OK. It was the window motor. The symptoms were:
* Would roll up to the top and then make a popping noise at the top (like the auto stop was no longer working).
* I tried to reprogram it by rolling it down, then up right away and holding all the way closed for a couple of seconds, but that cause the popping to be worse when closed
* After that it started to pop and slip when going up (had to help pull it closed). At this point it was very broken and no longer reliable.
The Fix:
* I bought a new motor
* I used this fantastic video on how to replace the motor -->
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBJONnYQx3A
* Couple things I learned the hard way. The white plastic disc regulator can slip off really easy when putting in the new motor. Pay special care to this step. If it slips off, I was able to get it back in place (with the 3 small taps) by using needle nose carefully
* Then I made a mistake which cost me a bit of extra time, but I figured out something VERY VERY helpful to others.
- I put the motor in, and things worked great. I reprogrammed the auto function and it was working fully again. But.... I made the mistake taking it out again and doing a bit more cleaning inside the plastic disc to the regulator as I recalled some oil in there before I put it together. The second time I put the motor in, I had a much harder time (figures for being a perfectionist). And the plastic disc slipped off into the door. So I fixed that with needle nose and got things put back together.
- My new issue is that once together, when I did the auto up, it kept bouncing back down to the mid window open point (basically engaging the finger pinch safety function) every time. I tried reprogramming, but it would not. Every time the window went to the top, it would bounce to mid open window.
IMPORTANT FIX TO - WINDOW ANTI PINCH FUNCTION PROBLEM - WINDOW GOES UP, THEN ROLLS DOWN HALF WAY (ALWAYS)
* I was not able to reprogram past this issue. But in doing some web reading, I found once programmed, the motor will always have an idea of the top (not the bottom).
* So the fix was:
- Roll down the window to the mid point (half open).
- Remove the window motor again
- Tap gently on the window to lower it a bit (the white plastic disc on the regulator will spin a bit)
- This lowers the position of the window relative to where the motor programming thinks the top is at.
- Then put the motor back in and follow do a quick test (taking safety steps to avoid electrical issues or getting pinched by the auto window). Mine now worked again and I then just reprogrammed the switch for the auto function (problem solved).
There was almost no exact information on this on the web (for any car company, let alone Mazda).
HOPE THIS HELP ALL IN THE FUTURE.