2.5 NA Cracked Cylinder Head with Oil leaking...How common is this?

yrwei52 said:
For the 2.5T which has original head you should try to avoid driving on the rough road, or the heavy exhaust manifold may cause the crack to the head, according to the TSB.
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Makes you wonder how they addressed this for the CX-50.
 
Flight200 said:
Is there really anything addressed or different about them or are the CX- 50s simply just mostly newer vehicles with fewer miles and are not seeing the problem YET?
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I think the CX-50s have stiffer suspension compared to the CX-5. I believe @N7turbo's concern is based on the stiffer suspension paired with the road conditions. The changes to the head may be enough for the CX-5 or CX-9, but we don't know if the CX-50's suspension would cause any problems with this issue.
 
I was more commenting on the fact that Mazda markets the CX-50 as an off-road vehicle, so they had to have done something to harden the vehicle against failures when customers use the vehicle as advertised.
 
Maybe the exhaust on the CX-50 has been reinforced? Better/more exhaust hanger bushings?
 
CX5Nut said:
Good to know. Will be interested to see going forward how many on this board end up having an issue. Hopefully none!
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I have 2019 CX-5 Sport version, the basic trim level, non-turbo. I change engine oil and filter every 6k miles. Replace engine air filter every 30k. I replaced the spark plug at 80k miles. I have 90k+ miles and so far it has zero problems. No cracked cylinder head. No rear brake issues. No water leak issue. It never saw a dealership or other mechanic shop. I am happy.
 
Isn’t this same powertrain used in the majority of Mazda vehicles sold in the US all the way down to the Mazda3?
Why is this problem unique to the CX-5?
 
Flight200 said:
Isn’t this same powertrain used in the majority of Mazda vehicles sold in the US all the way down to the Mazda3?
Why is this problem unique to the CX-5?
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No, this problem isn’t only unique to the CX-5. It happens on any Mazda models with such engine, the 2.5L NA with CD. The YouTube video from Ukraine / Russia exposed 2mm thin wall at the cracked area the engine is from a Mazda3.
 
It just seems more common on the CX-5 because so many of them were sold, many more than all of the other models.
 
Pardon my ignorance, as I'm not a mechanic. Does NA stand for naturally aspirated? And do all 2023 CX-5 Mazda's with NA 2.5L engines have cylinder deactivation technology? I was considering this one for my wife (https://www.decodethis.com/vin/JM3KFBCM8P0142454) , but after reading this forum, it makes me want to avoid Mazdas all together. Thanks in advance for constructive advice.
 
DrBob said:
Pardon my ignorance, as I'm not a mechanic. Does NA stand for naturally aspirated? And do all 2023 CX-5 Mazda's with NA 2.5L engines have cylinder deactivation technology? I was considering this one for my wife (https://www.decodethis.com/vin/JM3KFBCM8P0142454) , but after reading this forum, it makes me want to avoid Mazdas all together. Thanks in advance for constructive advice.
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Yes and Yes.
If you don't want CD you need to go with the turbo.
No reason to avoid Mazda, they make an excellent vehicle. I'd take Mazda over Honda any day and I've owned Honda's as well as Nissan's and Subaru's.
 
wlong01 said:
Yes and Yes.
If you don't want CD you need to go with the turbo.
No reason to avoid Mazda, they make an excellent vehicle. I'd take Mazda over Honda any day and I've owned Honda's as well as Nissan's and Subaru's.
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Some of the recent 2.5 liter NA engines don’t have cylinder deactivation, but to be honest I haven’t kept up with whether or not the block on those is a different design. It could be in this thread but I didn’t commit it to memory.
 
DrBob said:
... but after reading this forum, it makes me want to avoid Mazdas all together. ...
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Ha! Well, you'll get that same feeling at any "car forum". They're a magnet for people talking about problems. It gets magnified on forums. Even this CD issue ... Likely only a small percentage of the 10's of thousands of cx5 actually have problems of cracking heads.

I personally don't care for tech like cylinder deactivation and start/stop. Seems to me, that stuff is valuable to the manufacturer in their CAFE numbers and whatnot but for me the consumer, the fuel savings doesn't seem to balance out the higher cost and more complexity.

Mazda is a fine car manufacturer and they make good stuff. If you don't want the CD, look at a new (heck , may even be able to find a used) 2024 with engine code "L" in the 8th vin position or a turbo model.
 
The thing that kinda sours me is that Mazda has allowed the 'cracked head' issue to fester for 7 model years best I can tell. 2018 to 2024.
If there has been an effort by Mazda to fix it so we don't get stuck with
a repair of 5K and often more, I haven't seen it. Seems we are in the dark as to if the thin castings were addressed in any way.
 
I’m guessing it’s a casting defect on some heads. Air bubble or something in the thin wall. Honda Odysseys had a casting defect that reared its ugly head around 60k miles for a period of time for a certain model year.
 
ruthrj said:
I’m guessing it’s a casting defect on some heads. Air bubble or something in the thin wall. Honda Odysseys had a casting defect that reared its ugly head around 60k miles for a period of time for a certain model year.
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ruthrj said:
I’m guessing it’s a casting defect on some heads. Air bubble or something in the thin wall. Honda Odysseys had a casting defect that reared its ugly head around 60k miles for a period of time for a certain model year.
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I would guess...and that's all that this is...that they discovered a casting issue with the 2018-2020 engines, as those were the ones covered by the TSB. Does that mean we're "safe" to have confidence in the 2021+ 2.5 engines? The heck if I know!
 
Assuming you get a vehicle without the premature engine failure due to cracked cylinder heads, how long do these CX-5 generally last without major issues otherwise?
I don’t really see people posting about extremely high mileage Mazdas like I see for many Toyotas and some Hondas and some domestic work trucks.
 
@Flight200 - High mileage thread
K

Thread 'High Mileage CX-5s - report in'

I thought there was a thread on this but couldn't seem to find it.

It's probably a reach but anyone approaching 80-100K miles (129-160KM) yet?

Any big issues along the way? I plan to keep my CX-5 for at least 10 years but this will probably only result in about 120K miles or so for me.
 
I drive my vehicles to 200k plus easily. But don't think I will make it in the CX5. Did not do my homework before purchasing. Just sayin.
 
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