The 1994 Mazda Protege has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 1,368,500 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 89 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the seat belts. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 1989-1998 MPV, 1990-1995 323, 1990-1998 Protege, 1992-1993 MX-3, 1993-1995 929, 1993-1997 MX-6, and 1993-1998 626 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, grease applied to the contact points inside the ignition switch may become conductive and…
Consequence
If the ignition switch overheats there would be an increased risk of a fire.
Remedy
Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ignition switch, free of charge. The recall began on December 17, 2015. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1-800-222-5500, option#6. Mazda's number for this recall is 8715J.
Complaints by component
SEAT BELTS
22
2crashes1injuries
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
4
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:WEBBING
4
1crashes2injuries
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
3
POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:CONSTANT VELOCITY JOINT
3
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE
3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
2
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
2
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY
2
2fires
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
2
Total complaints89
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Automatic seat belt on driver side did not retract completely when vehicle was off and door was opened. Seat belt only retracted 1/3 of the way and stays there. Seat belt still retracts back to shoulder position when key is turned.”
“The seat belt system has failed. Had to unplug both driver and passenger seat belt motors, because the seatbelt lock wouldn't stop trying to move while in drive.”
“Seat belt failed to retract when closing door. Appears that some sort of cable is jammed so that seat belt no longer works correctly. Opened and closed door several times to try and remedy issue but problem persists. Replaced seat belt fuse but that failed to resolve issue. Seat belt is now stuck…”
“Tl* the contact owns a 1994 mazda protege. The contact stated that the front driver's seat belt would not retract, which may cause improper restraint while the vehicle was in motion. The dealer was notified, but denied any assistance with repair of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified.…”
“Automatic seat belt failed on 1994 mazda protege. Cost to replaced over $1000.00. Mazda recalled the same problem on 1994 323. The 323 and protege are the same in body style and design.*ak”
“I have a /94 mazda protege, it has the problems described in nhtsa recall campaign # 97v211000. I contacted mazda customer service and was informed that the recall does not apply to my vin number. It has all of the described symptoms. I had to disconnect the automatic retraction mechanism. Do I…”
“Dt*: the contact stated that there was an adjustment failure in all the seat belts in the vehicle. The seatbelts would not lock in an emergency braking situation. The vehicle was taken to both an independent repair shop and a service dealer. The service dealer determined that the seat belts needed…”
“Issue with seat belts in 1994 mazda protege lx. At times, front seat belts continue to tighten when foot is lifted from brake pedal after a sudden stop. It gets so tight that belt has to be unbuckled. It is a scary situation and not very safe. *nm”
Defect investigations
InvestigationEA94039 Opened 1994-11-30 · closed 1997-11-26
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1994 Mazda Protege as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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