Poll 2.5T Coolant Leak/Engine Replacement

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

  • Yes

    Votes: 46 39.0%
  • No

    Votes: 72 61.0%

  • Total voters
    118
Don’t post here much anymore, but I do notice CX-9s thanks to the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. One dad at my daughter’s pickup and drop off had a CX-9 for all of 4 weeks before he traded it back to the dealer he bought it from due to a coolant leak. He claims it was a CPO ‘17 but I cannot verify. My kitty corner neighbors had a CX-9 of unknown year (same generation though and was pre-2021) that disappeared for a couple months and never came back. She now drives a Wrangler Rubicon. My guess is this is more prolific than Mazda wants to acknowledge
 
Add me to the list. We are looking for a new replacement right now. Our 2019 is going through coolant faster and faster. Ive owned the mazda 3, cx-3 and now cx-9 all brand new. Im done

Im being offered $27,000 canadian for my 2019 cx-9 signature with 120,000 kms.
 
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If you can get it warrantied, then keep it. Honestly, the cx-9 is issue free except the engine. Once you get it replaced, you should be good for a long time.
 
If you can get it warrantied, then keep it. Honestly, the cx-9 is issue free except the engine. Once you get it replaced, you should be good for a long time.
That's the interesting thing about the CX-9. It's incredibly reliable overall except when this engine issue arises. My wife's has 56,000 miles and not a single problem yet. It's never presented a dash light. My previous cars were Toyota's and were much more trouble prone. My Mazda 6 has also been 100% flawless. That's what makes this engine flaw so unfortunate. Mazda was otherwise setup to be a leader in reliability.
 
If you can get it warrantied, then keep it. Honestly, the cx-9 is issue free except the engine. Once you get it replaced, you should be good for a long time.
The dealer wont warranty this. They said so long as they dont see coolant gushing out, im out of luck. I fill up coolant every couple of months and they said its normal and that there is nothing they can do. If i can sell this car quickly, it would be worth something still and I would have less of a headache.
 
The dealer wont warranty this. They said so long as they dont see coolant gushing out, im out of luck. I fill up coolant every couple of months and they said its normal and that there is nothing they can do. If i can sell this car quickly, it would be worth something still and I would have less of a headache.
Lmfao. Go to a different dealer. They are obviously morons with ZERO skill and clearly don't care.
 
The dealer wont warranty this. They said so long as they dont see coolant gushing out, im out of luck. I fill up coolant every couple of months and they said its normal and that there is nothing they can do. If i can sell this car quickly, it would be worth something still and I would have less of a headache.
Gotta be going somewhere . If it's not internally getting into the oil then they have to be able to see it leaking. Get a UOA done as well to use as proof something's wrong if it's internal.

For external, do like tchman2016 says and get another dealer.
 
@Trixstar, it sounds like your dealer's just trying to push you away rather than try and help. Have they put the car on a lift to check the rear/bottom of the engine for signs of an external coolant leak?

Who is offering the $27k for the car? I would say its worth at least $31-32k on the private market, so it sounds like an offer from a dealer.

If you have another local dealer that you can bring the car to, I'd take it to them to see if they can help. Being in Canada, your warranty is good until 2024 regardless of mileage, so as long as you have a competent dealer, this issue would be covered under the powertrain warranty. If you don't have another dealer to work with, kick it up the chain to Mazda Corporate.

Gerry Gordon's Mazda in Winnipeg did a visual external check of the engine and a coolant pressure test to rule out any coolant leaking issues after I reported that my coolant appeared to be on the low side. Your dealer should be doing the same. A UoA as @Jack Rabbit suggested may also be a good idea, just in case. It's always good to have more information.
 
