Engine Failure... I think

[s-retire]

Well Im new to this forum, Ive done a search and dont find anything related (I take that as a good thing)

The wifes new 2008 Speed3 with 3,600 miles. She is driving home from a road long trip. She is in 5th gear coming down I5 in the Siskiyou, about 3,500 rpm. Nothing abnormal on the dash gauges or indicators.

Suddenly the car starts to shudder; she describes the sound and feel similar to a flat tire. (Ok, shes not a car nut.) The engine dies and the dash lights start to flash. When she gets the car coasted to the side of the road and stopped, the cabin fills with black smoke (not coolant). After the smoke clears, there is oil and coolant coming from the engine compartment.

Under the hood, there is obvious signs of high heat toward the front of the engine compartment.

Any thoughts? The car has been towed to a dealership in Yuba City, CA. Im waiting to hear from them.

 

[LBV]

Yep, sounds like she's a goner. Sorry to hear but keep us posted .

 

[DaleNixon]

I heard of a similar story with a CX-7. Weirdness.

 

[AutoEuphoria]

Warranty should be your friend on this one.

 

[Sveivo]

Sorry to hear that. I imagine they will have to replace a lot under the hood, since it seems like it was affected by the heat.

 

[Speed3Rookie]

Well Im new to this forum, Ive done a search and dont find anything related (I take that as a good thing)

The wifes new 2008 Speed3 with 3,600 miles. She is driving home from a road long trip. She is in 5th gear coming down I5 in the Siskiyou, about 3,500 rpm. Nothing abnormal on the dash gauges or indicators.

Suddenly the car starts to shudder; she describes the sound and feel similar to a flat tire. (Ok, shes not a car nut.) The engine dies and the dash lights start to flash. When she gets the car coasted to the side of the road and stopped, the cabin fills with black smoke (not coolant). After the smoke clears, there is oil and coolant coming from the engine compartment.

Under the hood, there is obvious signs of high heat toward the front of the engine compartment.

Any thoughts? The car has been towed to a dealership in Yuba City, CA. Im waiting to hear from them.

Damn...sorry to hear this.
Make sue you post back and let us know the outcome.
Good luck!

 

[s-retire]

Thanks for the replies. I was wondering if there was anyone else that has had similar problems. It doesn't sound like it.

I haven't heard back the diagnosis, but the dealer has called to see if I've had the oil changed. The answer was yes at 2,300 miles. (I did that for break in)

and I suspect warranty will be the solution here. How is Mazda on that? The rep seems good everywhere else. I'm also wondering if the car is going to be worth repairing. The wife really loves the car. Any more thoughts?

 

[s-retire]

One more thing. The wife said the coolant temp gauge stayed normal during the failure. I don't know what happened after she turned off the key.

 

[Sport6]

yea as long as she didn't miss a shift or anything like that, you should be fine when it comes to warranty. I hope the dealer was calling to make sure you had changed the oil and not because they suspect that as a possible cause or anything. Good luck with everything.

 

[paylew]

Oh geebus, I would have had a heart attack. Good luck with whatever happened to it!

If you don't have any mods on the car, you should probably be covered as far as warranty work goes.

 

[LBV]

Thanks for the replies. I was wondering if there was anyone else that has had similar problems. It doesn't sound like it.

Oh, there's been lots, you're just on the wrong forums to be hearing about them ... even though the rods are forged, they have been bending and then snapping completely. Most times it's on a modded engine but for sure stock ones have gone as well. This DI turbo technology is new to Mazda/Ford and I'm sure they've learned a ton and will make some changes for the next go-around.

 

[Fenrir]

Sounds like catastrophic failure to me. Hope everything turns out ok.

 

[tiagotiago]

Sorry to hear about this!
It seriously sucks that this happened to a new car, but on the brightside, even the most fastidious dealership will have trouble in trying to come up with excuses to as to not perform this under warranty! But as others state Mazda dealerships don't really like mods on their cars, and some will use them as an excuse to void your warranty.

Please keep us posted. Good luck!

 

[BlackCherry06]

I'm guessing a turbo oil line ruptured and sprayed oil all over the exaust.

 

[s-retire]

No mods, No missed shifts. This is truly a car owned by the “Little Ol Lady From...” She's not really that old, but she will never give the car a real workout. She does very much appreciate the throttle response, especially as she drives over the mountain passes.

The Speed3 package was my idea. That was made easier because that was the only model with the color she wanted.

Now when I drive it, I'll try to be sure I blow the carbon out of it, (What carbon, it's direct injected) but that hasn’t happened yet. It’s still too new.

 

[shane02pro5]

Oil and coolant makes me think turbo related too. Headgasket you would definately have high temp before going and the bottom end would just be a huge puddle of oil.

 

[s-retire]

This sounds repairable

I'm guessing a turbo oil line ruptured and sprayed oil all over the exaust.

With the resulting heat, is it?

 

[jon619]

You took it to Wheeler Mazda, right? I'm in Yuba City working out of Beale. I had to take my car there for warranty work when a coolant line came loose on the way home from San Diego. They were good about it. Don't forget to get a free rental.

 

[s-retire]

Yes, it went to Wheeler. Thank you for sharing your expeince with the dealer.

I'm still waiting to hear what happened.

 

[LBV]

, but she will never give the car a real workout. .

The ironic thing is loading the engine (ie. low rpm high gear) is what may be causing these motors to blow so if she accelerates a lot from below 3000 rpm with a moderate to heavy throttle, that's not good.