Bulletins


BulletinBulletin dateReplacement BulletinItem no.SummaryAdded
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
080010509/29/2005080010510016874Pretensioner diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) b1877, b1881. original not received. *tt10/13/2005
010300408/11/200410009917Generator wiring routing. *tt11/02/2004
010020402/12/200410006262Check fuel cap warning light or malfunction indicator light (mil) illumination with dtc p0455/ p0457. *mr04/27/2004
080010409/29/2005080010510006263Pretensioner diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) b1877 or b1881. *mr04/27/2004
010300312/18/200310005668A malfunction indicator lamp (mil) with diagnostic trouble code (dtc) p0442, p0455, p0456, p0457 or p1442 or a check fuel cap light illuminated with dtc p0457. various models including the 2005 tribue and 2004 b-series. *tt03/10/2004
010290312/23/2003010050310005670Malfunction indicator lamp (mil) on with or without rough running, lack of power, surge or poor fuel economy, along with diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) p0401, p0402, p1400 or p1401. *tt03/10/2004
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY
010250407/21/200410009427Battery test procedure requirements. *tt09/29/2004
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - ANTI-THEFT CONTROLLER
090120209/10/20020901001635775Subject regarding passive anti-theft (pats) diagnostic service tips. *tt10/31/2002
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING
090170312/19/2005090240510018882Electrical - wiring - soldering and crimping repairs - service tip. *tt01/19/2006

Consumer Complaints


Fail datemilesoccurencesPurchase date
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
11/25/2012185000
 Tl-the contact owns a 2002 mazda tribute. the contact stated that while parked the vehicle burst into flames. the contact put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. the fire department was not contacted. the contact believed the fire was caused by nhtsa campaign i.d. number 12v016000 (service brakes, hydraulic: antilock: control unit/module). the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but decided to referred the contact to the dealer in order to determine if the vehicle was included in the recall. the failure mileage was 185,000. pmb
11/25/2012186000
 Tl-the contact owns a 2002 mazda tribute. the contact stated while the vehicle was parked the vehicle burst into flames. the contact put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. the fire department was not called. the contact stated the fire was caused by a nhtsa campaign i.d. number 12v016000 (service brakes, hydraulic:antilock:control unit/module). the contact called the manufacturer and the manufacturer stated the contact had to repair the vehicle and take the vehicle to a dealer. the dealer will determine if the vehicle was included in the recall after the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 185,000. jo
06/03/2012
 Received notice from mazda regarding safety recall #6712a in feb 2012 for our 2002 mazda tribute - recommended action was to park vehicle outdoors, away from structures to prevent unattended potential fire from spreading related to electrical short /abs module. it has now been 3 months and mazda has not provided the necessary repairs to return this vehicle to a safe condition.
09/30/2011120000
 I started my car and the 'check engine' light flashed on-and-off. thinking it would go away, i drove to route 3 in south shore, ma. once on the highway, the light did not stop flashing, so i pulled over. thirty seconds after pulling over in a rest area, white smoke appeared from under the hood. 10 seconds later, black smoke came from the hood which was accompanied with a burning smell. luckily, someone from massdot was in the rest area and we determined that it was a car fire. we proceded to step back and call 911 from a safe distance. the engine area of the car was on fire until the fire department was able to put it out.
01/20/2011126500
 Intermittent abs light, sometimes with brake light. noticed a low hum from engine one night, checked for anything left on, decided it was probably normal noise i hadn't noticed before. the next morning,i was able to unlock doors, then tried to start engine. engine turned over then all lights went off. trying to start engine failed and i had to lock door manually. got a jump start and was fine running local errands, but that hum was always there with engine off. the next day, same scenario. got jump and went to mazda dealer. told no recalls for that year except seatbelts, was never asked for vin. a tech offered to look and i explained where the noise was coming from and that i thought it was the abs. he disagreed and looked around the engine. eventually he said he had to eat his words, that it was the abs pump staying on. i asked if i could pull the abs fuse and not affect any other systems since it wasn't working anyway. he said it was fine, and took it out for me. i never had any other brake-related problems. when my car started idling low and losing power at low speed, i took it to my local shop for repair. the computer reported a slightly off fuel mix and cylinder 5 misfiring. they said they wanted to replace the ignition coil, but i wasn't confident they felt certain that was the problem. i gave myself a crash course in engines and realized the number of things it could be was huge. i authorized the repair, but went online to see if there was a common issue with this model. that was when i realized my carfax report, and the dealer had concealed recalls. i wasn't certain my vin was included until i picked up my car and the tech helped me look around the engine. right there, in bright blue, was a sticker for the abs recall campaign. at the very least, i should have had that information available when i bought it. the mazda tech could not have missed the sticker, nor the 5 or so recalls, assuming he looked them up. hoping that no fuse means no fire risk.