So, the saga continues. Mazda agreed to cover a portion of a "good will" repair, replacing the head on our CX-9, knocking the original dealer quoted repair cost of a whopping $6700 down to ~$2800. While that is still a lot of money to sink into a car from 2016 that has 78K miles on it, it is much less than getting another one...even a used one; but if you got a used CX-9, you are back in the same spot with the potential head issue (unless you buy a newer one that is not subject to the problem). Anyway, I have not accepted the offer yet. I do think that the turbo should be replaced along with this new head. Any mechanic worth his/her salt would replace a turbo that is almost 7 years old and has 78K miles on it if they were replacing the head. I am not sure if the dealer would do this, but I have asked them about it. I'll see what they say. Any thoughts from this community on whether the turbo should be replaced at the same time? A rebuilt one wouldn't be that expensive, and NOW is the time to do it.
Final(?) update: So it's been 3 months and my CX-9 is still in the shop. As you know it was in there for the head replacement due to the coolant leak AND a replacement transmission. Well, Mazda "comped" the head repair, after my aftermarket (CarShield) warranty would not cover it. They did say they would cover the transmission replacement, however. They (CarShield) sent a "used" transmission which went into the CX-9 (they said the remanufactured tranny proposed by the dealer was "too expensive") but IT DID NOT WORK properly. So, after several weeks, they shipped another one. That one arrived last week and this week they started to put it in. The lead tech thought the starter was weak, so a new one has been ordered (but it won't be here until next week) so we have to wait (at least) another week. (I did not bother to approach my warranty company about the starter, it just isn't worth it!!) Meanwhile we've put over 4600 miles on the "loaner" they gave us, and they'll have to give a real nice bath and do a service on it when they finally get it back from us. That is the current status. I will be writing Mazda customer service a really "nice" letter about this whole experience. If anyone out there knows WHO at Mazda I should specifically address my letter, I am all ears. Thanks!
 
Final(?) update: So it's been 3 months and my CX-9 is still in the shop. As you know it was in there for the head replacement due to the coolant leak AND a replacement transmission. Well, Mazda "comped" the head repair, after my aftermarket (CarShield) warranty would not cover it. They did say they would cover the transmission replacement, however. They (CarShield) sent a "used" transmission which went into the CX-9 (they said the remanufactured tranny proposed by the dealer was "too expensive") but IT DID NOT WORK properly. So, after several weeks, they shipped another one. That one arrived last week and this week they started to put it in. The lead tech thought the starter was weak, so a new one has been ordered (but it won't be here until next week) so we have to wait (at least) another week. (I did not bother to approach my warranty company about the starter, it just isn't worth it!!) Meanwhile we've put over 4600 miles on the "loaner" they gave us, and they'll have to give a real nice bath and do a service on it when they finally get it back from us. That is the current status. I will be writing Mazda customer service a really "nice" letter about this whole experience. If anyone out there knows WHO at Mazda I should specifically address my letter, I am all ears. Thanks!

So, Mazda stepped up and covered the head repair, even though the car is out of the factory warranty period and after your 3rd party warranty provider (CarShield) refused to cover it. Seems like a positive resolution to me.

I don't know if Mazda had the opportunity to step up for the transmission, but since your transmission issues were poorly handled by CarShield, shouldn't some blame be directed towards them? I mean yes, Mazda's transmission did fail in the first place, so that is something I would be complaining about as well. But CarShield is the one who messed up the repair, right?


Anyway, to complain to Mazda Corporate in the US, you can send a letter to:

Mazda North American Operations
Attn: Customer Experience Center
PO Box 19734
Irvine, CA 92623-9734

Or you can email the Customer Experience Center by filling out this form.

You can also call them at (800) 222-5500, Monday-Friday from 5:00 am - 6:00 pm PST and Saturday from 7:00 am - 3:00 pm PST.

I would write a letter and mail it, then send a copy of that letter to them via email. Wait a day or two, then call them on the phone, immediately requesting an escalation to a manager if possible, and then referencing the email and letter.
 
So, Mazda stepped up and covered the head repair, even though the car is out of the factory warranty period and after your 3rd party warranty provider (CarShield) refused to cover it. Seems like a positive resolution to me.

I don't know if Mazda had the opportunity to step up for the transmission, but since your transmission issues were poorly handled by CarShield, shouldn't some blame be directed towards them? I mean yes, Mazda's transmission did fail in the first place, so that is something I would be complaining about as well. But CarShield is the one who messed up the repair, right?


Anyway, to complain to Mazda Corporate in the US, you can send a letter to:

Mazda North American Operations
Attn: Customer Experience Center
PO Box 19734
Irvine, CA 92623-9734

Or you can email the Customer Experience Center by filling out this form.

You can also call them at (800) 222-5500, Monday-Friday from 5:00 am - 6:00 pm PST and Saturday from 7:00 am - 3:00 pm PST.

I would write a letter and mail it, then send a copy of that letter to them via email. Wait a day or two, then call them on the phone, immediately requesting an escalation to a manager if possible, and then referencing the email and letter.

