2002 Mazda Tribute: sudden loss of power

Filed Mar 17, 2015 · Engine · 148 miles · SC · fire

I had just bought the vehicle feb 7 2015 from mid state auto sales and it seem to be in really good conditions til the night before the 24 it had stalled out but started back up and ran fine was told it was bad gas but then the 14th me my husband son daughter and grandson was going to the store to get a few things for breakfast so we wouldn't be late for church sunday morning made it about 4 to 5 miles down our road it started losing power really bad then smelled something then seen smoke coming from the hood we stopped in the middle of the road lifted the hood my son yelled get out its on firer so we got out as fast as we could had my 4 year old grandson in his set so it took a minute to get him out thank god my other daughter got off work early cause would of had my 9 month old granddaughter in the vehicle the daughter that was with us is 8 months pregnant but any ways my son and husband tried throwing dirt on it well I called the firer department by time they got there the whole vehicle was on firer it is a totaled loss and then found out the tribute had recalls for these kind of problems and other problems and now with out anything and out of money what can we do.

Filed Jul 31, 2011 · Brakes, Electrical · 126,500 miles · WA

Intermittent ABS light, sometimes with brake light. Noticed a low hum from engine one night, checked for anything left on, decided it was probably normal noise I hadn't noticed before. The next morning,I was able to unlock doors, then tried to start engine. Engine turned over then all lights went off. Trying to start engine failed and I had to lock door manually. Got a jump start and was fine running local errands, but that hum was always there with engine off. The next day, same scenario. Got jump and went to mazda dealer. Told no recalls for that year except seatbelts, was never asked for VIN. A tech offered to look and I explained where the noise was coming from and that I thought it was the ABS. He disagreed and looked around the engine. Eventually he said he had to "eat his words", that it was the ABS pump staying on. I asked if I could pull the ABS fuse and not affect any other systems since it wasn't working anyway. He said it was fine, and took it out for me. I never had any other brake-related problems. When my car started idling low and losing power at low speed, I took it to my local shop for repair. The computer reported a slightly off fuel mix and cylinder 5 misfiring. They said they wanted to replace the ignition coil, but I wasn't confident they felt certain that was the problem. I gave myself a crash course in engines and realized the number of things it could be was huge. I authorized the repair, but went online to see if there was a common issue with this model. That was when I realized my carfax report, and the dealer had concealed recalls. I wasn't certain my VIN was included until I picked up my car and the tech helped me look around the engine. Right there, in bright blue, was a sticker for the ABS recall campaign. At the very least, I should have had that information available when I bought it. The mazda tech could not have missed the sticker, nor the 5 or so recalls, assuming he looked them up. Hoping that no fuse means no fire risk.

Filed Mar 19, 2005 · Airbags · 10,662 miles · NJ

Airbag light- the "trib" has been to 2 dealers 3 times for the airbag light; it will go in for the 4th time to once again get "band-aided". Each time their answer was to shove the passenger side wire back under the seat. I've been told it is due to me storing things under the seat, which I am not, that is making the wire come down. I assume what is happening is that either the force of someone sitting down in the front passenger seat, or if a passenger in the back seat kicks the front passenger seat, while getting in or sitting, it will eventually make the wire come off of the seat resulting in the airbag error. I am able to & have put the wire back up under the seat approx. 4 times myself, but why should I have to keep doing this? A week ago, I was cleaning the interior listening to a cd with the motor off. When I pulled down the front passenger window, the music started going on and off (losing power). If I rolled the window up it was fine, as soon as it was partially down, it intermittently lost power again. The trib ended up losing all power & unfortunately, I didn't have a battery tester to test the battery. I decided to put a battery charger on it, and after 10 minutes I tried to start it and it turned over. I wish I did have something to test the battery to see if it was the battery or a short. I have no clue if this is related to the airbag light, but it happened at the same time. I am guessing that there is perhaps an electrical short, since it really makes no sense to me why the airbag light would go off by the wire coming off of the seat to begin with. Let me add that I love my trib, except for this annoying and possibly life threatening airbag problem.

Filed Dec 9, 2003 · Engine · 31,000 miles · FL

Vehicle has suddenly stalled in traffic several times. Was travelling at approx 35-45mph. This happened twice. Veh was taken to dealer, who re-programmed the computer. Several months have passed without incident, problem has occurred again. Very concerned that when engine stalls, I lose power steering and may not be able to turn off the road before being struck from the rear. Each time this has occurred I have been able to pull into the median or a side street. But I wonder what will happen if I am in the middle lane???

Filed Sep 28, 2003 · Engine · 25,497 miles · FL

While driving approximately 35 MPH, the engine stopped without warning causing a suddent loss of power steering. I pulled over to the side of the road and restarted the engine. This is the second time this has happened.

Filed Sep 2, 2003 · Engine · 10,000 miles · TX

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and with no warning , the vehicle shut off, which caused the consumer to pull over. It was hard to hard to get the vehicle started again. Dealer notified. *ak when the engine stalled, the vehicle lost power steering and brakes. The consumer used the hand brake along with both feet on the pedal to stop the vehicle. The second incident occurred during city driving. *scc

Filed Apr 13, 2003 · Engine · 6,000 miles · TX

Engine stopped while driving about 35 MPH. This is the second time. Loss of all power steering and power brakes. Took car into the dealer and supplied the dealer with 34 pages of identical the federal safety agency complaints filed by other owners of 2002 mazda tributes.

Filed Mar 22, 2003 · Engine · 1,000 miles · FL

I have a 2002 mazda tribute and the car stalls for no reason while driving at about 40 m.p.h. Engine just quits and lose power steering. Have to pull over and restart car. This is a very dangerous situation. I have been lucky the 5 times this has happened. Dealer has been unable to fix.

Filed Sep 12, 2002 · Body, Electrical · GA

Consumer states that the clock radio will not come on until car has been running for about 20 minutes. System found losing power at audio unit connector yellow with white tracer wire. Dealer replaced bad connection at fuse panel assembly.

Filed Aug 19, 2002 · Engine · VA

Engine stalled going down slight incline at 30-35 MPH. Lost power steering and power brakes. Narrow road with no place to pull off. Difficulty stopping vehicle safely. Very scary incident. After vehicle stopped put gear shift in park and vehicle restarted without difficulty. Proceeded to destination without further problems. Vehicle currently at dealers for repair. Dealer had advised there were problems with 2001 models but problem was fixed on all 2002 models. Obviously not true in my case!!

Filed Jun 9, 2002 · Engine · TN

While driving on a curvy road at around 40 MPH my tribute suddenly stalled and lost all power steering and power brakes. This resulted in a hard stop in the oncoming lane, which was fortunately not occupied by an oncoming car. The car restarted immediately with no hesistation and I travelled home 5 miles with no further incident. I am now afraid to drive my car as I live on top of a mountain and must drive curvy roads to work. The dealership has been closed this weekend and I will contact them immediately monday morning.

Filed Apr 22, 2002 · Engine · MD

While driving 55 MPH engine stalled without warning. Lost all power . Cause unknown dealer contacted.*ak the engine stalled two more times the dealer had repaired the vehicle.