Tired of blown engines/turbos? How about a CAL?

[8.5MS3]

1. u cant tell me the ms3 is "very reliable". If they were they wouldnt be popping. Especaially considering sum that popped were bone stock
2. idk if all subaru dealers care. But the ones near me dont. A friend of mine has a fully bolted 08sti and he just got his cracked motor mount replaced under waranty. Another one got his shaddered pistons repalced with a turbo bak intake and boost controller, covered completley by waranty. So idk..

how many cars have popped bone stock? less than 5 on the forums out of how many built? thats way less than 1% and you could easily blow the motor misshifting on any manual car. that statement is useless. hondas arent reliable either since my old honda odyssey had tons of electrical issues. if one is crap they all must be....

 

[eg6motion]

1. u cant tell me the ms3 is "very reliable". If they were they wouldnt be popping. Especaially considering sum that popped were bone stock

proof? Examples?

2. idk if all subaru dealers care. But the ones near me dont. A friend of mine has a fully bolted 08sti and he just got his cracked motor mount replaced under waranty. Another one got his shaddered pistons repalced with a turbo bak intake and boost controller, covered completley by waranty. So idk..

Turbo-back intake eh?

So idk..

Clearly.

 

[jeff4880]

why market and advertise a car that makes 16psi if doing so will blow the motor or cause some kind of failure? why have there been 3 revisions of the turbo since the ms6? kinda gotta point the finger in mazda's direction at this point.

Because they know how to sell a car.
Mazda sees it as they can test and install a drive train into a car geared to a older demographic and have little problems with it, then if driven resposibly in a performance car there should be the same results and they are right.

They market that it makes 16psi but they do not market it as a race car.

 

[8.5MS3]

Because they know how to sell a car.
Mazda sees it as they can test and install a drive train into a car geared to a older demographic and have little problems with it, then if driven resposibly in a performance car there should be the same results and they are right.

They market that it makes 16psi but they do not market it as a race car.

false advertisement and lawsuits up the ass if this were the case. remember we are talking stock, not modified. once you enter that realm your basically on your own. some people have a hard time getting this.

by your logic we should all drive like grandma's since boost is bad for the car. define responsible driving? anything over 40% throttle is bad? but the manual says its safe to go into 6th gear at 50mph and lug the engine. anyone that has driven a manual knows thats the worst thing you can do. honda civics are geared at the younger demographic and most beat the piss out of them, yet they hold up and if something does go wrong, it gets fixed no problem (speaking from personal experience). the car is designed to go to 9k rpm but dont go up to it cuz its bad? gimme a break.

not really sure why your so avid on defending mazda? they've already issued a reflash since the car is tuned on 93 octane and not everyone has access to it. that seems like gross negligence to me. combined with the turbo revisions, engine mount recall, and front cowl issues it seems pretty clear somethings not right. im sure we're not out of the woods yet either.

thats not to say the car is crap, it needs to be taken care of properly, and I love mine. its just that the logic in your arguement is flawed imo

 

[jeff4880]

false advertisement and lawsuits up the ass if this were the case. remember we are talking stock, not modified. once you enter that realm your basically on your own. some people have a hard time getting this.

by your logic we should all drive like grandma's since boost is bad for the car. define responsible driving? anything over 40% throttle is bad? but the manual says its safe to go into 6th gear at 50mph and lug the engine. anyone that has driven a manual knows thats the worst thing you can do. honda civics are geared at the younger demographic and most beat the piss out of them, yet they hold up and if something does go wrong, it gets fixed no problem (speaking from personal experience). the car is designed to go to 9k rpm but dont go up to it cuz its bad? gimme a break.

not really sure why your so avid on defending mazda? they've already issued a reflash since the car is tuned on 93 octane and not everyone has access to it. that seems like gross negligence to me. combined with the turbo revisions, engine mount recall, and front cowl issues it seems pretty clear somethings not right. im sure we're not out of the woods yet either.

thats not to say the car is crap, it needs to be taken care of properly, and I love mine. its just that the logic in your arguement is flawed imo

There is nothing false about ther advertising. They say it makes 16 pounds of boost and it does. When have they ever claimed you can take it out and race every thing that drives beside you?
All cars have there problems, I traded a Nissan Titan that had axel seal problems and wireing harness recalls and my wifes odyessy has power steering pump problems. the issues you listed are not that uncommon.
I'm not for or against Mazda I just think most of the blown engines out there are from abuse.

