Mazda Turbo Engine Problems

Discussion in 'Other Vehicles' started by Minidave, Nov 5, 2015.

  1. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Looks like our R56'es aren't alone......

    Apparently the 2.3L turbo 4 cylinder especially in the Mazda CX-7 is having "issues" too......

    Timing chain failures

    Turbo failures

    Sludge problems

    The turbo problem is probably the same issue MINI owners have, not changing the oil frequently enough and sludging up the return oil line, starving the turbo of oil flow. That will kill any turbo....cost from $2200 to $3000 to replace, plus charges for cleaning out the sludge.....

    Timing chain - same as MINI - the chain stretches and gets really noisy, or fails completely, skips a tooth etc. Quotes to fix range from $2200 to $3400 depending on what else gets damaged......

    So, it's not just us apparently.......

    What's interesting to me in the comments posted by frustrated owners, some have oil change records for every 3 mos or 3K miles - how the heck do you claim sludge under those conditions?

    Also, other people are outraged that their 80 - 135K engine could have a turbo failure, and wonder why Mazda hasn't stepped up to fix this "known issue"...that term itself is interesting to me, apparently if the mfr finds out about something 3 years after they build a car it's a "known issue" and they should then warrant the car against this issue for .....I dunno.........life?

    Sound familiar?

    Of course the dealers are taking all the heat from owners for not fixing their cars for free - even if it was bought used from a non-Mazda dealer with no service records and 100K on the clock......

    One owner said she owed $13K on the car (with 135K on it) and it was only worth $2200 in trade so she was just stuck and was calling a lawyer.

    I'm fascinated by the general lack of knowledge by car owners today - typical complaints were "all of a sudden it had no power and would only go 40 mph in 6th gear", to "I kept seeing white smoke out the tailpipe" (but didn't take it in to be looked at for another 5K) to "it made a funny noise" but then didn't take it in to have it checked for another 10K.....then they wonder why they get hit with $4000 repair costs.

    The other interesting thing is the general attitude towards cars - that they should last 200K miles and require little to no service or repair, and when they do people are outraged.

    Fascinating trend.
     
  2. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Dave....

    All people are not made the same... Some just don't know stuff....

    I once knew a guy that didn't believe in oil changes, he just added when low...

    When did Mazda start using the Prince engine...
     
  3. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Reading thru this thread on Edmonds.com is eye opening.....

    Mazda CX-7 Engine Problems - Car Forums at Edmunds.com

    Bottom line, it reads exactly like many threads on this and other MINI forums about the early Turbo engined MINIs......

    Frustrated owners faced with huge repair bills on cars that they still owe a large note and can't afford to fix or trade.....mad because the mfr says they didn't maintain the car properly (even tho most bought used and had no previous service records - some had maint records that followed the Mazda requirements perfectly and they were still denied!) and the mfr will not pay for the repairs.

    Lots of calls for a class action suit and for Mazda to recall the cars.....lots of bad advice......one guy suggested several times that they wire the wastegate wide open so the turbo wouldn't work and take the load off the engine or so it wouldn't run so hot......many who complain about their timing belt chain valve breaking, cracking the head gasket and other completely uneducated explanations.

    Lots of people who noticed a problem (Loud noise on startup, turbine whine, smoke from the exhaust) and drove up to another 10K till it failed completely and so on.

    It's interesting to me cause I never heard anything about this prior to today, and I'm fairly tuned into the car scene......being a college Prof teaching automotive courses as well as being an avid reader of pretty much anything car tech related.

    There are also lots of threads on A/C failures, bad compressors and condensers and such......
     
  4. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    Mazda quarterly profit surges on higher sales, cost cutting

    TOKYO -- Mazda Motor Corp. today reported a major increase in operating profit in the latest quarter on the back of rising sales in Europe and Japan and aggressive cost cutting.

    Global operating profit rose 52 percent to 72.6 billion yen ($606.3 million) in the Japanese carmaker’s fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, from 47.6 billion yen ($397.5 million) a year earlier.

    Net income advanced 16 percent to 51.5 billion yen ($430.1 million) in the three months, Executive Vice President Akira Marumoto said while announcing financial results Nov. 5.

    Revenue climbed 20 percent to 894.5 billion yen ($7.47 billion). Global retail sales rose 13 percent to 394,000 units.

    Mazda’s earnings got a big boost from hefty sales increases in Japan and Europe. North America, by contrast, chipped in only modest gains, as retail volume in Mazda’s biggest market advanced less than 1 percent to 117,000 vehicles.

    In the U.S., Mazda sales rose a modest 3 percent to 267,157 vehicles during the year through October. The overall U.S. market is up 6 percent.

    http://www.autonews.com/article/20151105/OEM01/151109905/mazda-quarterly-profit-surges-on-higher-sales-cost-cutting?cciid=email-autonews-daily
     
  5. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    So, you're saying the one is the result of the other?
     
