Mazda Issues Recall Due to Bugs -- Well, Arachnids -- in the Machine
Mazda6 sedan recalled due to spiders in the fuel system.
Posted by Joshua Condon Thursday, March 03, 2011 11:18:03 AM
For some unknown reason, the yellow sac spiders are drawn to building webs in the evaporative canister vent line of the Mazda6 sedan. It sounds bizarre, but it's true -- and enough of a problem that Mazda has recalled about 52,000 of the cars in order to inspect and, if necessary, repair damaged fuel systems.

It's unclear why the spider is drawn to the 2009 and 2010 model year Mazda6 (nor why, in all 20 reported cases of spider infestation, the car in question had a four-cylinder engine rather than the optional V6 powerplant), but when infestations do happen the web build-up can cause a blockage of the evaporative canister vent line (the path by which air leaving the gas tank travels through and is cleaned by a charcoal-filled cylinder) which can in turn lead to a cracked gas tank and, possibly, a fire -- though no fires have been reported.