Poll 2.5T Coolant Leak/Engine Replacement

Who is having coolant leak issues and have had their engines replaced?

  • Yes

    Votes: 49 40.5%
  • No

    Votes: 72 59.5%

  • Total voters
    121
The parts dept should have a record that the exhaust gasket was issued to this work order. Its how they get paid from Mazda and also its how they control inventory. This is a big deal. Its a huge repair. Your engine had the updated head and exhaust gasket from the factory which is definitely a good thing. Now you really dont know whats in there. I would be like a dog with a bone on this. They can provide that paperwork showing the gasket was issued to the work order. I have been an airplane mechanic most of my life and this kinda stuff chaps my ass
 
Recently purchased a 2016 CX-9 GT AWD to replace a 2011 that had the dreaded water pump failure at 188,000 miles. Rebuilt the 3.7L engine (in the car) and looks like we will continue to drive the 2011 while the 2016 sits in the garage leaking coolant from the backside of the engine. Only drove the 2016 a couple of weeks before the leak started. Notified "Mazda Customer Experience Center" and received the expected reply. "We're sorry....Power train warranty has expired... if more owners report this, we might do something...We'll let you know."

I have scheduled a complete teardown and evaluation of all defective engine components with documentation of all findings to begin on my CX-9 next week if Mazda doesn't change their mind in the next few days with an offer to replace my engine.

I've spent a major portion of a 40 year career working for auto manufacturers (GM, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and BMW.) When they screw up and something like this happens, their only concern is $$$ (limiting the cost of the mistake). Sharing info on these boards is an incredible consumer tool against these greedy corporate accountants. They preach "Integrity", but they sure don't practice it!
 
Recently purchased a 2016 CX-9 GT AWD to replace a 2011 that had the dreaded water pump failure at 188,000 miles. Rebuilt the 3.7L engine (in the car) and looks like we will continue to drive the 2011 while the 2016 sits in the garage leaking coolant from the backside of the engine. Only drove the 2016 a couple of weeks before the leak started. Notified "Mazda Customer Experience Center" and received the expected reply. "We're sorry....Power train warranty has expired... if more owners report this, we might do something...We'll let you know."

I have scheduled a complete teardown and evaluation of all defective engine components with documentation of all findings to begin on my CX-9 next week if Mazda doesn't change their mind in the next few days with an offer to replace my engine.

I've spent a major portion of a 40 year career working for auto manufacturers (GM, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and BMW.) When they screw up and something like this happens, their only concern is $$$ (limiting the cost of the mistake). Sharing info on these boards is an incredible consumer tool against these greedy corporate accountants. They preach "Integrity", but they sure don't practice it!
That's has to be frustrating to have only owned the car a short time and the head cracks. Any chance it was cracked when you got it? Probably hard to know. Being a mechanic for 40 years myself, I would be interested to see your findings of the teardown. Are you going to create your own thread? That would be fascinating to document the process.
 
No signs of any concerns with the engine when we bought it. Previous owner was not as “meticulous” as I normally require on maintenance records, but he did stay on top of the basics. I spent a week going over the car before we started driving it. Fluids changed, plugs and coils replaced, new battery. Thorough inspection of belts, hoses, wiring, etc. Everything checked out ok.
My wife is the primary driver as she hauls the kids around in it. It’s an awesome car with some fantastic features. She’s very sensitive to anything unusual with the car because she spends a lot of time in the driver’s seat. Our 2011 CX-9 left her stranded once when the water pump bearing when out on her and the car overheated. She wisely had the car towed home. (I was out of town when it happened.)
The 3.7 liter Ford engine water pump issue was very well documented online with YouTube videos that were very helpful when I replaced the pump (and everything else while the engine was rebuilt). I’m surprised that no one has done a video to assist with diagnosis and repair on this “coolant leak” for the Mazda 2.5 Liter. I’m old school so typically write reports with step by step instructions and photos (useful in court to put the blame where it belongs). Maybe it’s time for a video…
 

At about 4 min when he is scanning the exhaust ports there is a crack on #3 at 12:00. This is out of a 2021 cx-30. If it's a turbo it's got the updated head and it's cracked. If it's the NA CD .... it's head is cracked too. Either way I wanted to post for you guys who were gunna dyi your cracked heads.
 
And Mazda’s response, “If more of these is documented then Mazda may put out a service bulletin, TSB or recall. Thank you for being a part of the Mazda family. Have a great day.”
 
