2007 MAZDA MAZDA3 Complaints

TECH SCANNED ECU AND FOUND THE FOLLOWING CODES: B2232 AIRBAG CIRCUIT OPEN- LOOP #2 DRIVERS SIDE. LIGHT SENSOR IS ON, AIRBAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY IF INVOLVED IN ACCIDENT. MANY ONLINE FORUMS HAVE DISCUSSED ISSUE EVOLVING AFTER 100K. MANY PEOPLE HAVE PAID OUT OF POCKET. I AM AND HAVE BEEN THE ONLY OWNER OF THIS VEHICLE. THE WARNING LIGHT DOES NOT GO AWAY IF TRYING TO JUST RESET IT. IT WILL ILLUMINATE AGAIN WITHIN SECONDS OF VEHICLE BEING TURNED ON.

WHILE DRIVING ON A STRAIGHT STRETCH ON THE HIGHWAY AT TYPICAL HIGHWAY SPEEDS, I EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND THE DASH LIGHT TURNED ON. THIS WAS PRECEDED BY THE STABILITY CONTROL AND ABS LIGHTS TURNING ON. THE ABS AND STABILITY CONTROL LIGHTS TURNED OFF AFTER LESS THAN A MINUTE. THE STEERING LIGHT STAYED ON. LATER, AS I WAS MAKING A SECOND 90 DEGREES LEFT TURN WITHOUT POWER ASSIST, THE LIGHT TURNED OFF AND THE POWER STEERING CAME BACK SUDDENLY WHILE STILL TURNING. THE POWER STEERING FLUID WAS AT AN IDEAL LEVEL BETWEEN MIN & MAX MARKER WHEN I PARKED. THE SUDDEN AND RANDOM LOSS OF POWER STEERING AS WELL AS THE UNEXPECTED RETURN OF THE FUNCTIONALITY ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS THE INABILITY TO TURN AS EXPECTED MAY LEAD TO LOSS OF CONTROL AND ULTIMATELY A COLLISION. I NOTIFIED MAZDA USA OF THE FAILURE (800-222-5500) BUT BECAUSE THE CAR WAS MANUFACTURED IN DEC 2006 IT'S NOT COVERED BY THE 2010 RECALL # 10V374000 FOR THE STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM EVEN THOUGH THE PROBLEM DESCRIBED IS THE SAME.

OUR 2007 MAZDA 3 HAD A SUDDEN POWER STEERING FAILURE AT ONLY 81,000 MILES, EXACTLY THE SAME FAILURE AS THE THOUSANDS RECALLED BY MAZDA FOR MODEL YEARS 2007-2009. MAZDA REFUSED TO OFFER ANY HELP BECAUSE OUR CAR WAS MANUFACTURED IN LATE 2006 (VIN STATES 2007 MODEL YEAR) EVEN THOUGH IT HAS THE IDENTICAL POWER STEERING SYSTEM, SAME PART NUMBERS. I'VE SPENT HOURS TRACKING DOWN INFO AND TRYING TO FIND PARTS TO GET THE CAR BACK ON THE ROAD. UNLESS MAZDA WIDENS THE RECALL, OTHER MAZDAS, TECHNICALLY OUTSIDE THE RECALL LOT, WILL REMAIN ON THE ROAD AND POSE A DANGER TO THE LIVES OF THE DRIVERS AND OTHER MOTORISTS. THE STEERING ASSEMBLY IS PART NUMBER BR5V-32-600J.

WE'VE HAD NO SIGNS OF POWER STEERING PROBLEMS UNTIL A SUDDEN FAILURE TODAY, CLASSIC SIGNS OF THE VEHICLES THAT WERE RECALLED. OUR VEHICLE HAS ONLY 81,000 MILES ON IT, WAS MANUFACTURED IN 09/06, VIN PRIOR TO THE RECALL BATCH, BUT, BASED ON THE FAILURE, IT APPEARS EARLIER VEHICLES ARE AFFECTED AS WELL. I'VE CONTACTED MAZDA USA (NO RESPONSE YET) AND THE DEALER WHO SAID ANY FIX HAS TO COME FROM CORPORATE. THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE.