11/15/200980000
 Airbag light stays on constantly.. found out on this forum that my airbag(s) may not deploy in the case of an accident. not good. clearly mazda/ford should man up and acknowledge this safety problem with a recall!
02/13/2011
 Fire initiated in the engine compartment, total damage to vehicle, 2 other vehicles resulted damaged
06/14/201048000
 Mazda tribute died on a busy road during a rainstorm, would not crank, windows and gauges on dash intermittently worked as we waited for a tow -- towed to a shop,engine still won't crank. the local repair shop tech believes it is tsb: 01-047/06. looking like a $1,200 bill coming (pcm, labor to troubleshoot and repair...and a new battery)..went to mazda and they say the tsb helps a tech troubleshoot a problem.. my question is that if mazda has had enough of these issues to write up a tsb then it must be a widespread issue caused by a mazda design defect, so why is mazda not backing it up and fixing for free as a recall or reimbursing if the fix is performed by an independent repair shop? (the part alone is ~$700)? need vehicle so having it fixed and will ask for the replaced part (powertrain control module - pcm)
09/01/2008600001
 My car was parked for two days when a fire started in the engine compartment. the fire started on the abs module and burned the wire harness attached to the abs module. i was able to put the fire out before the fire did major damage was done, however, i had to cover the deductible and insurance had to cover the rest of the cost. this car had been recalled for the abs and i had taken it to the dealership when recalled. after service, i continued to receive recall notices, thought i was told there was nothing that needed to be serviced. *tr
11/07/200655000104/27/2002
 Clock/radio does not work until car is running up to 30 minutes or more. dealer replaced entire unit which worked approx. 2 months before the issue re-appeared. recently clock/radio has not worked for more than 1 week. the issue has been ongoing for more than 1 year with the dealer denying any electrical issue. as of today, vehicle at dealer again who now says it is an electrical issue. *jb
11/25/2004450004
 Intermittently while driving there was a screeching noise that sounded as if the ignition was re-engaging itself. the consumer took the vehicle to the dealership. the failure occurred in their presence: also in acc mode, the vehicle started by itself. the dealership kept the vehicle for a week, performed diagnostic test, but no failure code was found they were unable to identify the cause of the failure. a week later the noise recurred but worse. the following day the starter burned out while attempting to the start vehicle. the vehicle was towed back to the dealership. the starter was replaced, but the vehicle is still at the dealership, because they indicated that the starter will burn out again unless they can find and fix the cause of the failure. a factory rep,. from the ca bureau of automotive repair is going to inspect the vehicle. *jb
03/16/200425000302/17/2002
 Our 2002 mazda tribute is currently going through a period of stalling, where total power is lost in the vehicle and the vehicle shuts off. six months into owning the car, my wife took it in for a chip upgrade and this was supposed to solve the problem. well, a month ago, it happened again. my wife had the vehicle scanned and it came up with nothing. again, this morning, the vehicle stalled. it is unacceptable that a two year old car should have these problems, and no one can solve it! i am frustrated, and could use some guidance on where to go with my problem. my wife drives it daily for work, and i fear that it will kill out when she is doing 65 on the interstate. help please. *jb
07/21/2003004/13/2002
 2002 mazda tribute v6 engine stalls while driving, can't control steering or brakes. this happened a few times 9 months ago, brought it to the dealership, they said the problem had been corrected by reflashing the computer. now it has happened again. although there have been no injuries so far, this could cause a very serious accident.