Agree. carshield took the money then bailed out. Shouldn't need to fight to get car fixed.
 
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So, Mazda stepped up and covered the head repair, even though the car is out of the factory warranty period and after your 3rd party warranty provider (CarShield) refused to cover it. Seems like a positive resolution to me.

I don't know if Mazda had the opportunity to step up for the transmission, but since your transmission issues were poorly handled by CarShield, shouldn't some blame be directed towards them? I mean yes, Mazda's transmission did fail in the first place, so that is something I would be complaining about as well. But CarShield is the one who messed up the repair, right?


Anyway, to complain to Mazda Corporate in the US, you can send a letter to:

Mazda North American Operations
Attn: Customer Experience Center
PO Box 19734
Irvine, CA 92623-9734

Or you can email the Customer Experience Center by filling out this form.

You can also call them at (800) 222-5500, Monday-Friday from 5:00 am - 6:00 pm PST and Saturday from 7:00 am - 3:00 pm PST.

I would write a letter and mail it, then send a copy of that letter to them via email. Wait a day or two, then call them on the phone, immediately requesting an escalation to a manager if possible, and then referencing the email and letter.
I greatly appreciate this advice. I actually received similar advice from my service advisor (Phil M. at Ourisman Mazda in Rockville, MD...who has been really great throughout this who ordeal, BTW). So I will move forward accordingly. To answer one of the questions above, YES CarShield was completely abysmal in this whole process. They will be hearing from me as well...this is a lesson in "you get what you pay for" and while I got a "great deal" on my extended warranty, and they WILL cover a very expensive repair (ultimately) the pain that I and my service advisor had to go through in dealing with the "adjusters" only added insult to injury in this case.

Further, just to be clear: Mazda is not covering the entire repair. They offered only to cover a portion of it. So I will end up paying over $3,000 when this is all over (I will know the exact amount when I pick the car up tomorrow...over 3 months after taking it in!!!). Because the vehicle is out of warranty, they offered to cover roughly half of the repair. It turns out that the Mazda Techs thought the starter was weak, and they also wanted to put new plugs in the car because it was running "rough"...so rather than try to deal with my warranty company (again) I just paid for the new starter motor myself. It took almost a week to get the part and so there was another delay. Thankfully no labor was charged as the transmission was already out of the car (the other repair being done, and the one that took much longer than replacing the head...but that is another story). Finally, the service advisor allowed me to provide the spark plugs that I had already purchased (as I was going to replace them myself) to the techs for them to install them...essentially for no charge. So while it sucked to be without our car for over 3 months, our service advisor worked with us to achieve the best possible outcome. They provided a loaner for the entire time. For this I am really thankful and appreciative. I'll post again later this week to provide the final outcome on what I ended up paying for everything.
 
Are they replacing short block or just the head? I ask because I was told the short block comes with spark plugs already.
 
I will get a better picture on this later today when I pick up the invoice and see all the part numbers. I believe it was the short block, because they did not replace the cams or turbo, but it is my understanding that the valves, springs, etc. were all new. More to come...
 
So the CX-9 is back and we have been driving it for about a week and everything appears to be in order. Here is an abbreviated list of what was done to the car:
Head replaced (included new head with valves and springs and assorted other bits and pieces)
Coolant drained and refilled
Oil changed
Replaced DAMAGED AND BROKEN TURBO AND EXHAUST STUDS AND NUTS
REPLACED VALVE COVER GASKETS AND RESEAL TIMING COVER AND OIL PAN,
SET TIMING AND TORQUE BOLTS TO PROPER SPECS
Replaced Transmission (incl. changing seals and a new transmission oil cooler)
Lower intake pipe replaced (not sure why? Damaged old one taking it out maybe?)
New Starter
Rotate Tires
Tighten up front cowl bolts (occasional creaking coming from the front of the car)
This all cost me $3433.53
Transmission replacement was covered by our extended warranty and a portion of the head repair cost (a little more than half) was covered by Mazda.
Plus they (Ourisman Mazda Rockville) detailed the car for free!

