UPDATE: Bermaz Motor has clarified that Mazdas sold in Malaysia have not been affected by the global recall of i-ELOOP-equipped cars.
Mazda are calling on the owners of some 88,000 units of the Mazda 3, 6 and CX-5 worldwide to send their vehicles in for a voluntary recall. Cars built between October 2012 and January 2014 are affected due to a software issue with the i-ELOOP energy recovery system.
According to Mazda USA spokesperson Beverly Braga, the control program in the ECU designed to protect the capacitor the energy is stored in is “reacting hyper sensitively when the alternator belt gets wet and slippage occurs”. This can affect acceleration and in severe cases cause the engine to stall.
The fix, involving a simple ECU reflash, will take under an hour to be applied. No accidents or injuries resulting from the glitch have been reported so far.
Out of the 88,000 cars, around 38,000 of them are located in Europe, 27,600 in Japan and 6,500 in the US. Over here, the i-ELOOP system is fitted as standard on the Mazda 6 2.5 as well as the Mazda 3, but local distributor Bermaz Motor has said that none of the cars sold here have been affected by the recall.
This is second recall Mazda has faced regarding i-ELOOP – last year, the company recalled 15,000 units of the Mazda 6 globally (including 40 units in Malaysia) to rectify a fault with the car’s DC/DC converter that could cause the unit to overheat, resulting in a potential fire hazard.
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No matter what brand, recall units always not affected malaysian’s car.. i wonder why.
Very good question. My take is we malaysian are so used to accepting crappy things until we are immune to faulty item. Manufacturer jump trample over us like ants. Sigh
Nope,
We are just generally in a superior country with a superior climate coupled with the perfect drivers, our hardwares will last a lifetime.
Small issues are nothing to us, as we are a hardy bunch of (Lexus) drivers :3
Be proud Malaysians! Be VERY proud!
Yours truly,
A hypnotized Lexus fan.
Malaysian units are affected too. “Cars built between October 2012 and January 2014 are affected” Especially those who got their car in the earlier batches from last year. All CBU Mazda 6 (GJ)comes from the same plant in Yamaguchi, Japan. Dealer will contact customers accordingly for the ECU update.
I wasn’t aware that recalls were fashionable, trendy and cool. I thought recalls happened when there is a design problem that could pose a safety risk and need to be resolved. You seem to imply that a car company with no recall is a ‘bad’ company.
Not all brands. I recently sent in my Toyota Prius under a voluntary recall to re-flash the ECU unit too.
That 40 unit m6 recalled in boleh are what?
Recall in Malaysia, not affected ….. Malaysia Boleh ! maybe they will fix quietly during your next service
the car’s DC/DC converter that could cause the unit to overheat, resulting in a potential fire hazard.
– BERMAZ BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. Won’t be surprised then to see a few Mazdas on our roads BLAZING UP!!!
The cars sold in Malaysia that were affected by that problem have already been recalled.
http://paultan.org/2013/03/27/mazda6-recall-programme-involves-40-cars-in-malaysia/
because we don’t get new models as fast as other countries?
Wow, just reflash and everything is fine.
simple things nowadays.
I guess, as mentioned in the article, it is a software issue, so a reflash of ECU should suffice. At least they found a problem and quickly take action to solve it.
Not in the case for the recent Porsche recall. Porsche 911 GT3 (991 gen) got fire risk caused by a loose component in the engine. They have to replace all the engines not just tighten the part.
Better to avoid the i-eloop for now.
I’ve seen one customr with i-eloop problem once when servicing my car at mazda 3s. And still the recall does not affect Msian model.
SA of Bermaz told me they didn’t get any official notice from Mazda regarding the recall and currently investigating who spreaded the news. So far there was no complaint from current users
Do they need to wait for a complaint only to act later with regret?
Must wait till got ppl die only the bermaz will take action. Is Malaysian style anyway
Wrong.
