2003 Mazda MAZDA6 transmission problems

Filed Oct 15, 2019 · Transmission · 50,000 miles · DE

After two years of driving this car the clutch pedal assembly completely broke puncturing through the fire wall and brake reservoir, luckily I was starting the vehicle in a hospital parking lot when I pushed the clutch in it went completely to the floor and did not come back up. It was completely inoperable, I had to have the car towed after patching the firewall and replacing the clutch pedal assembly for $1800 I was told that part was faulty on this vehicle and if it happened once it would probably happen again. One year later it broke again only this time I was driving down the road when I went to shift gears the clutch went to the floor and didn't come back up, I had to pull over luckily I didn't get hit or cause an accident. I was told by mazda there would be no recall because this part isn't a direct safety issue.

Filed Feb 8, 2016 · Transmission · CA

2003 mazda 6. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle would not start after being parked for several hours. Discovered PCM needed to be replaced. *smd the consumer was informed mazda stopped manufacturing the PCM for vehicles manufactured in 2003 and therefore, it had to special ordered. It took eight weeks for the dealer to receive the part.

Filed Oct 22, 2014 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · AL

Transmission kicks really hard making the car feel like it was hit from behind. The car is hard to control at the time this happens. I've seen numerous complaints about this. It is a serious problem,especially when our 90lb daughter is driving this vehicle. I feel that mazda needs to take care of this issue before someone is injured or worse!

Filed Sep 30, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 96,332 miles · FL

I purchased a 2003 mazda 6 about a month ago, and I have had the hard shifting problems and the temp gauge going up to high all the time and floating back down. I was not informed of this and other recalls of this model and I have been denied to get the problem fixed. The dealer where I bought it said they flashed it a couple times but it is not stated o n my repair receipt. I feel that I am driving a dangerous car and something needs to be done!!!! I am not going to keep driving this car and I feel I can take it back because my first payment is not due yet. Be it said that this car has been in the shop 4 times since day one! They still will not fix it and it is under warranty. This is a rip off and this model is unsafe and these models should be taken off of the market!!!

Filed Jun 14, 2013 · Transmission · 16,000 miles · CA

I hadn't had the car too long and was taking off from a traffic light when the hard shift first occurred. I really thought I'd been hit from behind by another car, but this was not the case. It didn't happen too often for awhile, then it started happening more frequently so I took it in. I took it to multiple mazda dealers, where I would leave it overnight for them to try and reproduce the problem. They always insisted that they could not so I gave up for awhile. It got worse and then I saw a tsb online about the issue. The supposed fix is to flash the computer chip. Every dealer I contacted about it said they'd charge an hour labor to do this, and my private mechanic couldn't do it as it's some magical thing only the dealers can do. Anyway I have not had it flashed yet, the car is coming up on 147k and the problem is now so bad that it's dangerous. I will have the flash done in the next couple days but I don't think it will help. I also had to have the throttle body replaced a year ago as I was nearly hit by a big rig when the car shut down in the fast lane. So many people have had this and similar really dangerous problems, this car should have been recalled years ago.

Filed Oct 10, 2011 · Acceleration, Engine · 148,000 miles · MN

Traveling at speeds of 30-60 MPH during any type of traffic (stop and go, freeway speeds, etc), my 2003 mazda6 will suddenly go into a "safe or limp" mode characterized by abrupt loss of power with no ability to accelerate. The rpms drop to between 1000 and 1300 and fluctuate quickly between the two numbers. I have had to quickly press the clutch, turn the car off and back on to regain normal function. When taken to a mechanic, the root cause was determined to be a defective throttle body. Upon more research (including this site), this does not appear to be an uncommon issue for this model of mazda.

Filed Jun 5, 2011 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · UT

2003 mazda6 6.0 atx - car suddenly loses power while accelerating. The engine revs but no power to wheels. I have contacted local dealer without any resolution to why this is occurring. Upon a brief internet search I find this is not an isolated case. I have noticed it happens more often with AC unit on.

Filed Feb 19, 2011 · Engine, Transmission · 102,290 miles · CA

On 17 feb 2011 I was driving my 2003 mazda 6s and while driving at a low speed of 25 MPH all my lights on my dashboard turned on and my car immediately began to reduce speed almost to a stand still. Luckily I was able to pull to the side of the road in time to avoid any accidents or possible damage to my vehicle. I restarted my car and was able to proceed in driving. However my engine light remained on. I researched this issue online and found that someone with the same model vehicle and year had the same issue almost verbatim. The referenced a service bulletin from mazda bulletin no: 01-016/06 released in 2006 regarding throttle body replacement. I read the bulletin and sure enough it stated to inspect the letters on the throttle body. It showed aa,ab,ba markings = no good and bb marking = good. So I inspected my vehicles throttle body letter and sure enough it was "aa". I will have to definitely replace it, and of course I have no choice because you can imagine the ramifications of driving on a highway or freeway and something like this were to occur. Accidents, or even death. It is pretty upsetting that something has not been done to correct these issues especially with the potential consequences of this defect!

Filed Aug 12, 2010 · Transmission · 87,000 miles · CA

Clutch pedal assembly cracks causing it to be difficult to shift gears, clutch will stick and not spring back. Eventually the car is unusable due to the clutch. I did research to see there are many complaints on this problem concerning mazda3, mazda6 and the rx8. I had to buy a new clutch pedal assembly but seems the problem is happening again. Mazda needs to make a stronger bracket to reinforce the pedal assembly.

Filed May 30, 2010 · Transmission · 114,457 miles · MA

Went to store pushed in clutch went to the floor parked the car and when I came out I could not start the car. The safety thing would not engage to allow me . Had the car towed to a mechanic he told me it was the clutch assembly, the car has been back three times in two years because it's tough to shift clutch real spongy. Today it went to the floor again and stalled, can't start the car in the middle of an intersection had to have it pushed out of the way then towed home. The motor was replaced at 32k. The first time the whole clutch was replaced at 40k and it,s never been right since.