Well there is already a TSB on it, but no extended warranty yet. Technically you could follow the repair procedure in the TSB, but it refers to the workshop manual for the actual repair. I think you can still pay for a one day access to the mazda workshop manual and download all the section that you would need. (I did that a few years ago, it was around 20$ back then i think). A video or how to write up would definitely be a more detailed and user friendly way to explain it:


The Ford engine was used in so many models for so long and with a large customer base that there was a lot of user’s opportunity to do write up and video. In comparison the mazda turbo engine has not been sold nearly as much in America. Also all of the initial failures were replaced under warranty, so most people didn’t go through the trouble of doing the work themselves yet.
 
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Recently purchased a 2016 CX-9 GT AWD to replace a 2011 that had the dreaded water pump failure at 188,000 miles. Rebuilt the 3.7L engine (in the car) and looks like we will continue to drive the 2011 while the 2016 sits in the garage leaking coolant from the backside of the engine. Only drove the 2016 a couple of weeks before the leak started. Notified "Mazda Customer Experience Center" and received the expected reply. "We're sorry....Power train warranty has expired... if more owners report this, we might do something...We'll let you know."

I have scheduled a complete teardown and evaluation of all defective engine components with documentation of all findings to begin on my CX-9 next week if Mazda doesn't change their mind in the next few days with an offer to replace my engine.

I've spent a major portion of a 40 year career working for auto manufacturers (GM, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and BMW.) When they screw up and something like this happens, their only concern is $$$ (limiting the cost of the mistake). Sharing info on these boards is an incredible consumer tool against these greedy corporate accountants. They preach "Integrity", but they sure don't practice it!

No signs of any concerns with the engine when we bought it. Previous owner was not as “meticulous” as I normally require on maintenance records, but he did stay on top of the basics. I spent a week going over the car before we started driving it. Fluids changed, plugs and coils replaced, new battery. Thorough inspection of belts, hoses, wiring, etc. Everything checked out ok.
My wife is the primary driver as she hauls the kids around in it. It’s an awesome car with some fantastic features. She’s very sensitive to anything unusual with the car because she spends a lot of time in the driver’s seat. Our 2011 CX-9 left her stranded once when the water pump bearing when out on her and the car overheated. She wisely had the car towed home. (I was out of town when it happened.)
The 3.7 liter Ford engine water pump issue was very well documented online with YouTube videos that were very helpful when I replaced the pump (and everything else while the engine was rebuilt). I’m surprised that no one has done a video to assist with diagnosis and repair on this “coolant leak” for the Mazda 2.5 Liter. I’m old school so typically write reports with step by step instructions and photos (useful in court to put the blame where it belongs). Maybe it’s time for a video…
Honestly, if you have the time, capability and know how to do a teardown and document the whole thing and on video, you would be the real MVP.
 
Honestly, if you have the time, capability and know how to do a teardown and document the whole thing and on video, you would be the real MVP.
YouTube!! Your channel would get monetized because the video went viral and all the money you make would pay for the fix. ;)
 
Honestly, if you have the time, capability and know how to do a teardown and document the whole thing and on video, you would be the real MVP.
I can assure you, I would not be acting alone. It will take a team effort, but the guys I’ve spoken with about taking on this repair are not shy or afraid of getting a little dirty. I’ve made the preliminary diagnosis based on Mazda’s TSB and what I’ve read on this thread and others. Next week we plan to dig a little deeper into the back side of the engine with some additional diagnosis to determine a more precise location of the leak. We will attempt to document as much as possible with videos and photos so we can figure out the best way to share the info online. I will gladly take any suggestions or ideas from anyone that would benefit from this endeavor.
 
I hear dropping the engine out on the subframe is the quickest actually. Book times reflect this. 17hrs for a head replacement and 11hrs for an engine change. Leaving it in the car saves zero time
 
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Something hit me late last night that I'd like to get everyone's opinion on.
When I did the coolant flush and fill after we bought the car, I thought the coolant overflow tank was excessively "gunked". There's a brown film inside the tank that I was only partially able to clean due to the odd shape of the tank. Since discovering the coolant leak at the rear of the engine, I'm thinking the coolant has been getting exhaust gases in it for some time now. The film in the overflow tank could very well be an indicator prior to the crack/head gasket leak growing to an external coolant leak.

Has anyone else with the coolant leak at the rear of the engine observed this brownish, caked on film in their coolant recovery tank? Might also be a point of proof to the Mazda "Stealership" that the issue was there before the warranty expired.

