1998 MAZDA B-SERIES TRUCK Complaints

TIRE TREAD COMPLETELY SEPARATED FROM THE CASING OF THE TIRE WITHOUT ANY WARNING. TIRES HAD BEEN INSPECTED AND ROTATED JUST 1,000 MILES EARLIER AND NO PROBLEMS WERE FOUND. THE SUDDEN LOSE OF THE TIRE TREAD AND RESULTING LOSS OF CONTROL CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SPIN AND HIT THE CENTER DIVIDER OF THE FREEWAY. *AK( DOT NUMBER: UNKNOWN TIRE SIZE: P225/70R15 )

TREAD OF TIRES CAME OFF NEW MAZDA PICKUP TWICE WITHIN TWO WEEKS ON RIGHT FRONT AND LEFT FRONT TIRES. WHEN ASKED IF TIRES WERE DEFECTIVE AT FIRESTONE DEALERSHIP I WAS TOLD THE TIRES WERE NOT DEFECTIVE THAT THEY CAME APART DUE TO MY DRIVING ON THEM WHILE FLAT. INTERESTING TO SEE NOW THAT I WAS RIGHT AND THEY WERE WRONG. I HAD SEEN FLATS BEFORE BUT NEVER AN ENTIRE TIRE COME APART.( DOT NUMBER: )

WITH THE LATEST REPORTS OF THE FIRESTONE TIRES THE MODELS LISTED WITH PROBLEMS DID NOT INCLUDE THE MAZDA TRUCKS. I AM ON MY SECOND SET OF THOSE TIRES AND MY VEHICLE HAS BUT 51K MILES. THE FIRST SET RESULTED IN A BLOWOUT AT 65MPH AT 29K MILES AND THE NEW ONES THAT REPLACED THOSE HAVE ONLY 22K MILES AND ARE IN THE SAME SHAPE AS THE FIRST. NO BLOW OUT THIS TIME JUST SCOOPED AND PITTED/WORN TIRES THAT VIBRATE. THE MAZDA NAD FORD RANGERS ARE THE SAME VEHICLE SO PLEASE INCLUDE THE MAZDAS IN YOUR REPORT. I'M MAD AS HELL ABOUT THIS.*AK( DOT NUMBER: )

WHILE STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT VEHICLE STALLED. OCURRED INTERMITENTLY FOLLOWING THAT INCIDENT. *AK *ML

THE ENGINE WILL RACE TO 3000 RPM WHILE STOPPED AT AN INTERSECTION - ALSO RPM'S WHILE RISE WITHOUT APPLICATION OF THE GAS PEDAL - POTENTIAL PROBLEM - UNABLE TO STOP WHEN NEEDED

TRUCK SHUDDERS 4 TO 5 TIMES COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP AND TAKING OFF FROM A COMPLETE STOP ALL THE TIME AND OCCASIONALLY ALSO SHUDDERS IN 2ND GEAR[TRUCK IS AN AUTOMATIC]. THIS HAS OCCURRED SINCE THE 1ST DAY I PICKED UP THE TRUCK. IT HAS BEEN BACK TO 2 DIFFERENT MAZDA DEALERS AFTER I HAD THE TRANSMISSION CHECKED BY AN INDEPENDENT SHOP WHICH GAVE THE TRUCK A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH AND THEN TOOK TO INDEPENDENT SHOP FOR A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK WHERE THEY FOUND THE PROBLEM TO BE THE DRIVESHAFT. WITH THIS INFO I WENT BACK TO MAZDA WHERE THEY REGREASED AND REPACKED THE DRIVESHAFT. THE PROBLEM CONTINUES. I CALLED THE REPAIR SHOP AFTER I PICKED UP THE TRUCK AND TOLD THEM THE TRUCK WAS STILL DOING THE SAME ONLY NOW WORSE. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY CALLED IN THE DSM FOR THE AREA MAZDA DEALERS AND HE STATED THIS WAS A "CHARACTERISTIC" OF ALL THE B4000 SERIES AND NOTHING MORE WOULD BE DONE. I HAVE THE EXTENDED WARRANTY OF 6YR/100,000 AND IF I TAKE THE TRUCK FOR REPAIR BY OTHER THAN MAZDA THEN I WILL IFY THIS WARRANTY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. THE PROBLEM IS VERY ANNOYING ESPECIALLY IN ANY STOP AND GO TRAFFIC[CITY DRIVING INPARTICULAR] ALL I WANT TO DO IS HAVE THE TRUCK FIXED. ANY INFO OR HELP IN THIS MATTER WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