  6. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    No, the engine issue seems to be ongoing since 2009 from the thread you linked. I'm just tossing out how well Mazda is doing worldwide. If, perchance, one thinks that there is a direct correlation then I'd say nah.
     
  7. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    I wonder if Mazda will get pulled into Dieselgate at some point with their Skyactiv-D diesel..... Theirs doesn't use a urea treatment either...

    MAZDA: SKYACTIV-D | SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY
     
  8. BruceK

    BruceK Active Member

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    I think a lot of people have enjoyed appliance-like reliability (and appliance-like excitement, too!) with their mainstream cars over the past couple of decades.

    Nobody gives a second thought about their fridge, and for a lot of people, their car is virtually the same thing - or at least they expect it to act like one. Just keep humming along. So I think the unintended consequence of that is a good deal of indifference to maintenance needs and ignoring small issues which lets the develop into bigger issues.

    Plus there is the unfortunate "I deserve" entitlement aspect as well.
     
  9. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    "I never did anything to my car (no car maintenance).... You touched it last.... Now it's borked.... You fix it for free, or I'm going to sue the pants off of you":D
     
  10. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    I think BruceK nailed it. It's the Maytag syndrome..... :eek:ut:
     
  11. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
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    Interesting that it's basically the same motor as the Speed 3, yet not the same level of issues and complaints. It's what BruceK said. People who buy an SUV or any people mover want an appliance. People who buy cars to drive pay attention.

    A buddy of mine had both the CX-7 and Speed 3 at the same time and never really had different issues. But he did say that the dealer talked to him about the turbo issues and that the CX-7 had heat issues the Speed 3 didn't have. He still has the Speed 3 and CX-7 is gone replaced with another Mazda a 6 this time.
     
  12. Green Flash

    Green Flash Member

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    Defective Engine Design

    MiniDave, thanks for starting this thread on Mazda's issues with the early direct injected gas engine. Seems manufacturers other than MINI did not do enough testing on these engines to find potential issues, then blame the customer for the problem.

    While some of the people having problems requiring complete engine and turbo replacement did treat their cars like an appliance needing no service, many did the maintenance and were still denied warranty coverage. I can understand the anger when people who changed their oil more frequent/less miles than recommended and were still told by the dealer that the engine failure was the customer's responsibility because they did not change the oil frequently enough.

    Reading about this issue has been an education. Seems a number of manufacturers are developing screw-the-customer attitudes that would make the stereotypical used car salesmen proud. Will be interesting to see what VW will offer their customers.
     
  13. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    I think they took MINI's approach, to fix them on a case by case basis....otherwise they throw open the door to mass service campaigns or even a recall of some sort. Now that the cars are 8 or 9 years old, they will be slowly leaving the market place and soon won't be an issue. Plus as Nathan pointed out, by keeping it quiet the issue doesn't seem to have affected their sales or profits at all...

    It looks like a lot of the people who were clamoring for a class action suit really don't understand what those are, or the results of them - I think they feel once the suit is won (extreme long shot) they'll get thousands of dollars bestowed on them, new engines for all and so on.....nothing could be further from the truth.

    If they had kept maint records and could prove they'd done the oil changes I think a lawyer letter would have resulted in free repairs for those who could prove they'd done it. Otherwise, they're done......

    Interesting that the issue arose with the 2007 models, same as MINI...... also interesting that it's largely the same issue - timing chains and turbo failure caused by low oil level and/or sludged return lines.
     
  14. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    When direct injected engines hit the scene with their higher efficiency, higher horsepower outputs, there was a mad dash by companies to get on the DI bandwagon without fully understanding the potential long term problems. Some designs did better than others...
     
  15. BruceK

    BruceK Active Member

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    Right. The only people that seem to win in a class-action lawsuits are the lawyers, who get incredible cuts if there is a settlement. Plus the media gets to report on something. That's about it.
     
  16. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Your part of the class action settlement is a coupon for a free car warsh at the dealer. If you are lucky. :wink:

    Yes it will be interesting. Wondering if a buyback may be in the future. I'll add the service dept at my local VW dealer is bending over backwards to keep their customers happy. For me this is a great byproduct of the TDI fark up. :biggrin5:
     
  17. BruceK

    BruceK Active Member

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    Shouldn't they have been doing that in the first place?
     
  18. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Absolutely yes, but most dealerships seem to miss the mark. Some by a lot & some by a bit.
     
  19. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    We have a 2004 MSMX5 (turbo) and a 2014 Mazda 3 sGT, Zero problems to date.

    ZOOM ZOOM!!
     
  20. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    ^^^ Yes, but you know how to open your hood check fluids & take care of your cars. :Thumbsup:
     

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