Ed, the whole reason GoHawks and I are unhappy with the "fix" is because the dealership and ultimately Mazda Corporate are only fixing CX5's that don't have any issues. If you already have a rocker arm that is fallen off the fix to the recall is only masking the issue. The dealership flashed my PCM and the limp mode issue went away. But at the end of the day it only masked the problem because the rocker arm had already fallen off and a software update didn't magically reinstall the rocker arm. I tried multiple times to get the engine to limpmode post PCM update without any success and yet there was still a floating arm inside the engine.
IMO it isn't foolish to drive at over 5000 RPM or even up to redline. You don't have to be screaming down the highway at 5000RPM. You can easily hit 5000 at under 30mph. Like I mentioned in a previous post. Be smart about where you try this. You don't need to be mechanical minded to have a little common sense.
Also, For the record my limp mode did not occur until 6000-6200 RPM. Details are documented in other posts on this thread.
I'd wager that 95% of the population doesn't even know what the tachometer is showing, let alone understand what RPM is or what's required to have the engine go into limp mode. They'd know what "floor it until you're scared" means, but that's about it.
When we purchased our new Cx5 no one understood what sport mode was, some thought it sent more power to the rear wheels, some thought it sent more power to the front wheels for "more freeway speed"...lol. Others said it just makes the handling more sporty like a sports car. Of course I instantly figured it out while test driving, but the reps were bamboozled.
I had to explain to my wife what idiots they were. No one knew that it adjusts the transmission logic to keep the rpm's higher because that's just waaaaay too complicated for soccer mom (yes, my wife, who still has no idea what I'm talking about). Service/sales reps aren't trained to know anything technical, they are only trained to spew marketing snot that the general public will understand... sport mode is "sporty" and more "Mazda zoom zoomy". Grandma understands that much...maybe.
TLDR, asking someone to hold revs or keep above a certain RPM for a certain amount of time is like nerdy tech jibberish.
I completely agree that Mazda should be visually inspecting, but I'm not sure that will happen because of what you said:
I tried multiple times to get the engine to limpmode post PCM update without any success and yet there was still a floating arm inside the engine.
Mazda's fix appears to just prevent limp mode from occurring (ignoring the lack of airflow and running RICH for a bit) because, the same people I described above, won't ever notice and running RICH does nothing but generate less power. This isn't a lean condition that would ever cause engine damage, it's simply one cylinder starving for air, aka running rich. Visually inspecting every model and replacing entire affected engines might bankrupt Mazda. Just ignore the rich condition for 0.01% of the population who would ever encounter this instead of triggering a potentially dangerous limp mode. You now have your most cost effective "fix". Problem solved.
I bet some engineer lost his job over this too: "What? You triggered limp mode while under a full power rich condition?" YOU'RE FIRED. lol. The Issues Management department protects the company, not the consumer.