A rather coincidental thing happened while our CX-9 was in the shop, they somehow dropped a garage door on top of it (by accident) and so they repainted the roof of the car. When I bought the car, the roof was completely scratched up (like down to the bare metal type scratches)...I don't know how it happened, but I didn't notice it until after I made the purchase and the selling dealer (Heritage Mazda Towson) had their "dent repair" guy touch up and seal all the deep scratches. It was a 'temporary" fix but at least it prevented rust from setting in. Well, now the roof looks GREAT and I didn't have to pay for it to be repainted. How fortunate!

Anyway, we'll have to see if these repairs hold up, but I do feel that the car is probably now worth pretty close to what I paid for it in 2021.
 
So the CX-9 is back and we have been driving it for about a week and everything appears to be in order. Here is an abbreviated list of what was done to the car:
Head replaced (included new head with valves and springs and assorted other bits and pieces)
Coolant drained and refilled
Oil changed
Replaced DAMAGED AND BROKEN TURBO AND EXHAUST STUDS AND NUTS
REPLACED VALVE COVER GASKETS AND RESEAL TIMING COVER AND OIL PAN,
SET TIMING AND TORQUE BOLTS TO PROPER SPECS
Replaced Transmission (incl. changing seals and a new transmission oil cooler)
Lower intake pipe replaced (not sure why? Damaged old one taking it out maybe?)
New Starter
Rotate Tires
Tighten up front cowl bolts (occasional creaking coming from the front of the car)
This all cost me $3433.53
Transmission replacement was covered by our extended warranty and a portion of the head repair cost (a little more than half) was covered by Mazda.
Plus they (Ourisman Mazda Rockville) detailed the car for free!

A rather coincidental thing happened while our CX-9 was in the shop, they somehow dropped a garage door on top of it (by accident) and so they repainted the roof of the car. When I bought the car, the roof was completely scratched up (like down to the bare metal type scratches)...I don't know how it happened, but I didn't notice it until after I made the purchase and the selling dealer (Heritage Mazda Towson) had their "dent repair" guy touch up and seal all the deep scratches. It was a 'temporary" fix but at least it prevented rust from setting in. Well, now the roof looks GREAT and I didn't have to pay for it to be repainted. How fortunate!

Anyway, we'll have to see if these repairs hold up, but I do feel that the car is probably now worth pretty close to what I paid for it in 2021.
Just curious. What model year was this?

And thanks for posting. Great to hear you at least got some assistance.

I'm still wondering why Mazda only partially helps offset some head costs with some owners but won't assist others at all, for those that happen outside the warranty period. There's no consistency, and you just have to hope they'll partially offset or be left holding the bag.
 
I'm still wondering why Mazda only partially helps offset some head costs with some owners but won't assist others at all, for those that happen outside the warranty period. There's no consistency, and you just have to hope they'll partially offset or be left holding the bag.

I would assume that they operate like all other customer service outfits, where they employ a bunch of people to handle cases, instead of having just one person doing everything. Pair that with the different ways that customers could approach the situation, along with the varying differences in maintenance habits and record-keeping. I know if I were one of these reps, I would be more inclined to go above and beyond for a customer who was polite, respectful, and provided a well-reasoned argument for their case.

This is NOT to say that I think that anyone who had their claim thrown out or partially covered did anything wrong or was discourteous. Generally I believe that if you're polite and respectful, others will respond in kind - but sometimes you end up with a bad rep who's just there to punch a clock.

EDIT: Looking at the repair procedure in the TSB, there are a few instances where "if x, then contact MASH for partial engine approval". So it sounds like there is at least some consistency there.
 
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I can’t speak for mazda specifically, but in general a lot of after the warranty goodwill comes from the dealership directly and not from the head office. I had issue with my infotainment screen on a Ford, Ford Canada wouldn’t do anything about it, but the dealer eventually covered it at their dime. I think they may have a certain amount of “goodwill” value they can leverage maybe ?

You will see this kind of deal when dealers covers the labour only and not the part. (The dealers have more control over labour charges than parts cost).

Also some dealers are better at and more open to initiate and push warranty claims. I have two mazda dealers in my area, one argues any warranty claim, and the other does the work without the hassle of having to fight them for it.

I would love to hear some insight from actual Mazda employees, but that is my experience in general.
 
Just curious. What model year was this?

And thanks for posting. Great to hear you at least got some assistance.

I'm still wondering why Mazda only partially helps offset some head costs with some owners but won't assist others at all, for those that happen outside the warranty period. There's no consistency, and you just have to hope they'll partially offset or be left holding the bag.
Ours was a 2016.
 
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