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE LIGHTS FLASH, RADIO CUTS OUT, ENGINE GLITCHES AND DASH LIGHTS COME ON, THEN POWER STEERING IS LOST. THE LOSS OF POWER STEERING MAKES CONTROLLING THE VEHICLE VERY DIFFICULT AND UNSAFE. THE POWER STEERING MAY COME BACK TO NORMAL AFTER A FEW SECONDS OR MAY TAKE SEVERAL MINUTES TO RETURN MAKING CONTROLLING THE VEHICLE FRIGHTENING AND UNSAFE. EPISODES WILL OCCUR RANDOMLY AND WITHOUT WARNING (OTHER THAT FLASH OF LIGHTS AND RADIO CUT OUT FOR BRIEF MOMENT). EPISODES OCCUR FREQUENTLY AND WHILE VEHICLE IS DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS AS WELL AS WHEN STOPPED, BUT TYPICALLY WHILE DRIVING.

POWER STEERING WOULD RANDOMLY COME AND GO, UPON CRANKING THE (STATIONARY) CAR OR BACKING OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY. PROBLEM SEEMED TO RESOLVE (WENT AWAY FOR SEVERAL WEEKS) AFTER I ADDED PS FLUID WITH "STOP LEAK", BUT THEN PROBLEM BRIEFLY REOCCURRED ONE MORE TIME. PROBLEM WENT AWAY FOR MONTHS, BUT IS IT GONE FOR GOOD? THERE WAS NEVER ANY SIGN OF A LEAK, AND MECHANIC DID NOT FIND A PROBLEM. PROBLEM BEGAN AT AROUND 67,000 MILES.

AS I PLACED THE MANUAL 5-DOOR SEDAN MODEL INTO REVERSE GEAR AND SLOWLY INCHED OUT OF THE PARKING SPACE, THE POWER TO THE RADIO AND AIR CONDITIONING DIED AND A THE POWER STEERING WHEEL LIGHT CAME ON THE DASHBOARD. AS I PLACED THE CAR INTO FIRST GEAR AND BEGAN TO MOVE THE VEHICLE FORWARD, GREAT DIFFICULTY WAS FELT TRYING TO GET THE VEHICLE TO TURN AND THE AC AND RADIO KEPT TURNING OFF. AS I ATTEMPTED TO ENTER ONTO THE MAIN STREET, THE VEHICLE ONCE AGAIN HAD GREAT DIFFICULTY TURNING AND ALMOST CREATED AN ACCIDENT. THIS INABILITY TO TURN THE WHEEL AND THE ELECTRICAL GOING OUT, RESULTED IN ME EVENTUALLY PULLING TO THE CURB AND TURNING THE VEHICLE OFF. AFTER GIVING THE VEHICLE A FEW MINUTES, I RESTARTED IT AND HAD NO ISSUES UNTIL I WAS PULLING INTO MY APARTMENT COMPLEX ABOUT 15 MINUTES AWAY WHERE THE SAME POWER STEERING LIGHT CAME ON AND I COULDN'T FULLY TURN THE VEHICLE. THE ISSUE SEEMS TO BE WITH THE POWER STEERING PUMP AND ARE EXACTLY THE SAME COMPLAINTS THAT CAN BE FOUND WITH NTHSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER 10V374000

SINCE WE HAD THIS CAR, WE'VE HAD TO REPAIR THE ENGINE OXYGEN SENSOR AT LEAST 2 TIMES. WHY THIS CONTINUES TO MALFUNCTION WE DON'T KNOW, BUT AT SOME POINT WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR A FAULTY ENGINE/ELECTRICAL SYSTEM PART.

THE STEERING WHEEL SEEMS TO HAVE LOST ALL POWER STEERING CAPABILITIES, VERY SCARY! MAKES IT EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WHEN ATTEMPTING TURNS! NOTICED IT LUCKILY AS I WAS PULLING OUT OF A LARGE PARKING LOT. TRYING TO REMEDY THE SITUATION SO I CAN USE A CAR THAT ISN'T AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 MAZDA 3. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 3 MPH, THE STEERING ABILITY SEIZED AND THE STEERING WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THAT THE POWER STEERING UNIT FAILED AND NEEDED REPLACEMENT. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN NORMALLY AFTER THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 155,000.