06/25/200310700208/10/2002
 2002 mazda tribute 4x4 loss of brakes loss of steering had to stop by way of e-brake luckily no one was hurt notified from the dealer that there is a problem with the eprom on the main computer that needed to be reflashed. also notified by dealer that they knew of this problem. i was never informed of this. this could have been a deadly accident that could be avoided by informing consumers to have repair done on vehicle. do we have to wait for people to die before anything is done???????? *jb
04/01/200315016204/06/2002
 On 7/31/02 my tribute died while going down hill to a 4 way stop. at first i wasn't sure what to do, then i put my vehicle in park and tried to restart it. this was successful and i drove immediately to the dealer. i was given a rental for 2 days and when i went to pick it up was told that it could have been spider webs or something in the computer system area, so they cleaned out the vapor vent tubes. i was very nervous to be driving a car that could die in the middle of the road, i was just glad there was no accident. i thought that the problem was resolved until 4/01/03 when tribute died while driving again. this time i was going uphill to a 4 way stop and was able to steer into a driving using all my force b/c the steering once again went out. both times there was no warning, the dash lights were all on after it stalled. once again i restarted my vehicle and drove immediately to the dealership where they reflashed pcm to latest calibrations, replaced the dpfe sensor, the mass air flow sensor and the idle air control valve. i am wondering if someone has to die before mazda or the government will call a recall. if this is the case, both should be very ashamed for their lack of concern about the consumers.
01/13/2003250002/21/2002
 2002 mazda tribute shuts off automatically while driving. locking the steering wheel and giving you no control of the vehicle. it has been in for repair several times. i am working on a lemon law package now. major safety issue. this has happened over 10 times in 10 months of leasing this vehicle .
1
 Truck will stall without warning while in motion interrupting all the mechanics of the truck. owner has taken the truck to the dealership which informed him that they can not replicate the failure. please describe details
08/08/2002
 While driving fuel cap light comes on, which is an indication that cap is off,but it wasn't. consumer afraid this might be caused by a shortage in electrical system.*ak
06/20/2002
 While traveling 40mph on highway and without prior warning vehicle stalled, and electrical power brakes/ steering , and lights were lost. dealership was aware of problem. *ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR
08/12/2005306/30/2002
 Dt: the consumer said that the vehicle stalled while being driven at 25 mph. the vehicle would not start after that. the consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer. the dealer replaced the alternator and it still would not start. a mechanic told the consumer that the problem was electrical . the dealer said that the problem was electrical. the manufacturer said that the dealer would be responsible for replacing the alternator. the consumer said that she had to pay for the replacement. the dealer had the vehicle for a week. *ak (12/01/05) the vehicle would make a noise when being driven up to 40 mph and a loud hissing noise would become noticeable when applying the brakes. *sc
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY
 While driving 45 mph battery light and oil light illuminated on dashboard, resulting in engine to stalling. *ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY - CABLES
01/22/2005270953
 Nhtsa recall 04v583000 on the accelerator cable. approximately two years after having the accelerator cable replaced the problem recurred. while driving 2 mph, the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably. the driver applied the brake pedal and the vehicle continued to accelerate. the driver was not able to maintain control of the vehicle and collided into a light pole. this caused the driver to sustain minor injuries and was taken to the hospital. the vehicle was towed to a dealer for inspection. *jb the battery was inoperative due to a broken cable and a frayed main belt had come off and the steering was impaired. *sc *jb
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
11/07/200655000104/27/2002
 Clock/radio does not work until car is running up to 30 minutes or more. dealer replaced entire unit which worked approx. 2 months before the issue re-appeared. recently clock/radio has not worked for more than 1 week. the issue has been ongoing for more than 1 year with the dealer denying any electrical issue. as of today, vehicle at dealer again who now says it is an electrical issue. *jb
02/21/2002212/22/2001
 Consumer states that the clock radio will not come on until car has been running for about 20 minutes. system found losing power at audio unit connector yellow with white tracer wire. dealer replaced bad connection at fuse panel assembly. *tt
06/20/2002
 While traveling 40mph on highway and without prior warning vehicle stalled, and electrical power brakes/ steering , and lights were lost. dealership was aware of problem. *ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION
10/16/200678000109/01/2001
 Dt*: the contact stated upon starting the vehicle, it would not accelerate. the vehicle was towed to the dealership, who determined the ignition coils were burnt out. the ignition coils were replaced.