 

[onelsono]

alright u guys can say nd think wut u want, but tell me one thing, Are you or have you ever been worried that your mazda will pop on you?

 

[8.5MS3]

99% of blown engines have been modified. that says nothing about the quality of the engine in its original form. stock the motor is good, but people sometimes want more and mod. cant blame mazda for building an engine that wont support 100hp more than what its rated for. The false advertising im talking about is in regard to the turbos crapping out due being operated out of their efficiency range from the get go. Has nothing to do with how the car is treated, you could drive as responsibly as you like and if the turbo is undersized its gonna crap out no matter what. yes you beat on the car its gonna wear faster.

to answer your question onelsono, no i have never been worried. if it does it does. I have modified it and am running higher than stock levels of boost. Currently im sitting around 50hp or so over stock. Does my risk increase, sure. When i was stock i didnt care at all since i have a warranty. as someone else pointed out it won several awards. Cant expect the engine to be able to handle double its original power output without extensive interior modifications. I will eventually go with a tbe and upgraded TMIC and call it a day. maybe rework the turbo.....we have someone on MSF that has been tuned to 24psi with meth, all bolt ons on stock bottom end and hes sittin pretty with 350whp and 400wtq. motor is good, tuning is key as well as responsible driving. 95% of engine failures are from either abuse, bad tuning or driver error.

 

[jeff4880]

So in the long run you are agreeing with my argument 8.5MS3.
I'm not to worried about loosing my motor and my car is modded. I am running the stock boost levels though and don't plan on raising it. I agree that the turbo is at its upper end of its efficiency thats why I'm not going to raise boost levels.

 

[8.5MS3]

So in the long run you are agreeing with my argument 8.5MS3.
I'm not to worried about loosing my motor and my car is modded. I am running the stock boost levels though and don't plan on raising it. I agree that the turbo is at its upper end of its efficiency thats why I'm not going to raise boost levels.

yes, in the long run i do agree with you to some extent. I however, do not feel that mazda is off the hook (this is where i disagree). This car was built with some problems and mazda needs to address them, not simply raise the "abuse" flag because the car wasnt driven like a 90 yr old. The turbo is obviously undersized, anyone that knows how to read a compressor map can easily see that. Mazda needs to take responsibility if they ****** something up and not void warranties left and right because of "suspicions" of modding. PCV problem and rmm problems are prime examples. Several local 07 ms3 guys had their warranties voided for "abusive driving" when the motor decided to fall out of the engine bay. It was only after the recall that they were compensated. Somehow i have a feeling this scenario is gonna happen all over again in the future

 

[SomnoSpeed3]

Some people have so much pride/loyalty in the brand of car the drive that they are blind to the negative truths about that company. That mentality is as old as the Ford-Chevy debate.
Anyone who has no ties to Mazda whatsoever and does not even own a Mazda would look at these issues and say "why doesn't Mazda just admit the design flaws and fix the problems?" Or at least let us know they are trying to. Although in our litigious society I almost understand Mazda just playing stupid... almost.

 

[eg6motion]

Some people have so much pride/loyalty in the brand of car the drive that they are blind to the negative truths about that company. That mentality is as old as the Ford-Chevy debate.
Anyone who has no ties to Mazda whatsoever and does not even own a Mazda would look at these issues and say "why doesn't Mazda just admit the design flaws and fix the problems?" Or at least let us know they are trying to. Although in our litigious society I almost understand Mazda just playing stupid... almost.

I have no brand loyalty, and have come from Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota and now Mazda. But I do think its extremely stupid to think that other brands have no faults. They all work the same and these same threads exist on the other boards as well. Civic Si had a widespread issue with 3rd gear popping out (and FAR, FAR more instances than any MS3 problem)
Subaru runs lean stock, resulting in blown motors
Mitsubishi has no warranty on the EVO, even changing the wheels will earn you the "abuse" title and force you into litigation to get work done
Etc. Every car company has these. And no, I'm not worried. Even if there was 500 blown stock motors, the percentage of failure is so small that it wouldn't qualify for a recall...perhaps a TSB...but I have yet to find even 5 instances of blown stock engines. Smoking turbos are more common though, and I don't have confidence of it lasting 100K without smoking or otherwise needing service for something.

