Hi,

My Mazda Tribute 2009 4WD started stalling last week. It would stall when in R or D, not at idle. The 4 analog gauges (speed, RPM, gas and temp) behave as if negative voltage was applied (they go all the way counterclockwise and shiver). This may continue a few seconds after I turn the key in the OFF position. I cannot restart the engine until the gauges revert to their normal OFF position.
The sequence of events was:
1) Driving at some 10mph, I felt a shock in the transmission, some warning lights came on, but everything went back to normal after a couple of seconds. The "Stability Control" light came on a few seconds later, but very shortly. The next events make me believe that the transmission shock was the effect, not the cause of the stalling below.
2) Next, the engine would stall multiple times when driving at different speeds (5...40mph). At higher speeds I would feel the same shock in the wheels. I restarted the engine right away and it worked fine.
3) Then, the engine would stall in the parking lot when trying to engage from P/N to R/D. The stalling happens very quickly, before the transmission engages.
4) During the first stalling events, I would be able to restart the engine right away. Today, I had to wait some 10 seconds to restart.
I have also noticed a consistent, yet peculiar phenomenon (I don't know if it's related): some 20 seconds after I stop the engine, the speed/RPM gauges (but not the gas/temp) have the same shiver towards negative values for a second or so. I would appreciate if someone could check on a similar vehicle if this is normal.
Any hint will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

This is an update. The problem was caused by the (positive) battery cable. The previous owner had replaced the cable's crimp connector, but used a smaller one which couldn't grasp the entire cable. Over time, the cable started deteriorating because of the excess heat caused by the bad connection. After cutting ~6 inches from the damaged end and replacing the connector, the problem was fixed (+10,000km since).

 

Thanks Monty for posting the update. It's forums like this that help all of us that find ourselves in a similar situation.