Already one of the owners report on this matter few days ago.
just cancel my booking on 3
Not that i am accepting such things, but these things happen when you have more and more electronics in cars these days. Gone are the days of simple cars. I remember my old car had throttle run by actual cables from the foot pedal. Nice!! Now its all electronics to save fuel.
Is not a hardware issue. More like software where you need to reprogramme the ECU particularly not to be super sensitive when the alternator belt is wet. As simple as that? What guarantee..hmmm? Most Mazda 3 currently are CBU models. Bermaz you better make a recall regarding this. Dont wait until one of your customer got burned down by the fire potential hazard. Dont be like VW.
Haha, somemore want to lineup by CX-5.
ECU reflash and software/firmware update only. this recall practice is very good, more on preventive action because no accidents or injuries happen yet.
Nissan better!
Aisay,
Kutu buat recall for the benefit of Joe Public pun kena ketuk. Even the almighty Porsche made a massive recall recently on their neue GT3. Siap dapat engine baru lagi! And when they made the recall, they even told the owners to NOT even drive their cars to the dealer. Flatbeds came and picked the cars up. ALL the engines were duly replaced. A company such as Porsche with a pretty high engineering integrity also ada buat silap, inikan pula a mass market manufacturer. No car maker’s infallible.
Very well said… just that Malaysia dealerships such as SDAC are reluctant to announce a recall fearing of backlash and drop of value of the vehicles they are carrying… look what happened at Ford dealership in Malaysia in handling the Powershift issue on Fiesta and Focus…
Ford don’t say la. A lot of problems with dual clutch, Voice command, and many more. Also Sime Darby not bothered about your problems. If you think VW is bad, Sime Darby even worse.
Nobody beats Toyota for recalls. After so many people died in their Camry’s a few years ago, now here’s their latest recall announce today:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-09/toyota-recalls-6-76-million-vehicles-worldwide-including-rav4.html
FYI that there is a press release regarding there is a precautionary recall on the vehicle fitted with I – Eloop. The recall is to reprogram the PCM module due to when there is a possibility of slippage of drive belting during raining or contact with water. This slippage will cause the PCM to received the in-regular charging info which will stop the alternator from charging to capacitor unit. This will not cause any dangerous effect to the vehicle but the engine check light, I Eloop & charging light to flash on. Once this happen, the workshop just need to reprogram the PCM unit.
Just some info for mazda owners. I have a Mazda 6 2.5 which I bought in Dec 2013. I sent an email to Bermaz Malaysia customer service and highlighted this article to them, and asked them if my car was affected by this recall. Later in the day, one of their staff members called me back and told me to take it to one of their service centres to have the ecu re-flashed.
The article above does mention that Bermaz said malaysian cars are not affected however all mazda 6 2.5’s are cbu units and has iEloop tech in them, I would recommend that you(mazda owners) re-check with Bermaz Malaysia.
Just received a letter dated 22-04-2014 from Bermaz titled “Special Service Campaign for Vehicle registration No. XXX . The contents – my Mazda 6 2.5 fitted with i-Eloop is affected by a computer glitch and need a re-programming. This is the third times I need to go to service centre pertaining to the i-Eloop. The first and second times were to replace the DC-DC converter. So, the conclusion is that Malaysia Mazda 6 2.5 is affected and is not as stated by Bermaz that the recall did not affect Malaysian cars (Mazda 6 2.5).
I have received a recall letter too; my Mazda 6 2.5 must be taken to the dealer for a software upgrade. Its a pity they aren’t re-programming the infotainment system too – that thing is terrible and Mazda seems to be ignoring the issues.
Has anybody been experiencing problems with the infotainment system of the new Mazda 3? I read horror stories about GPS, voice control, monitor etc due to firmware problems. And the latest (?) V31 firmware of Mazda seems to have made things even worse. Love the car but this is a real deal breaker! And won’t buy a RM 140,000 car as long as there is no evidence that these fundamental problems have been sorted out. Glad for your comments!
Just curious , have this problem been permanently fixed. Or what they are doing is just a temporary fixed, ? I wonder current M6 2.5 Owner should be asking this ,( not fair to them ) .