Mazda Tribute Shudder

Submitted: Thursday, Nov 30, 2006 at 20:19

thechan

We have a 2001 mazda tribue luxury, it has periodically had a shudder which over the last 6 months has turned into a serious shake rattle and roll.

It seems worse when idling or when the accelerator is depressed lightly (like when cruising down the free way)

Our mechanic is currently at a loss. He has pulled the air intake gear of the engine and found one of the back spark plug seriously corroded. All six spark plugs were replaced - the shudder was a bit better but not gone.

Next though was the coils - at $165 each this was steep so we swapped the coil with another car - shudder still there.

Our mechanic wants the car back to keep trying to find the problem - We trust him implicitly but cannot afford the wild goose chase.

Can anyone else give us some ideas to resolved our issue.

Thanks
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AnswerID: 207826   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 30, 2006 at 20:42

johnny replied:

why not take it to mazda who knows the car?

just a thought how are the engine mounts
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FollowupID: 467806   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 08:35

thechan posted:

Local Mazda dealer are a rip off merchants - they charge to breath. That is the last resort.
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AnswerID: 207827   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 30, 2006 at 20:42

ZukScooterX90 (QLD)Member replied:

Probably way off course here,have you tried or looked at your engine/gearbox mounts.:o)))
Bob.
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AnswerID: 207845   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 30, 2006 at 21:40

Notso replied:

Spark Plug Leads.
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AnswerID: 207877   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 01:56

GaryInOz (Vic) replied:

can you more accurately define what you mean by "shudder"???

Engine misfire?
Steering wheel shudder?
Mechanical vibration through floor?
Simple noise?
Low frequency wheel speed related, or high speed engine related, or not related to either?

Might help us to not be on a wild goose chase too.
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FollowupID: 467801   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 08:07

thechan posted:

Seem to be engine misfire at low revs, and idle. when in drive at the lights the whole car shakes. putting it in neutral the shudder is much less. Shudder is virtually continuous while idling

Not steering wheel shudder because it occurs while stationary

Vibration through the whole car. and loss of low rev power. Accidently bumped 4x4 button in a flat carpark and the traction on the diff stalled the car whilst reversing and turning slowly.

seems more apparent at low speed seems to reduce significantly at high speed with only the occasional shudder.

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AnswerID: 207897   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 08:45

Member - MrBitchi (QLD) replied:

Spark plug leads (didn't someone already say that;-)
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AnswerID: 207910   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 09:51

bockstar1 replied:

We own a 2001 Tribute but we've never had this problem. From your discriptions it seems that at a certain RPM (600, 800, 1000) frequency, the engine revolutions are causing the shudder. Engine mounts on the way out seem to be the likely cause. What's surprising is that the mechanic hasn't come to the same conclusion or investigated this. This suggests that either the cause of the problem is not the engine mounts or your trusty mechanic aint up to the task.

Suggest you take the car somewhere else for a 2nd/3rd opinon. Where are you located? A Mazda dealership could be a good port of call.

Good luck. The Tribute is a good car (albeit with some design faults).
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AnswerID: 207913   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 10:03

tdv replied:

Had the same problem with my 2001 tribute (don't own it anymore). Want the goods news????

Gearbox! The auto was stuffed and had to be replaced. Luckily for us still under warranty. It isn't common but a known fault if you search the web for tribute problems. It used to shudder at the lights but would go away if put into neutral and also shuddered if you lightly accelerated. It slowly got worse but i picked it up pretty early.

Mazda were very good. I took a mechanic for a drive to show him, we went back to the dealer and 5 minutes later the head mechanic came out and said....need the car for 2 days to replace the gearbox....they even provided a courtesy car. Unfortunately the other problems we had with this car became too much and we sold it.

Hope it really is engine mounts.

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AnswerID: 207918   Submitted: Friday, Dec 01, 2006 at 10:30

herkman replied:

First of all I would suggest you join the USA forums, there are two of them one for Tributes and one for Escapes, which mechanically the same.

Both the engine and the gearboxes are made by Ford, and the engine was also fitted to the Taurus.

We had a 2003 Tribute and Mazda changed the gearbox under warrantee, and as we were leaving the shop forman told us the Ford CD4 transmission was a heap of crap. The CD4E which is the 4WD version will be no better. If you are going to continue towing your little poptop says he, get rid of it.

On the USA Forums you can searce for similair problems, and you can also post yours, and I think that will be the quickest way to get to the root of the problem.

I hope it is not too expensive, nice car spoilt by the joint venture items.

Regards

Col
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