My daughter was sitting in her car when she noticed smoke coming from the wiper switch area and blinker area. The smoke smelled like burning plastic. Upon further inspection by a mechanic, it was discovered that the ignition switch was bad, causing the starter to stay engaged. The burning smell was coming from the ignition switch. I currently have the defective part as well as the receipt for the replacement part.
Mazda 626 fire or smoke problems
40 of the 2,985 owner complaints about the Mazda 626 describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 1995 model year.
- owner complaints
- 40
- worst model year
- 1995
- typical mileage
- 90,000
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Check engine light 4Jerking 3Stalling 2Wipers 1Windshield crack 1Transmission failure 1Slipping 1Premature wear 1
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 mazda 626. While driving 15 MPH, and slowing down to make a turn into a parking lot, the steering wheel emitted smoke and burst into flames. The police department extinguished the fire, but did not file a report. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. An independent mechanic replaced the steering wheel. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owned a 1993 mazda 626. While driving 60 MPH, a driver in another vehicle notified the contact that the rear of the vehicle was on fire. The contact stopped the vehicle, pulled over, and exited without injuries. The vehicle burst into flames. The fire department extinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a police lot. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
The car started to not want to crank it would crank sometimes then one day we went to the store then when we went to leave the store it finally just stopped trying to crank only making a clicking sound and while trying to crank it the steering column started smoking and almost caught on fire I believe it is the ignition switch
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 mazda 626. The contact stated that the ignition switch failed causing the instrumental panel wires to catch on fire. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who advised that the fire initiated due to a ignition switch failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed that the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v674000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was 156,000.
Columbia heights, washington dc june 19th 2012, I was with my mother and partner parking in front of giant supermarket returning a movie at local redbox, while waiting for my partner, I turned off the car, sitting inside noticed dense fumes came from the ignition, I removed the key and fumes still coming out, we step outside the car and we saw several sparks in the ignition, I called immediately 911, suddenly a big flame of fire came from the steering wheel, the car was on fire, we were close to the rooms from a local fire department, a man came with a fire extinguisher and calm the fire and flames; fire truck came less than 10 minutes later, but car was already destroyed. I have pictures to prove, phone calls and witness.
Smoke came from around the steering column.
Tl*the contact owns a 1995 mazda 626. While driving 75 MPH, the contact noticed smoke coming from the instrumental panel. The vehicle was towed to the shop. The cause of the failure was undetermined; however, the mechanic stated that the wiring harness was fine. The electrical switch was previously replaced. The vehicle will be taken to a dealer for a diagnosis. The current mileage was 133,000 and the failure mileage was unknown. Updated 01/29/08 *bf. Updated 01/29/08 tr
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.
I currently have approx. 112,000 miles on my car. I do not drive it a whole lot but during a trip from maryland to florida, my transmission started to go up. The o/d light started flashing, the RPM and mileage needle was going wacky and the car would barely drive. The mileage needle would say that I was doing 0 MPH when in fact I was driving at 20 MPH. I had to drive on gear 1 or 2 half the way back. There was also this burnt smell coming from the transmission oil. Which scared me because I thought the car was surely going to catch on fire since I was only in virginia (again, final destination florida) now I take care of my car, I had just had the transmission fluid flushed two months before. Prior to this incident, during daily operation, whenever I would shift gears on my car, the response was always delayed about 1 second and a half, which I have been told are clear signs of impeding transmission failure. I also found out from several other mazda 626 owners that these mazda vehicles are well known for transmissions failures. Due to the fact of poor ventilation for the trans, this causes too much heat that leads to trans. Failure. I feel that this is the manufacturers fault for letting a faulty engineer as this one go to the market. What if someone gets hurt? No I have to front the bill for a transmission that was doomed to fail and I do not think that is right. Mazda should pay, not me.
Related recalls
Electrical system: ignition: switch
- What is wrong
- Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 1989-1998 MPV, 1990-1995 323, 1990-1998 Protege, 1992-1993 MX-3, 1993-1995 929, 1993-1997 MX-6, and 1993-1998 626 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, grease applied to the contact points inside the ignition switch may become conductive and overheat.
- Risk
- If the ignition switch overheats there would be an increased risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ignition switch, free of charge. The recall began on December 17, 2015. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1‑800‑222‑5500, option#6. Mazda's number for this recall is 8715J.
Recall number 15V674000 · Recall details
Questions about the Mazda 626 fire or smoke
Which Mazda 626 years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1995 (8 complaints), 1999 (5 complaints) and 1993 (4 complaints).
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