To all my fellow 2009 Mazda 3 Owners:


Please be advised that i had a very disturbing technical defect with my car occur on 7-7-10

My white 2009 Mazda 3 which i love to death, is not even a year old and has only 5,100 miles on it. I had a very disturbing defect occur with my car that could have been potentially deadly. I wanted to make you all aware of this, because according to Mazda, they have had reports of this particular defect that are being "investigated". However i think that if there are enough of these reports that have been called in, a recall should be implemented and i have s legal representation at hand to take this to a higher level because i believe my safety and life could have been affected.

While sitting in my car during an extremely hot day here in New York on 7-7-10 at a standstill and in park Gear, i had my air conditioner on. I had been sitting in the car like this for approximately 20 minutes waiting for a friend to come out of traffic court. While sitting there in park with the a/c on, all of a sudden i begin to hear an extremely loud, and thunderous grinding noise coming from under my hood. The grinding noise lasted for about 3o to 40 seconds then ceased.

Upon attempting to shift into reverse, to back out of my parking slot, a indicator light lit up on my dashboard. The indicator light that lit up was an icon of a steering wheel. I then realized that i could not move my steering wheel or steer the car. The steering wheel was immobile and/or felt as if a steering wheel would feel if you had absolutely no steering fluid at all. It would not move, it would not budge, it was not drive-able, and had locked. Luckily my car is still under warranty, i had to call a tow truck to tow it to my mazda dealer from where i had bought the car (which was luckily 10 minutes away from where the car died)

I left the car with my service department, they called me the next day to inform me of the fact that my "steering pump had blown" and needed to be replaced. MIND YOU, THIS IS A BRAND NEW CAR ONLY ONE YEAR OLD. I proceeded to ask the service manager, How does this happen to a brand new car that has only 5000 miles on it. His answer "i really couldnt tell you"
As far as im concerned this is a defect and is unacceptable.

Mazda owners please be aware of this: What if... i had been traveling on a parkway or highway doing 60 to 65 miles per hour and the steering wheel pump "had blown" as that point instead of when i was at a stand still.. The answer is, i would have probably been hurt, or killed... And the same thing may happen to one of you... I am posting this TO MAKE YOU ALL AWARE TO PLEASE BE CAREFUL......

When i went to pick up my car after the steering pump had been replaced, i decided to pay a visit to both the person who sold me my car and to the manager of the car dealership, to let them know what happened to my car.... Also i expressed to both of them the prior sentiment
"what if i had been on a parkway and driving at 65 mph and my steering pump blew, i probably wouldnt be here right now".... To which the general manager's response was "well that didnt happen, so thats not relevant" to which i told him "that not an answer.... nor is it a professional way to conduct yourself regarding such a serious potentially hazardous situation"
And i stormed out.

As far as i am concerned this is a very serious matter... I would urge anyone who has a mazda 3 from year 2009 to please make sure youre steering pumps are operating at maximum and that they are in no way compromised or defective because your safety may depend upon it.
I phoned mazda's customer service line and spoke to a very nice young man, who listened to all that i had to say.... he was the one who told me that there is an ongoing investigation with regards to this steering pump defect going on... Which makes me think they have probably received many calls from people with this issue... which also in turn makes me think, why hasnt a recall been issued.... I will be writing a complete, consice, firm, and angered letter to Mazda expressing my dismay, anger and upset regarding this issue.... I also have retained legal representation to find out if i have a case against Mazda and the dealership who sold me my car for any kind of damages due to this potentially life threatning defect that occured with Mazda 3...

PLEASE: IF YOU HAVE HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR CAR PLEASE CONTACT MAZDA AND MAKE THE BIGGEST STINK YOU CAN WITH THEM, AND WITH THE DEALERSHIP WHO SOLD YOU YOUR CAR.... TO PREVENT SOMEONE FROM BEING SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED.....

Thank you for listening....

Lou!s

 

There have been numerous reports of 07+ power steering failures yours is the first ive heard that it had completely seized, why is it mostly 07+ and not below? Its because when they went in and "tweaked" a couple of things, some parts ended up being worse. Now on the other hand i have to ask....how many times has the steering wheel been at the fully locked position (either fully left or fully right)? Doing that enough times can and will cause complete power steering failure, which is the reason why something like that goes under investigation. The manufacturer has to duplicate (as with any diagnosis) the situation, condition of component amongst other data parameters in which the component has failed to find out why. This may well in fact be just poor PDI (pre-delivery inspection) in which a tech is supposed to go and check things like that and instead of doing there job he/she might of just looked at it, configured the car and sent it on its way, not fully completing the proper tasks.

