2005 Ford Escape 3.0L V6 and 2005 Mazda Tribute 3.0L V^ are identical - the same issues with plugs, coils,and PCM's regularly occur both vehicles after factory warranty [ 3 yr/36,000mi ] expires. Plug, and coil pack replacement requires that intake manifold be removed and Ford/Mazda know at time of manufacture this would be very, very costly. The Flat Rate manual says requires 2.7 hours - just to replace 3 of the 6 spark plugs - replacement plugs cost between $3.25 to $6.99 ea retail: Phoenix , AZ parts and labor without replacing coil pack - $383.02; SF BayArea, CA cost over $500.00 -

Bought my Tribute new in 2005 and have religiously maintained it over the years, never missing any recommended service. Have been having it serviced at the same dealership where I bought it some 9 years ago. It only has 63,000 miles on it. This has been a well-maintained vehicle!

On my way home from work this past Saturday, engine stalled out at a stop light. After restart, vibrated, and engine light came on in steady state (not blinking). Ran rough the rest of the way home. Took it into the Mazda dealership first thing Monday morning (scary trip as it was vibrating and acting like it wanted to stall out again all the way there).

Diagnosis: Bad PCM and they replaced all the coils. Bill: $2,300. Ouch!

I'm more than a little mad because this has been a great vehicle, and I have treated it like one. I had not planned on having to spend so much money on it this week. And, I don't think this was my fault. I think there's something wrong with the design. Now I'm finding that other folks have had the same problem with their Mazda Tributes. Please chime in folks, if this has happened to you!

This issue started several months ago when my engine died on me after a rough idle on the way to work, and a couple hours later getting lunch. Drove it to a shop where they ended up saying the rear three ignition coils had burned out and needed replacement, along with two O2 sensors in the exhaust system, to the tune of $1600. I had them replace the coils and not the sensors, as they couldn't say for sure whether they were malfunctioning. Car ran fine, just one stall on a cold morning I wrote off to weather. Two months later, the engine had trouble starting, vibrated like hell and idled horribly. Tried starting it later to leave work, and it wouldn't start up at all; you could hear numerous misfires now. Had it towed to the shop from before thinking the repair was done wrong and under shop warranty. After a few days they had it diagnosed. Apparently the problem is an engineering defect with the car that Mazda decided to ignore, and the PCM fried the ignition coils that were replaced, in addition to the front three which had been working fine. Bill was $1600 overall, we'll see how long it works. Very pissed that Mazda has not recalled these faulty units.