2003 Mazda Protege transmission problems

Filed Dec 19, 2012 · Seat belts, Seats · 203,000 miles · UT

When engaging seat belt into locking mechanism, the mechanism broke into about seven pieces. It will no longer hold the seat belt.

Filed Mar 26, 2009 · Transmission · 83,000 miles · MN

The 2003-2003.5 mazdaspeed protege poorly designed limited-slip differential has seen a failure rate of over 125 documented cases online. When this part fails, the vehicle does not respond to acceleration causing a safety issue at highway speeds and residential speeds. When this part fails, it could cause the vehicle and passengers to be at risk for roadside rear end crashes due to loss of power especially if the driver is changing lanes at highway speed. This issue has been a widespread problem for this particular model and mazda USA has denied any responsibility for issuing a recall. 2003-2003.5 mazdaspeed protege owners have had the limited slip differential replaced only to find the issue re-appear and fail again. Here is a link to the documented list of owners who have had this fail. (http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64821&page=29). Some failures have even been dangerous. I would ask that the federal safety agency look deeply into this situation before someone gets hurt or worse. Thank you for your time.

Filed Jan 4, 2008 · Transmission · MA · crash

My daughter drove my mazda protege 5 to pick up my son and to retrieve something from a friend's house. She parked the car on the friend's flat driveway, placing it in first gear. While she was inside of the house, the car somehow popped out of gear and picked up enough momentum to roll onto the road. The road was a hill, which caused the car to accelerate. The car ended up striking a house, causing damage to both the house and the shrubbery outside of the house. Nobody could find any apparent problems with the car/transmission.

Filed Feb 10, 2006 · Transmission · 32,000 miles · IL

On the 2003 and 2003.5 mazda mazdaspeed protege, of which only 4750 cars were produced. There have been at least 46 web documented failures of the differential breaking on these cars. The 47th known failure was recently my nephew. See link for a list of failures. Http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64821&highlight=lsd+failure this is a major saftey issue if this decides break while pulling out in front of a semi or anything else. As an ownerof one of these cars, something needs to be done to solve this issue, before myself or anyone else is hurt or killed.

Filed Jul 19, 2005 · Transmission · 23,000 miles · CA

2003 mazda protege (manual transmission); have trouble going into reverse and sometimes into first gear; also, unable to take key out of ignition; driver window feels like it is rolling off track when rolled down. Problems with vehicle first began some time in march 2005.

Filed Jan 26, 2005 · Tires, Transmission · 100 miles · CA

The clutch had gone out. Then two of the tires had blown out. One tire had blown out from the inner wall and the other blow out was due to sidewall failure. *ak *sc

Filed Dec 19, 2004 · Transmission · 36,000 miles · WV

Clutch apparently failed to engage transmission after being driven 15 miles to work with no apparent symptoms that it was going to fail. Vehicle has previously had a motor mount break that was covered under the terms of the warranty. I believe the motor mount failure caused a misalignment of the drive train which resulted in the premature failure of the clutch. Mazda has refused to cover the clutch as a warranty repair even though they did the motor mount repair. At the time the motor mount failed the motor or transmission was making an awful racket. The clutch sounded like it was under an awful strain!

Filed Sep 2, 2004 · Transmission · 87,700 miles · TN

Overdrive light flashed on and off, and check engine light stayed on. Transmission shifted hard. Dealer discovered four solenoids defective because they were steel plated. Manufacturer stated consumer will have to repair at his own cost.*ak the consumer stated that 4 soleroids inside the transmission are going bad. Steel plates in transmission show thermal damage. Rear door locks not functioning and making a shorting sound.

Filed Jul 8, 2004 · Transmission · 500 miles · OK

Under low acceleration between 1st and 2nd and between 2nd and 3rd gears there is a very low frequency noise that sounds like it is generated by a vibration. This has happened since the car was purchased new. I have had it in twice for repair to no avail and the dealer refuses to keep the car overnight to investigate the issue further.

Filed Jun 23, 2004 · Brakes, Engine · IL

Vehicle went backwards even after consumer put the gear into park.*mr when the consumer got back in the car after leaving it running she noticed the engine oil pressure light was on, but thought nothing of it. The consumer was unable to stop the vehicle until it came to rest on its own after rolling in a ditch. The dealer was unable to duplicate the problem.