Mazda has issued a recall order for almost 100,000 Mazda 6 sedans that have model years 2014 to 2015 due to a glitch in the tire pressure monitoring system of the vehicles.
The federally required warning system for low tire pressure in the vehicles, which total 99,711, may malfunction, revealed a report that was posted in the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
No fatalities or injuries have yet been reported to the NHTSA in relation with this glitch.
Federal rules require monitoring systems for the tire pressure of vehicles, which will alert the driver if at least one of the car's tires has lost 25 percent of their recommended air pressure. The system will start to illuminate a warning light in the instrument cluster of the vehicle within 20 minutes from the system's discovery of a low-pressure tire.
However, when the agency tested the feature on some models of the Mazda 6 sedan, the tire pressure monitoring system malfunctioned and did not inform the driver when all of the car's four tires have lost air pressure.
Owners of the affected vehicles are recommended to take their Mazda 6 sedans to a Mazda dealership as soon as possible to update the software of the system, which should be able to fix the problem. The fix is free of charge.
Mazda was first informed by the NHTSA of the problem on Sept. 12, with the company receiving detailed information on the matter from the agency on Sept. 24.
Mazda tested the problem from Oct. 2 to Oct. 5, and then reported the results that confirmed the issue to the NHTSA on Oct. 10. From Oct. 10, Mazda already incorporated a fix for the problem into its production process.
Mazda decided to move ahead and prepare for a recall campaign for the affected Mazda 6 sedans on Oct. 17.
Monitoring systems for tire pressure have been a requirement for new vehicles within the United States since model year 2008. The regulation is one component of the Transportation Recall Enhancement Accountability and Documentation Act of 2000, which aimed to supplement the assumed regular maintenance of tires by drivers.
According to federal regulators, drivers that fail to check if the tires of their vehicle have proper air pressure before travelling have an increased chance of being involved in an accident, due to the higher risk of the tires suffering from a blowout.
The recall order will deal a big blow to the good performance of the sedan. Sales of the Mazda 6 from the beginning of the year through October was 26 percent higher compared to the same period last year with about 45,000 units in the United States.
