UPDATE: Mazda officials have extended the the Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 recall over power steering issues, announced for 214,000 units, to 514,000 units world wide.
Mazda announced a recall of over 500,000 units in order to fix a problem of the power steering system. This recall is the biggest action of this time in the Japanese company’s history, and focuses to the Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 models produced between 2007 and 2008. The cars affected by the recall could loose the assistance of the power steering system, making the steering wheel hard to use. According to NHTSA, there where three accidents in USA related to Mazda’s power steering issue, but there are no deaths or injures reported as a result.
The problem of the models is located at the high-pressure pipes that manage the power steering fluid. The pipes were not protected before the painting process with an anti-rust solution, and the Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 models had some rust inside these pipes. In some extreme conditions, the rust could lower the pressure in the power steering system, and the sensors in the system would order the pump to stop, as a protection measure against a major failure.
8/17/10 – Mazda recalls 215,000 Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 for Loss of Power Steering
The Mazda recall targets 215,000 units on the US market, over 10,000 units in China, the rest of the problematic cars being sold on the European and Australian markets. Mazda officials estimate that the recall affects 514,000 vehicles, and all the units facing this problem were manufactured in Japan between 2007 and 2008.
Mazda Motor Corp. has recalled 215,000 Mazda3 and Mazda5 sedans because they can experience a sudden loss of power steering while the car is being driven, increasing the risk of a crash, federal safety regulators said. The Mazda recall involves model year 2007-2009 Mazda3 and Mazda5 vehicles built from April 2007 through November 2008. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that it has received at least 33 complaints alleging steering problems in the 2007 to 2009 model-year Mazda vehicles.
According to the NHTSA site, Mazda will begin notifying owners of the 2007-2009 models about the recall in September.