That film in my coolant recovery tank is not normal. Gotta believe it's related to the leaking coolant issue. Any thoughts?
 
I checked the coolant overflow tanks on my 2005 Titan with 170k+ miles - tank is clean. 2011 CX-9 has a clean tank with 195k+ miles. 2016 CX-9 with less than 115k miles has “exhaust” film in the tank. The video is the Skyactive 2.5 with a radiator fill funnel in it. Once the engine warms up and the thermostat is open, the coolant starts to burp exhaust gases. My theory is this has been going on for some time prior to the leak showing up. The film is above the Full mark indicating there has been a dirty “gas” in the coolant tank.
 

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That’s my point. The tank is so nasty, you can barely make out the coolant level.
I use Peak antifreeze in all my vehicles, so it’s yellow. Every manufacturer “sells” their own special spec fluids and they all claim you have to use their stuff if you expect them to honor their warranty. I’m well past them honoring any warranty so I get to choose my fluids now. The Mazda Stealers make a ton of money selling their fluids to folks who think they’re getting something special.
 
That TSB has been slightly updated since. It seems like in addition to bumps on the road, the thermal cycle may have an impact. It now states:

DESCRIPTION
Some vehicles may have coolant leaks at the cylinder head around the exhaust manifold (as shown below). There may be cracks at the stud bolt hole (1) or at the outside of the exhaust manifold flange (2) on the cylinder head.

Cracks may be caused by:

Expansion characteristics of the exhaust manifold during usage causing unexpected force to certain areas of the cylinder head.
• Residual stress generated during production in the cylinder head material may be greater than expected. The

external force from the exhaust system when driving over bumps may cause unexpected force to certain areas of the cylinder head.

I am just now learning about this issue I have a 2017 Mazda CX 9 with 126 K and the engine needs to be replaced because of the TSB and Mazda isn’t willing to help with reasonable compensation. Safford Mazda in Fredericksburg quoted me 7950 to replace the engine corporate offered 1,000 towards repairs. I’ve had complaints about this car’s engine shuttering since I bought it. They replaced the transmission at 97K miles and now I’m at 126 and being told basically to eat s***. I still owe on the car and not in the position to dump 8K on it or roll the negative equity. I am so lost on what is the best way to move forward because I TRULY feeel the dealership shoulda told me about this or I should of been made aware of the TSB
 
I am just now learning about this issue I have a 2017 Mazda CX 9 with 126 K and the engine needs to be replaced because of the TSB and Mazda isn’t willing to help with reasonable compensation. Safford Mazda in Fredericksburg quoted me 7950 to replace the engine corporate offered 1,000 towards repairs. I’ve had complaints about this car’s engine shuttering since I bought it. They replaced the transmission at 97K miles and now I’m at 126 and being told basically to eat s***. I still owe on the car and not in the position to dump 8K on it or roll the negative equity. I am so lost on what is the best way to move forward because I TRULY feeel the dealership shoulda told me about this or I should of been made aware of the TSB
Unfortunately tsb is not a recall, so it's "unless" if you're out of warranty. Search for class action lawsuit and talk to the attorneys.
 
Unfortunately tsb is not a recall, so it's "unless" if you're out of warranty. Search for class action lawsuit and talk to the attorneys.
I believe the TSB is very useful. Mazda service is blaming Mazda engineers and Mazda manufacturing. As US citizens, we have consumer protection laws that apply here. As a Mazda customer, I don’t care what party in their organization screwed up, Mazda sold a product that has a known defect. I had a Honda CRV several years ago that Honda replaced the engine in at 124,000 miles after they issued an extended warranty for “excessive oil consumption.” It was the voice of their customers that caused them to do that. If we all communicate our cracked cylinder head issue with Mazda and the NHTSA and the BBB, eventually Mazda will be forced to acknowledge their responsibility. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
 
A TSB issued by Mazda proves cracked cylinder head does happen. And Mazda even admitted there’re design flaws and updated the cylinder head and exhaust manifold gasket to prevent cracks happening. Not to mention all the reports we’ve seen here. You may be able to run your 2.5T to 199,737 miles without a cracked head, but nobody knows if his/her 2.5T won’t have cracked head based on your case. The key here is nobody can predict and once it happens, the cost is too high!
Does anybody have advice on how to get this covered? Especially if it’s a known issue
 
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