17th Sep 2009, 12:21

I am about to buy a Mazda 626, and I wonder are there going to be any problems before I even purchase it?

23rd Mar 2010, 10:17

I have a 1994 Mazda 626 LX 2.0 Auto. Purchased new, now has 176,000 miles.

Aft 50K the transmission locked-up, after an extended period of the hold light, and small other issues with the tranny. Mazda replaced it, no charge. New tranny was tighter from the beginning and still works well.

One little trick I discovered is this: remember, you have a computer in your car. When you have an issue with a computer, sometimes you just reboot the thing. To reboot your car's computer, disconnect a battery cable for a few minutes. Yes, you need to reset your clock and reset your radio stations... but it worked miracles for my car.

I have a period of the hold light coming on, after a vendor overfilled the transmission. I got it drained, but the hold light would come on if I drove very long, 20 minutes or so, and the tranny ran rough. After rebooting that computer, that transmission tightened-up and it ran like new. Tight, smooth shifting, no sign of the hold light in over two years.

By the way, I reboot about every six months.

As an aside, change your plug wires every year. Aftermarket pricing is around $40 for a set. The reason is that on this car, the number 3 plug wire seems to short. It's a design flaw. I toasted a catalytic converter, the oxygen sensor and burned a hole in my exhaust pipe, at 65k miles... all due to a bad number three plug wire that as shorting, changed the oxygen sensor to a rich mix burned the pipe, etc.

Very inexpensive insurance: change your plug wires annually. I do it every June.

If you have a green '94, and you get a bad door dent or front fender dent or damage; there are lots of whole doors and fenders, for this car, in green. Another less expensive fix.

This has been an outstanding car. These are just a few of the things I've found, in addition to changing your oil every two months, period, that will make this car last.