About 2 weeks ago started to hear a ticking noise when starting, getting worse checked oil and was down about 1/2 liter topped up oil. Went to a garage to have it looked at. They told me there was a connector rod problem this progressed rapidly within two days it wont start. I have 109000 K/M, there was no warning no over heating, no warning lights. Now I need a new engine.

- Collingwood , 00, USA

Vehicle exhibited extended crank prior to the incident. As it was nearing 30K mile service, we decided to wait and have dealer inspect at that time. Before the car went in for maintenance, it shut down going uphill. Although it would restart, it ran rough and had to be towed to the nearest dealership. #3 ignition coil was replaced that that visit. The car began starting hard again in late 2007 and was brought to the dealership again - this visit, they replaced the idle air valve, hoping to fix the problem. It continued to start hard and 2 weeks later it ran very rough again on startup. This visit had the dealership replace the #2 ignition coil. The car continued to start hard, was returned to the dealership, and the #4 ignition coil was replaced. Hard start continued, car back to dealer again, fuel pump replaced. This brings us to today - the car has been out of the shop for 6 days and is starting worse than it had been prior to the last visit. Note: Warranty ran out on the vehicle on 4/2 and the dealer and Mazda would like me to start paying for repair. This is a major safety issue, as the car shut down while driving. On top of that, the frustration of having to go back and forth from the dealership has been awful. Also, note: The hard start was easiest to duplicate after the car had been driven and warmed up, rested off for ~ 1 hour, then restarted (like when you got ot the grocery store).

- Portland, NN, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Mazda Tribute. The contact stated that the vehicle failed when driving at 40 mph. The vehicle failed on two occasions, and appeared as if it would fail more frequently. The most recent occurrence was on April 27, 2007. There was a safety recall but it did not apply to this vehicle due to the VIN. The current mileage is 95,000, and failure mileage was 88,000.

- Orwigsburg, PA, USA

This is basically a design flaw. Our 2004 Mazda Tribute suffered "hydro-lock" after traversing a flooded paved road driving along the road crown. The road conditions were such that the center yellow line was visible through the muddy water and the water level was below the running boards. The vehicle stalled near the end of the flooded condition and was able to restart several times but would stall again. While stalled in the flooded roadway, several other vehicles including passenger cars (Chevy Malibu, Nissan murano) past by our stalled Tribute on the left side in deeper water. The Tribute finally started up and was able to get to the office. The Mazda dealer where purchased advised it be towed to their shop where it was determined water had entered the intake manifold and caused a "hydro-lock" (damaged piston rod). It needs a new engine (~approx. $5,000). A reasonable person should be able to expect a SUV to handle road obstacles such as water of the condition described above, that were easily managed by smaller vehicles, without this level of damage. Inspection of the air intake reveals it is directed to the front of the engine compartment whereas most other vehicles have it directed to the side under a fender to protect it from weather conditions. In addition the bracket securing the intake entry about mid way down the front grille does not allow much air flow from above. Most of entering air comes from below the entry point exposing it to splash conditions that would not be encountered if the intake was directed to the nearest fender well as with most other vehicles I've seen. This is the same engine and air intake configuration as with a Ford escape which, per this web site, has had at least 8 registered complaints regarding engine stalls. No weather or environment conditions were described with these complaints however.

- Roseville, CA, USA