06/20/2002
 While traveling 40mph on highway and without prior warning vehicle stalled, and electrical power brakes/ steering , and lights were lost. dealership was aware of problem. *ak
1
 While driving 45mph the engine stalled out without warning causing a sudden loss of power steering. driver pulled over and restarted the ignition to get vehicle running again. nlm
12/01/2001
 While driving down a hill and then going back up my vehicle completely shut down. the engine was still running, but the power brakes and steering no longer worked. i never turned the wheel enough to find out if it would lock completely. i tried to turn the ignition off and then restart which did not work. more than likely i was in drive at this point still. (there was a lot of traffic so i wasn't documenting my actions at the time) i then stopped in my lane (there was no shoulder), and put the vehicle in park. then i turned the ignition off and restarted it. at that point in worked fine. during the shut down though it could have been very dangerous if i wasn't going perfectly straight. i will provide the rest of the information requested (vin, etc) at a later time when i have it all in front of me, but i figured it more important to tell about this now instead of waiting.*ak
03/23/2002103/01/2002
 Vehicle stalled going down hill at about 35 mph. this could have turned into a deadly situation had conditions been different. i pulled over, parked, took key out of ignition. interior light turned on by itself. after a minute, i restarted the car and drove immediately to the dealership. they said they had received a bulletin about this problem. i wonder why they didn't fix it if they knew about it! i was almost ready to use the 72-hour return clause. they claimed to know what the problem was and to start fixing it on monday. in the meantime, they gave me a loaner vehicle. i have lost a lot of confidence in the vehicle and mazda. after this occured, i looked for problems similar to this on line. see carreview.com. there are other reports of this happening. there should be a recall on the part(s) or system causing the problem. i was on a date when this happened. it may have scared her away!*ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - MODULE
 Vehicle shut down with no warning at least four times. it was taken to dealership, and they replaced some computer components and sensors. dealerships felt there was a tower interference with computer board. dealership could not guarantee that this would resolve shutdown failure. please describe details. *ak
06/17/2002302/01/2002
 Engine quits running without notice returned to dealer may 6, 2002, was told it was a computer problem and that they had reprogrammed the computer and that the problem was fixed. i have a appointment for june 19, 2002 iwith the mazda dealer in chattanooga for a replacement of a part in the computer that they now say is the fix. my wife was extremely lucky to get this car to the side of the road in rush hour traffic with out any power and not getting hit by another car. all owners of this car should be warned of the problem that mazda has with the mazda tribute thanks for what help you can give to this safety hazard.*ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - SWITCH
06/01/2003500001508/08/2002
 At 50,089 miles, my transmission failed; more specifically, the torque converter malfunctioned resulting in total transmission failure. i have had numerous problems with this vehicle -- i had to replace rotors within the first year of ownership, and may have to do so again at 52,000 miles. the vehicle has trouble starting, the brakes aren't very responsive, and i've had to replace the ignition switch with an unattractive and impractical replacement, because the dealership reported that the type that came with my vehicle wasn't available. the rear window has leaked. needless to say, the warranty expired just before my transmission failed. *jb
05/07/2003150001506/11/2002
 Won't start - hard start - clicking noise, tarter replaced - still has hard starts. *ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING
07/07/200326540806/04/2002
 When slowing down or proceeding to a stop, the car completely shut down in middle of the road while the engine is still running. the brakes will freeze up and the only way to stop the car is to pull up on the hand brake. the car will restart. this has always happened in traffic and is a very dangerous situation. brought the car into the dealership the first time on may 3, 2003. dealer said that they replaced the idle control valve. two weeks later, the same problem arised where the car completely died in traffic. brought it back to the dealer on june 3, 2003, they said there was improper operation and reprogrammed the pcm. the car died down again a week later while driving slowing down in traffic on the freeway. again brought it back to the dealer for the third time june 19, 2003. left the car overnight and had the technician drive the car 100+ miles home, but they could not duplicate the problem and sent the car home. car died again in traffic. brought the car back to the dealership the fourth time on july 1, 2003, and once again dealer was unable to duplicate the car. advised me to keep driving the car until they problem worsened. this is a very dangerous situation as the car is in motion at all times when it has died and in traffic. a potentional dangerous and fatal situation that needs to be addressed immediately! the car was purchased in june 2002, and since then it has had a master cylinder leak, air bag circuit failure, as well as fuel system electrical wiring problems. mazda needs to be aware of the potential risk factors involved in its tribute models and recall the cars.*ak
02/15/2003103/21/2003
 While driving, the check engine light illuminated on the dash board. *jb. the dealer replaced a faulty coil, spark plug, and upper intake manifold gaskets. ph *jb
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - FRONT UNDERHOOD
08/01/20022
 Vehicle was parked on grass, engine running, after vehicle was moved consumer noticed a 2 square foot area of grass was burned where vehicle was parked. this happened twice. vehicle was taken to dealer, mechanic stated they knew this was happening, but offered no solution. *ak
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH
1
 While driving dash light suddenly illuminated, and vehicle engine died. consumer almost had an accident. *ak
08/19/2002209/01/2001
 While driving vehicle the whole system failed. all lights on dash light, lost brakes and steering. while on the highway.