked about having a transmission fan installed and was discouraged. Mazda service bulletin 005-02 instructs tech's to install a transmission fan if the customer complaint matches the bulletins description. I still was not given any information about this matter. How can Mazda get away with not taking responsibility for this? obviously there is a problem when thousands of messages on the message board all discuss the same issue. This is totally unethical and should be dealt with.

- Manor, TX, USA

There were no signs that the transmission would fail, after reading the forums, this is clearly an improperly designed transmission. If I would have read the forums before the failure I would have traded in the car while it had some value. Hopefully you are reading this before your 626 tranny fails. The estimates for the repair were $3500 and there was $1800 left on the note. We only got $500 for the trade. The repair didn't make sense after reading about all the tranny problems this car has.

- Dallas, TX, USA

The Mazda 626 LX cd4E transmission will fail, because their poor design, no matter how you do. This transmission is on Mazda 626 on year 1994-2002.

- Rimouski,Qc, 00, USA

Driving in city traffic, parked in parking space, started to leave, pulled transmission shifter into reverse and car went forward. Could not get car to go in reverse so it was towed because of transmission failure, appears transmission must be replaced again.

- Hartselle, AL, USA