 

[coyfish]

alright u guys can say nd think wut u want, but tell me one thing, Are you or have you ever been worried that your mazda will pop on you?

Onelsono why don't you just get rid of the car then? You have been shouting that the car is unreliable over and over but you are yet to come up with any reasoning / intelligence behind your comment. Only a few speeds have popped on these forums that were near stock. 9/10 of them happened in extreme circumstances, with big turbo's untuned, etc.

For example I remember hearing some kid downshift going like 150 mph and popping. No suprise there. Or a guy running a GT3071R untuned without a bigger fuel pump and popped . . . no suprise. Or the TONS of people who pop with the cobb AP. You need to run the right tune for your car.


The MZR motor has won awards and the "reliability" of the car can still not really be determined. The oldest / highest mile mazdaspeeds are breaking 100K miles as we speak. Its still not conclusive enough to determine if the mazdaspeed is reliable or not. Wait another year and we can make that conclusion.


Am I worried that my motor will pop???? No and let me tell you why.

I monitor everything that goes on and im getting a custom tune done for my mods. I don't mash on the gas at low rpm or drive like an idiot. And I realize that this car isn't meant to be a power / track beast. Im going for 320 whp fully bolted with the stock turbo and stopping. Anything more is crossing the line between "reliable" and "risky."

That being said the engine has its problems. The mounts on the older speed 3's and the smoking turbo of the early speed 6's is mazdas fault.

 

[jeff4880]

I have no brand loyalty, and have come from Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota and now Mazda. But I do think its extremely stupid to think that other brands have no faults. They all work the same and these same threads exist on the other boards as well. Civic Si had a widespread issue with 3rd gear popping out (and FAR, FAR more instances than any MS3 problem)
Subaru runs lean stock, resulting in blown motors
Mitsubishi has no warranty on the EVO, even changing the wheels will earn you the "abuse" title and force you into litigation to get work done
Etc. Every car company has these. And no, I'm not worried. Even if there was 500 blown stock motors, the percentage of failure is so small that it wouldn't qualify for a recall...perhaps a TSB...but I have yet to find even 5 instances of blown stock engines. Smoking turbos are more common though, and I don't have confidence of it lasting 100K without smoking or otherwise needing service for something.

Well said.
I also have no brand loyalty. Infact this is the first Mazda I ever owned. I've had every thing from Jeeps to minivans and station wagons.

The bottom line is if a 20 year old male bring his blown up car into a dealer they are more likley to play the abuse card then if a 40 year old male did the same thing. Thats just the facts

 

[SomnoSpeed3]

I never said a word about other companies. Of course they all have problems. And I am
not just talking about blown motors when it comes to Mazda. The smoking turbo issue can't be denied and I don't know of any fix coming and don't believe there will be. Yeah, rumors a plenty but nothing official. There was once an official response but it has disappeared and service techs now have no info about any fix coming. I'll believe it when it happens, not before.
Mine didn't smoke until about the 31k mark. Good luck!

 

[8.5MS3]

Or the TONS of people who pop with the cobb AP.

what does the ap have to do with this? are you talking about the OTS maps?

 

[tunersteve]

Anytime you mod without doing your homework, you're playing Russian roulette. Mainly the reason I recommend the DH with anyone doing modding past an intake. Knowing what your car is doing and what it should be doing are keys to keeping the motor in one piece.

 

[8.5MS3]

problem with that is 90% of people dont know what to watch or look out for. MY DH is permanently mouonted, courtesy of CP-e (nana)

 

[tunersteve]

problem with that is 90% of people dont know what to watch or look out for. MY DH is permanently mouonted, courtesy of CP-e (nana)

That's where a little searching and posting on forums can come in. How do you like the DH mount anyway?

 

[8.5MS3]

Fits real well, held down with double sided tape. Its not the best quality so ill have to do a run to staples or something and get some good 3M stuff. Also have to figure out how im gonna run the wire to the OBD port. Right now it runs down the doorjamb and coils up in the little pocket by the port. I wanna run it thru the defrost vent and down inside the dash, but thats gonna take some investigating

 

[onelsono]

Onelsono why don't you just get rid of the car then? You have been shouting that the car is unreliable over and over but you are yet to come up with any reasoning / intelligence behind your comment. Only a few speeds have popped on these forums that were near stock. 9/10 of them happened in extreme circumstances, with big turbo's untuned, etc.


If i could i would in a heart beat.