Top 10 2002 Mazda Tribute Questions & Answers

I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute. To change the alternator; the factory procedure at the dealership says to drop the sub-frame from under the front of the vehicle. Then everything is accessable. The tech at the dealership told me how they do it: (Its not easy!!) 1. Remove the right front tire 2. Remove dust pan from right front 3. Remove the brake caliper and caliper bracket 4. Remove the 2 bolts from the half shaft support bracket 5. Remove the half shaft axle assembly 6. Remove the serpentine belt 7. Remove the 3 bolts holding the alternator in place 8. Remove the 3 bolts holding the alternator mounting bracket 9. Remove the alternator mounting bracket 10. Remove the electrical connection on the alternator 11. Remove the alternator by turning the alternator until it will come out of the opening 12. Repeat process in reverse for installation. I did this twice in two weeks because of a bad alternator. The studs that are spot welded on the half shaft bracket will try to keep you from being able to remove the alternator. The left stud on the bracket popped out, when we were removing the alternator and it seemed to make it easier to get the alternator out. I just put a lock washer on the back side of the stud when I mounted the half shaft and it worked fine. Good luck

Check the Air Bag Indicator Light. When you turn the car on it should stay on for 6 seconds and then turn itself off. If a fault is detected in the system operation check, the indicator light will either fail to light, stay on continuously or flash. The flashing may not start until up to 30 seconds after the initial systems check.

If there is a fault in the system AND the air bag indicator light fails to light then an audible tone will alert you- it will be a set of 5 chimes (bells/beeps) five times in a row.

Have the Air Bag serviced and the indicator light bulb changed. Since the dash will be off in order to change the bulb, I would have all of the other dash lights changed at the same time. If one goes out, others will surely follow.

Good luck!

Corri R. / Service Writer

im assuming its front wheel drive or all wheel drive. usually whit these i just knock off the spindle and bring it down to a local maching shop they press these things in and out for you for about 80 bux usually.( these newer cars usually have one piece bearings that you kneed a press to uninstall ind install a new one) if you know how to get the axek nut off and separate 2 ball joints and a tie rod end. your in pretty good shape.

first thing i do usually is take off the hub cap(leave it on the ground and in park/ebrake on) find out what size the axle nut is b4 you start cause there usually kinda big and metric like 22 mm or so.... obviously verry dependant on the vehicle. any ways the nut usually has a sleve type thing above the nut which is hit whith a chizel into a grove on the axel so it wont slip. its like a newstaye castle nut just so it wont back out. you have to bend that out so the sleve is semi round again. then (again the car is still on the groung tire on) get a big breaker bar some of these are tourqued to 200 ft lbs or more you might even wanna get someone to step on the break if the tire slips on the ground. loosen the nut and take it off. then jack up the car take the wheel off take off the break caliper(2 bolts usually) take off the wheel speed sensor and any mounting brackets attached to the spindle. loosen and remove all the nuts on both uper and lower controll arm and the ones on the tir rod end. seperate the 2 ball joints and the tie rod end(some cars have stuts instead of an upper controll arm. these uaually have 2 bolts that attach them to the spindle in that case just unbolt them and remove the spindle.) bring the spindle and new bearing assembly to a machene shop have them install the new one. get a new axel nut put everything back together find out the torque speec for the nut (if you cant then just pay attention to about how hard it was to get off and do the same when puttin git on) good luck!!!

Hi,

Kindly take a look at the below symbols and let me know which symbol do you see there. If there is none out of these, i would provide you one more chart to confirm the same :-

http://www.realwire.com/writeitfiles/misunderstood_symbols.JPG

Let me know,so that we could proceed.

Thanks!!

Hi and welcome to FixYa!

There are few things that can cause the vehicle to heat. Please check the following to resolve the issue:

- A faulty water pump can cause the car to overheat. If the water pump is faulty the coolant will not circulate properly on the engine which can result to overheating. You will need to have it replaced if that's the case.

- A worn out or damaged radiator hose. Just a small hole on the hose can cause the vehicle to overheat so have it replaced.

- A weak radiator blower motor. If the blower motor is weak it tends not to cool down the engine so have the blower motor replaced.

These are the few things that can cause the car to overheat so please have the following be checked.

Hope this helps and thank you for using FixYa! Have a good one!

Hi, if there is no clicking at all, the problem is usually the safety interlock or the starter relay. First, check the 40 amp crank/start fuse to make sure the power is available. Then try starting in neutral or put your foot on the brake and shift thru the gears while holding the key to start. If the interlock is maladjusted, the engine should crank. If this doesn't work, pull out the styarter relay and probe the relay socket with a 12 volt test light. Connect the test light clip to engine ground and probe the socket. There should be one hot terminal with the ignition off (from the start/crank fuse) and 2 hot terminals with the key turned to start (from ignition switch). Next, move the test light clip to battery positive and probe the socket again. With the key turned to start, there should be one terminal that lights the light brightly (interlock signal) and one that lights it dimly (starter solenoid). The outcome of these tests will point to the problem. Please let me know the outcome of these tests if you have not solved the problem by the point of finishing them.

Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute same engine same problem check out Catalytic Converter problems on both in the long run will have to replace all 3 of the converters may blow a hole in the EGR valve too. Go for after market parts will save you money and not going thru a dealership will help but expect to pay close tto $1,800 mostly due to labor to replace these parts. If you have a check engine light try going to Auto parts store and use their computer to check out code. Not getting this fixed will leave you stranded when it goes. Vehicle will suddenly bogg down and trust me when your doing 60 mph on the hwy. and suddenly this happens to you not a good feeling. Hope this helps.

Here are the warning light meanings:
Hope this helps

Sorry this can not be shut off it is part of a complete anti theft device that even monitors the ignition key you can unhook that horn which goes off or siren alarm which i would do. and if you have the remote for it change your battery in it as well.

You might need to change suspensions or check elbows