RECALL # 99V062000 FORD/SPEED CONTROL CABLE: DEALER DOES NOT HAVE PARTS AVAILABLE TO CORRECT RECALL. OWNER RECEIVED RECALL NOTICE 3 MONTHS AGO. THIS IS TRUCK IS OWED BY BISSELL BADCOCK MILL WORK. *AK

THE AIR BAG INDICATOR LIGHT ON MY DASHBOARD STAYED LIT, INDICATING A PROBLEM. I IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE VEHICLE TO BROWN'S MAZDA @ 7400 RICHMOND HIGHWAY IN ALEXANDRIA, VA ON 9/9/1999. THEY RAN THE TRUCK THROUGH NUMEROUS DIAGNOSTIC TESTS UNTIL INFORMING ME THAT THE WIRING HARNESS HAD A SHORT IN IT, AND WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THEY FURTHER INDICATED THAT THE HARNESS WAS NOT A PART OF THE MANUFACTURER'S 60,000 MILE WARRANTY ON SAFETY EQUIPMENT. I SAID THAT IT WAS THE AIR BAG THAT WAS SHOWING UP AS MALFUNCTIONING, THEREFORE, IT WAS AN AIRBAG OR SAFETY RELATED ITEM. THEY ONLY AGREED TO REPLACE THE PART, BUT I WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 6 HOURS OF LABOR. I NOTICED FROM TSB#97-24-14, NOV 97 THAT THE WIRE HARNESS TERMINAL REPAIR KIT WAS A RECALL PROBLEM FOR THE 1998 FORD RANGER PICK-UP. MY 1999 MAZDA PICKUP AND THE FORD RANGER ARE ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL VEHICLES. MY QUESTION IS, HAS THERE BEEN A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE WIRING HARNESS, VIS A VIS, THE AIR BAG SYSTEM ON 1998 MAZDA PICKUP TRUCKS? I'VE ONLY HAD THE VEHICLE 18 MONTHS, AND I ADMIT, I'VE PUT ON A LOT OF MILES (59,624 AT TIME OF THE MALFUNCTION), HOWEVER, I FIND IT STRANGE THAT THE HARNESS GOES OUT RIGHT AROUND THE MAGIC 60,000 WARRANTY MARK.

THE PROBLEM I EXPERIENCED WITH MY VEHICLE WAS SPORADIC. THE CLUTCH PEDAL WOULD NOT DEPRESS AND I WAS UNABLE TO GET MY VEHICLE INTO ANY GEAR. IT DID NOT MATTER HOW FAST I WAS GOING OR WHAT GEAR I WAS SHIFTING TO. IN ORDER TO GET MY VEHICLE INTO GEAR I HAD TO SHUT THE ENGINE OFF, THEN SHIFT INTO GEAR AND RESTART THE ENGINE. THIS HAPPENED TO ME IN TRAFFIC AND ON THE HIGHWAY. WHEN THIS OCCURRED I WAS UNABLE TO MOVE MY VEHICLE AND WAS AFRAID THAT ANOTHER VEHICLE WOULD HIT ME. MY VEHICLE HAS SINCE BEEN REPAIRED PER SERVICE BULLETIN 002/98 BUT I FEEL THAT DUE TO THE POTENTIAL DANGER THAT A RECALL SHOULD BE CONSIDERED. THANK YOU. *AK

TRUCK SHAKES SIDE TO SIDE WHILE DRIVING DEALER ATTEMPTED TO FIX BUT PROBLEM STILL EXIST.