Ac compressor went out on my mazda cx7 after only 19k. While I was driving on the interstate, the compressor locked and the A/C belt popped cutting wires and causing smoke and the smell of an electrical fire. I was lucky enough to be able to get off the road before the smoke turned into a fire. After getting on the internet, I found out this is a popular problem with cx7s along with shotty tires that has to be replace between 10k to 18k miles.
2007 Mazda CX-7 engine complaints
Page 12 of 12: complaints 311 to 316 of 316, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Smoke started to come from the engine compartment and smelled like burnt rubber. There was no leak and all the belts looked ok. Lost power steering and engine died. Did not turn on and had to have it towed to the dealer. The dealer explained that this was caused by the A/C compressor and wanted to charge around $1900 (with taxes and everything). Since I had an extended warranty that took care of most except $180. I would not file a complaint, except that the only other friend that has a cx-7 had the exact same problem and now looking at the internet it seems to be a widespread problem that needs to be fixed. It may be too late for me, but they should do a recall so other people could be potentially saved from harm.
The AC on my 2007 mazda cx-7 stopped working while driving on freeway about 14 months after I bought it. I had an appointment within a couple days to bring it in for an oil change so I didn't do anything immediately. The next day, while driving locally I saw smoke coming from the rear of the car and then the power steering stopped working. I forced the car over to the side and got it towed to the nearest mazda dealer. After 2 weeks without the car, they finally fixed it saying that the belt tensioner had "frozen up" and the belt had melted onto the AC compressor and power steering drive wheel. They had to replace both pulleys and the belt with parts shipped in directly from japan. The car should not have had this major of a problem within 25k miles and less than a year and a half of driving, and I'm wondering what other damage it may have caused that will crop up in the future.
The air conditioning compressor pulley bearing seized but was able to turn long enough to get to a nearby relative. The dealer said the compressor and belt would be replaced under warranty, but the part would be difficult to get and estimated at least a week or more. He supplied a loaner and said the car would not be safe to drive, as the pulley could seize completely at any time. I am still waiting for the replacement part.
While on a trip, our A/C stopped working on our 2007 mazda cx-7. This car was 1 year and 1 month old we went to the nearest mazda dealership. Parts were not available, and the service tech told us that we could continue to drive the car without A/C. 200 miles later, the engine started making sounds and the car stalled in the middle of a busy road. We were able to get the car restarted and attempted to get the car off the road, and couldn't find any place to pull over, and then black smoke engulfed the car. The car "died" in the middle of a busy street with no shoulder. We believed at the time that our car had caught on fire. The car continued to emit a large amount of black smoke, we ran from the car called 911. We did not open the hood of the car thinking that there was probably a fire under the hood. By the time the police dept arrived, the smoking stopped. Our car was disabled on the middle of a busy street (with no shoulder). We were very lucky that our car didn't cause any serious accidents to other vehicles while it was disabled in the middle of the road. We were left stranded with an inoperable "burnt" car 800 miles from home. Our mazda roadside assistance was absolutely worthless. It turned out that the A/C "seized" up and caused the serpentine belt to "disintegrate". The car was left at mazda for 2 weeks, and the part still had not come in and was on back order. The belt was replaced and an A/C unit taken from another cx-7 so we could get our car home. How can an A/C compressor be on back order on a 1 year old model, unless this has been happening on other mazdas? I believe that this is definitely a safety issue!
After short duration idol "5-10" minutes car blew heavy white and black smoke out of exhaust followed with a clanking/rattling sound from the rear of car. Three time this happened in a short 4-7 mile drive home. Took it to the dealer and at first the said they could not duplicate the problem but updated the engine and transmission computer program. Then they let the car idol for some time and it blew the smoke and heard the sound. So they decided after calling and reporting the event to the regional manager to replace the turbo. I have looked on-line about these problems and have come across owners that have had their turbos replaced a few times and the problem still exists. When the parts are in and they replace the turbo, I will see if this is a fix. I have very little faith that this will fix the problems this vehicle has. And it has many.
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