Official 'Smoking Turbo' response from Mazda

I took my car in yesterday. If you do what the bulletin says to day after they change the oil to 5W-40 at the dealership (i.e. at normal operating temp run the engine at 3000 RPM for 1 minute then wait 10 minutes or so) the smoke will come. I assume doing that simulates driving at slow speeds for the time it takes for the oil to build up in the turbo. I did that and it worked.

Another important bit of information is that the MTOL 5505 TSB has been "taken down" or removed so if your dealership goes to look for it currently it will not be there. At least that is what I was told. I brought a copy of the TSB with me and luckly one of the mechanics had seen it before. The service person at the desk was sort of insinuating that I had made it up! I took my car to Castle Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi in Silver Spring and they made me pay for the 5W-40 switchover because I bought the car used and the only oil service record I had was the one the toyota dealership had done.

I would recommend talking directly with the mechanic if you go to the same place I did. The mechanic seems alot more informed and alot less defensive than the service person. I'll keep you guys posted as to how it all pans out. They were saying they are contacting Mazda tech to see what the next step is so I guess it was smoking for them after the 5w-40 switch. They are supposed to call me when they have more information. The mechanic was saying they would probably approve the turbo replacement which is great but the PCV problem would still be there and would only start to wear on the new turbo as well right?
They did the switch over (to 5w-40) and when he brought the car out it was smoking. He (the service guy not the mechanic) told me it was because there was still oil in the exhaust... I wanted to remind him where the smoke was really coming from but I let it go. I am going to post the 2 videos I took while I was there on youtube soon.
 
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try this and anyone with a smoking turbo.

start the car and let it sit until it starts smoking....
while its still running disconnect the breather hose from the valve cover and plug the intake side of it with your finger so unmetered air isn't getting into your intake. then with your other hand cover a majority of the valve cover breather outlet so only a bit of air can get in, the smoking should decrease or stop all together.
 
i was told by the dealer that mazda said i have to wait until the new pcv system comes out before they will address the turbo. if the pcv system fails to fix the smoking problem, then they will replace the turbo. when this system comes out is unspecified. im supposed to call them to remind them in the next day or so. i'll post if i get any updates.
 
Street Sleeper said:
i was told by the dealer that mazda said i have to wait until the new pcv system comes out before they will address the turbo. if the pcv system fails to fix the smoking problem, then they will replace the turbo. when this system comes out is unspecified. im supposed to call them to remind them in the next day or so. i'll post if i get any updates.
Click to expand...

I suspect this is the same thing that is going to happen with my car. It just doesn't make sense to replace the turbo before the problem is fixed. Thanks for the info.
 
Additionally, the problem is not the turbo itself. It is a combination of the turbo's oiling design and the stock PCV's design. The PCV being the cheaper to revise.
 
Reporting back as promised.

Went to the dealer, Brown's Mazda, Fairfax, VA, where I bought the Speed3 a little over a year ago.

Spoke to both the service rep with whom I usually deal and with the service manager.

They said the fix would be a multi step process; first step would be to switch to synthetic oil and see if that fixed the problem. If it did not, they would photograph the smoke, send it to Mazda, and get approval from Mazda for the next step, which they never did clearly define.

In any event, the switch to synthetic, for which they did not charge me, has fixed the problem for the time being. They let it idle at the dealership: no smoke. Later that week, I was driving in Washington, DC, on a 90-degree day and had to wait outside a building for someone on an errand. I sat there with the car idling for a full 20 minutes and there was no evidence of any smoke from the exhaust.

Coincidentally, the morning after the first time I saw the smoke, when I started the car to take it to Browns, the yellow check-engine light came on.

Their bill noted:
Code PO441 and PO455
Diagnose and replace purge valve
F0008XDX - F0621XRX

PART NO. L3K9-18-7408 Valve, solenoid.

Final note on the bill:
Due to concern of smoking out exhaust, we performed synthetic 5w40 oil change as per Mazda and directions as step one toward concern for repair.

I'll continue to follow this thread for new developments
 
You know, does it bother anyone else that part of Mazda's "fix" for this issue is something that degrades the car's efficiency? If you're using 5w40 oil, you're no longer getting the kind of efficiency that the car had when it was given its EPA mileage estimates...

I know it's a very small difference, but it's bad nevertheless. (dunno)
 
Just jumped in here, and i am impressed how much you folks have done. I was just talking about this issue to a friend at work today. Thanks you all for sharing and reporting what you know. I am locked on this thread, maybe i do not need a ball bearinged upgrade after all!
 
This is awesome. 47,000 of horrific abuse, Turbo back exhaust for thirty thou and now i get oil smoke at warmup idle on occasion. I have been in communication wth the company that claims to fix the issue that the free flowing exhaust causes. I also have ordered a couple of parts besides the fix. Just because. i will report up.i plan to install asap. These folks have explained themselves fairly well so it is worth a shot. If it turns out the Turbo seals have deteriorated i will probably step into a ball bearing unit finally. MATX, i see you are new to the forum. Welcome. This discussion has been gone over alot. If you search you might find some useful/ or not, threads about catch cans on the Speeds. so you may not get alot of responses, it is kinda worn out. Some folks think Mazda might admit it is a design issue, some feel its is the free exhaust, some the type of turbo. Mine made it this far with out much smoke. But my mods are way beyond warranty. So i will try this fix it. If you have oil smoke already, go right to the dealership. When did you get your car?
 
ericrapp said:
This is awesome. 47,000 of horrific abuse, Turbo back exhaust for thirty thou and now i get oil smoke at warmup idle on occasion. I have been in communication wth the company that claims to fix the issue that the free flowing exhaust causes. I also have ordered a couple of parts besides the fix. Just because. i will report up.i plan to install asap. These folks have explained themselves fairly well so it is worth a shot. If it turns out the Turbo seals have deteriorated i will probably step into a ball bearing unit finally. MATX, i see you are new to the forum. Welcome. This discussion has been gone over alot. If you search you might find some useful/ or not, threads about catch cans on the Speeds. so you may not get alot of responses, it is kinda worn out. Some folks think Mazda might admit it is a design issue, some feel its is the free exhaust, some the type of turbo. Mine made it this far with out much smoke. But my mods are way beyond warranty. So i will try this fix it. If you have oil smoke already, go right to the dealership. When did you get your car?
Click to expand...

I'd like to comment on the portion of your statement that I put in bold. Please keep in mind I'm making no attempt to flame you.

Your first sentence where you address that the free flowing exhaust causes the turbo to leak oil is incorrectly stated. The free flowing exhaust does not cause any problem. It further permits design flaws of the PCV system being inadequately specified toward and with reference to the turbo chosen (by removal of catalytic converters and a decrease in backpressure on the outlet side of the turbo). This is why Mazda has addressed the problem even for bone stock vehicles of the 2.3L MZR DISI Turbo platform.

If this was only caused by a decrease in backpressure of a free-flowing exhaust, Mazda would not have to address this themselves. Instead, users have shown that Mazda's own design of the PCV in relation to the turbo they chose is faltering. Not the use of aftermarket equipment.
 
Thank you, no flaming rec'd. I was responding in general to all that we have read over the last two years not necessarily the facts or my opinion and did not shoot for accuracy. i apologise. I was recalling we have beat this up and down often guessing over the years. I am a terrible writer but even worse continue to write! I and we, appreciate your clarification thanks, BC
 
I appreciate you receiving that as well as you did. Ya don't find that too often on the internet. Text is too ambiguous and it's often difficult to illustrate a point without seeming overly aggressive or abrasive.

We all look forward to your update. Good luck!
 
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