In short there are many factors that need to be considered when things fail, take Toyota's problem with the gas pedal sticking, that just proved out to be driver error. All in all im glad to hear you are ok and instead of attacking the car your raging on your ignorant dealership, which is a good thing . I hope that nothing like that ever happens to you nor anyone else again or at all, stay sane and keep zoomin

 

Yes... i totally understand... however my car is not an 2007 it is 2009
and from what the customer representative told me... they are in the midst of investigating "manY' reports of this very thing happening.
And whether its a tech's oversight or whatever the case maybe... it should not happen ... because as i said previously if i was driving at a fast speed and this happened.... i could have been badly injured or worse.... People with 09's need to know this happened so they can be aware.... and make sure the same thing doesnt happen to them...
When it comes to a car and a person's life on multiple people's live's
there SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE NO "ERROR"

 

i have stated 07 and up, power steering failures are most common in mazdas from 07 and up. While i do agree that something like that shouldnt happen, it does and nothing can prevent it outside of component defect from when its first created. No two parts are alike, like fingerprints. Please dont feel that im trying to undermind you in any way, im just trying help you understand that sometimes things cannot be controlled no matter how much you try.

 

i understand your point of view completely...
however if you were the one in the car driving at 60-65 mph
and this happened and you lost control of your car....
the fact that "sometime things cannot be controlled"
would seem like an insufficient answer/explanation to the fact that it in fact did happen....
I think its in-excusable and im going to make sure someone answers for it~

 

and i agree 100%, but what do you expect to hear? I honestly wouldnt know what else they would say other than "Sorry about that, glad to see that your ok, we will make sure it doesnt happen again" or something along those lines

 

well if it turns out to be true that they have many reports of this scenario on file and havent done anything about it... i would expect to hear nothing from them.... The next thing that will be heard will be by them from my lawyer for a possible reckless endangerment charge!

 

What on earth makes you think you'll lose control of your car? My Mazda3 is a piece of cake to drive with the engine off (and the power steering effectively disabled) at any speed above about five. Geez, I routinely shut the engine off at the top of my fairly steep driveway and simply steer it down the hill and into my garage. No big deal; reminds me of my old 1979 Scirocco that had no power steering at all. In fact, personally I'd prefer it if the Mazda didn't have power steering either. Why? Because you get a much better feel for the road that way (that and you get a nice workout when you parallel park).

 

well what he said was that the steering wheel would not move at all, not "its hard to move", the steering wheel would not budge as in locked up and unable to turn w/o breaking the steering column. If hes talkin about just a lose of power steering but was able to move the wheel then a case wouldnt stand because at higher speeds you have more control, but at lower speeds your gonna have an unexpected work out either way you are able to move the car. You might wanna read it the whole way instead of skim

 

I think as Dale does, that the wheel was not locked up, but just massively hard to turn when standing still on a solid surface. I know mine is, even in my gravel drive. But get her moving a bit and it's not that bad at all.

Louis, understand that the power steering pump only assists in steering, not controls or disables it. It is also speed sensitive meaning that if you had been on a highway driving at 65, you might not have noticed it at all!! Comparatively speaking, at speed there is little resistance and hardly any, if any assist from the power steering system.
It's an electric pump so while just sitting there idling it is not even working. It turns on only when assist is called for, usually at a standstill or lower speeds.

Do this: During a quiet time, start the car in your parking lot or driveway w/the door open and listen to the sounds you hear. Or better still, have someone else do it while you stand by the side of the car. Get familiar with them. Now, turn the steering wheel, just slightly from side to side. You will hear a slight robotic sound that was not there before. That's the pump turning on and activated.
Release the wheel and listen again. You will only hear the engine and it's related noises.

We know there have been issues w/07+ steering pumps, though this is the first '09 I had heard about, but as Tracker said, it is possible to put more strain on the system than is necessary too. Sitting still while "playing" with the wheel is one way to put unnecessary strain on the system. Turning it lock-to-lock frequently and/or for extended periods is another.
I'm not saying you have done these things in the past, but be aware that everything has a breaking point in this world. The better we take care of a our tools, the longer they "should" last.