Update:
The car engine is installed, and the car is running good. Here is the cost breakdown of the whole project:
- The car cost was very cheap. It came from a friend of a friend. The local Mazda dealer offered a trade-in value of $2000. I gave them a little more for the car because I felt bad.
- I was considering an engine rebuild (head replacement at $750), but it would have taken one to two months more due to my work schedule. I plan on rebuilding the old engine at a later date.
Anyway,
- The engine was $2,650 from Cox Mazda in Florida. They were the only place willing to ship an engine at the list price. Shipping was $500 to Wisconsin, where I'm located.
- Seals and gaskets were $500 from Jake Sweny Tri County Mazda dealer in Cincinnati, OH. I did extensive research on parts pricing, and this dealer was/is the cheapest online. Plus, they have a flat fee for shipping. The seals and gaskets were for the turbo and exhaust valve, intake, injectors, oil cooler, and oil filter. I reused some old seals as they were in good shape.
- RockAuto - $50 for air filter, cabin filter, and wipers.
- Walmart - $50 for oil, brake, and carb cleaners to clean coolant and oil leaks all over the firewall.
The total cost of the whole engine replacement was around $3700. Labor took around 30 hours to pull the engine and install the new one. It took 10 hours to pull from the top and around 20 hours to install. I took my time during the installation to ensure I didn’t miss any bolts or brackets. There are lots of brackets, and this engine is like a puzzle; the installation follows a specific order. All bolts were torqued to the factory specs.
For this project, I did some research and found a Mazda service manual on an Australian website. It is for CX-5, but there is a 2.5 turbo engine. Here is a link for everyone to enjoy!
https://mazdamanuals.com.au/wsm-secure/WSM/D9K4-1A-21B_Ver13/
In the near future, I will work on rebuilding the engine and will post some pictures. The head from the Cincinnati dealer will cost under $750 with the gasket and bolts shipped!!!. It is definitely worth saving this engine if the internals are good.
Let me know if you have any questions about the project.
It is a shame that Mazda will not take responsibility for the factory defect. Most likely, this is an issue with the heat distribution (how the head is cooling) or improper aluminum casting aging. This is why they redesigned the gaskets and there is no structural changes to the new heads.
The good news for me is that I will be rebuilding lots of CX-9s in the near future for good money, just like I repaired several (over 20) CX-7s with 2.3t engines back in the day.