Blown CX-5 Head Gasket?

[rickprins]

Update: The car is back! The dealer put a brand new 2.5l engine in the car on Monday and also performed a transmission fluid flush. Total cost with my employee discount was $5375.

I considered all of the options presented above and decided on my course of action based on the following:

• This car has been paid off for about a year now.
• I've not had a single thing go wrong with it until this issue.
• I know the history of the vehicle - I've owned it since 9k miles (bought as a CPO).
• With the new engine I will have a warranty of at least 12 mo/12k miles, and the service manager says he can probably stretch that if I have all of my future service (oil changes, etc...) done at the dealer - preferably his shop.
• Scrapping the car would have netted me maybe $2K (I don't have the time or means of parting it out). Adding the $5400 cost onto that gives me about $7400 for another car. I haven't seen anything for under $10k that's as nice as my car now that it's repaired. Once again, I know the history of my car!

Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, suggestions, and opinions!

Edit: grammar

 

[yrwei52]

Update: The car is back! The dealer put a brand new 2.5l engine in the car on Monday and also performed a transmission fluid flush. Total cost with my employee discount was $5375.

Thanks for the update. Would you mind to post the invoice for the repair made by your Mazda dealer?

As I mentioned before, the master tech of my Mazda dealer has admitted that Mazda North American Operations send them “factory rebuilt” engines and transmissions all the time, rarely he sees a true “brand new” engine and transmission from Japan.

BTW, no Mazda dealer will do a true ATF “flush” on SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmission due to the natural of design with no outside ATF lines available to hook up a commercial ATF flush machine.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Ah, now you are all making me nervous. My 2014 is at 111k now.

 

[yrwei52]

Ah, now you are all making me nervous. My 2014 is at 111k now.

Not to worry. This 2.5L (and the 2.0L) NA without cylinder deactivation is still the most reliable engine Mazda has offered since 2012.

Make sure to change the coolant with FL22 which is due very soon on your 2.5L.

 

[ceric]

Not to worry. This 2.5L (and the 2.0L) NA without cylinder deactivation is still the most reliable engine Mazda has offered since 2012

I agree to that (has three of them) except for the belt tensioner.... failed on one of my three.
No problem other than that. '14, '16 and '17. All 2.5L NA.

 

[rickprins]

Yes - this! Change that coolant with FL22.

 

[kgrub96]

Backstory: 2014 CX-5 Touring with 130k miles. Was getting flashing red engine light, with no heat from the vents. It also shut down a few times while my kid limped it home. Code scan was P011A. I replaced thermostat and burped coolant, but still got the same issues. I figured the water pump had failed and heater core is probably plugged.

So I'm replacing my water pump & heater core, along with flushing the coolant, and an oil change since it's due (plus I can check for coolant in the oil). When I drain the radiator I don't get more than gallon of coolant. This also happened when I did the thermostat, but I thought maybe there was coolant in the engine that wasn't draining. Well when I drained the oil it didn't appear that there was coolant mixed in, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be seeing. The oil looks like brown milk chocolate. However, what DOES concern me is I drained nearly four 2 liter pop (soda) bottles worth of oil! Am I looking at a blown head gasket? I'm guessing "yes".

Any help is appreciated! I will probably be replacing the head gasket myself unless the almighty Youtube scares me off.

I have an identical story which started a month ago, P011A. Engine overheated, got it home. Thermostat seemed to be functioning but still ordered a new one, water pump seemed to be working. Tore apart the engine over the last few weeks and took the head to a machine shop. Cracked head

 

[madar]

I have an identical story which started a month ago, P011A. Engine overheated, got it home. Thermostat seemed to be functioning but still ordered a new one, water pump seemed to be working. Tore apart the engine over the last few weeks and took the head to a machine shop. Cracked head

What year? 2014?

 

[Jack Rabbit]

I have an identical story which started a month ago, P011A. Engine overheated, got it home. Thermostat seemed to be functioning but still ordered a new one, water pump seemed to be working. Tore apart the engine over the last few weeks and took the head to a machine shop. Cracked head

Just a thought. If the engine is otherwise ok. Is machine shop gonna attempt weld? If not, I saw a video a few months ago where someone had used metal epoxy weld on a head and it held up. Not the ideal fix but still an alternative Preferably you get a new head, or the machine shop carefully welds it.

 

[kgrub96]

2015! Machine shop didn't have to do much besides cleaning it off, then found a big crack running up, mixing in the oil galley. Looking for a new head at this point, slim pickings for a 2.5L it seems.

 

[HyFlyer]

@kgrub96 ,

How many miles on your 2015?

Are you the original owner since new?

Were you personally driving when the overheating situation occured? If so, did you have any advance warning from the car it was getting hot?

Is there a reason that you found for the overheating?( Kind of a "what came first ... The chicken or the egg question) Did the overheating crack the head or did the head crack causing the overheating?

 

[Jack Rabbit]

2015! Machine shop didn't have to do much besides cleaning it off, then found a big crack running up, mixing in the oil galley. Looking for a new head at this point, slim pickings for a 2.5L it seems.

On an 8 year old, If it was my vehicle and it was turned off when it overheated and knew the engine wasn't ruined, I would see pricing on a new head and install.
You could still get another several years out of the vehicle so may be worth it to pay for a New head.

I'd also see if mazda would goodwill part's at cost. Can't hurt to ask.

Otherwise I would get pricing for someone to low-heat aluminum weld if crack's in a repairable location. This would be prefeable if they can do it.

Next would probably try the DIY epoxy weld trick(which seems to hold up well based on videos i've seen) if it was an easily repairable location or lastly just get a salvage engine. If you cant get a new head, only cost you the price of tube of epoxy-weld plus install and new gaskets. After-all it's already tore apart.

Any other engine, I'd just get a salvage but all these engines seem to be frigged up so thats the last hailmary option. I'd rather try epoxy-weld as my last option if mine goes.

Do a cost benefit analysis of each option and then decide.