Well, those of us that have had the MS3 for a while and have been members of any forum know that the MS3 transmission side engine mount is pretty crappy. We also know that last year there was a recall for the bolt on that mount. The recall was done on my car and since I thought I was safe. I have 23k on my MS3, mostly driving from NJ to FL and back quite a few times, I have a Mzdaspeed CAI, 3.25" ETS TMIC, Turbosmart hybrid BOV, H&R springs, Apexi TT. Well, Friday and Saturday I was at the Mazda Corral at the 12 hours of Sebring. At about 2PM I packed the car and was leaving to go home for some rest cause I was driving back to NJ on Sunday. I was still on the Sebring midway about 400 yards from the Mazda corral going at about 2 or 3 MPH cause there were a lot of people and cars and stuff on the Midway when my wife and I heard a thump followed by a few clunks. I pull over and look under the car and see nothing, then I pop my hood and SURPRISE!!!!!(flame) my BOV was resting on my radiator and the transmission was almost on my axle. Four hours later she was towed to the dealer in Orlando. Tomorrow I will be there first thing to see WTF happened and what's gonna be done. I will post up the verdict as soon as I find out. Lucky for me and my family we were barely moving when this happened. It could have been a lot worst. When is Mazda going to realize that this mount IS a PROBLEM and it should be addressed.
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Broken Trans Mount After Recall!!!!!
- Thread starter edrive73
- Start date
Well, those of us that have had the MS3 for a while and have been members of any forum know that the MS3 transmission side engine mount is pretty crappy. We also know that last year there was a recall for the bolt on that mount. The recall was done on my car and since I thought I was safe. I have 23k on my MS3, mostly driving from NJ to FL and back quite a few times, I have a Mzdaspeed CAI, 3.25" ETS TMIC, Turbosmart hybrid BOV, H&R springs, Apexi TT. Well, Friday and Saturday I was at the Mazda Corral at the 12 hours of Sebring. At about 2PM I packed the car and was leaving to go home for some rest cause I was driving back to NJ on Sunday. I was still on the Sebring midway about 400 yards from the Mazda corral going at about 2 or 3 MPH cause there were a lot of people and cars and stuff on the Midway when my wife and I heard a thump followed by a few clunks. I pull over and look under the car and see nothing, then I pop my hood and SURPRISE!!!!!(flame) my BOV was resting on my radiator and the transmission was almost on my axle. Four hours later she was towed to the dealer in Orlando. Tomorrow I will be there first thing to see WTF happened and what's gonna be done. I will post up the verdict as soon as I find out. Lucky for me and my family we were barely moving when this happened. It could have been a lot worst. When is Mazda going to realize that this mount IS a PROBLEM and it should be addressed.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune with this...this is actually one of the first mount problems i've heard of in months and i'm sure many will be interested in what the outcome from the dealer will be. Once they see your mods they're probably going to void your warranty even if the recall was done...they'll probably pull the whole 'racing' excuse and try to void it. Regardless though these mounts should not be breaking even if you have a few mods!! Inexcusable in my opinion from the factory...i think i'm just going to stick with the MSCAI for mods and that's it. Not worth going through all this with a brand new car...again sorry to hear about this it's not your fault mazda should've made stronger mounts for all the power that this car puts down...good luck and keep us posted.
Well, those of us that have had the MS3 for a while and have been members of any forum know that the MS3 transmission side engine mount is pretty crappy. We also know that last year there was a recall for the bolt on that mount. The recall was done on my car and since I thought I was safe. I have 23k on my MS3, mostly driving from NJ to FL and back quite a few times, I have a Mzdaspeed CAI, 3.25" ETS TMIC, Turbosmart hybrid BOV, H&R springs, Apexi TT. Well, Friday and Saturday I was at the Mazda Corral at the 12 hours of Sebring. At about 2PM I packed the car and was leaving to go home for some rest cause I was driving back to NJ on Sunday. I was still on the Sebring midway about 400 yards from the Mazda corral going at about 2 or 3 MPH cause there were a lot of people and cars and stuff on the Midway when my wife and I heard a thump followed by a few clunks. I pull over and look under the car and see nothing, then I pop my hood and SURPRISE!!!!!(flame) my BOV was resting on my radiator and the transmission was almost on my axle. Four hours later she was towed to the dealer in Orlando. Tomorrow I will be there first thing to see WTF happened and what's gonna be done. I will post up the verdict as soon as I find out. Lucky for me and my family we were barely moving when this happened. It could have been a lot worst. When is Mazda going to realize that this mount IS a PROBLEM and it should be addressed.
sorry to hear about this crap, and thanks for sharing with us and keep us updated
What size socket is needed to tighten this bolt?
If my motor falls out I'm gonna be really really pissed!
you have a 08 dont you. if that the case then you dont need to worry i think they fix that problem from factory. unless someone here have their engine fall out of their 08 ms3?? hope not
- :
- 2007 MS3
you have a 08 dont you. if that the case then you dont need to worry i think they fix that problem from factory. unless someone here have their engine fall out of their 08 ms3?? hope not
That's a good theory, but I believe the only change for the 08's is that they came with the so-called upgrade already installed.
All the fix is designed to do is prevent the bolt from working its way out like the original factory install would. I watched the tech do the swap and all he did was modify the insert and replace the bolt with a new identical one that had an extra washer. I'm assuming the new bolt is just in case the previous one had been loose and gotten stressed or abraided. The mods were the alteration to the rubber insert and the extra washer, which appeared to do nothing but allow for a greater crush of the rubber portion which would limit movement and hopefully prevent the bolt from working its way loose again.
I don't see a rear motor mount upgrade in the mod list. Most guys with those kind of power mods have upgraded it. This may be the key. If the power was upgraded considerably but that rear mount wasn't upgraded, the motor could be rocking excessively, which would strain that transmission mount. If the OP just forgot to include his mount upgrade in the list, then I have no idea.
17 mm youll need an extenion , should use a torque wrench
Thank yoU!
you have a 08 dont you. if that the case then you dont need to worry i think they fix that problem from factory. unless someone here have their engine fall out of their 08 ms3?? hope not
Yes I have an 08
desperado-c
Member
- :
- Mazdaspeed3
That's a good theory, but I believe the only change for the 08's is that they came with the so-called upgrade already installed.
All the fix is designed to do is prevent the bolt from working its way out like the original factory install would. I watched the tech do the swap and all he did was modify the insert and replace the bolt with a new identical one that had an extra washer. I'm assuming the new bolt is just in case the previous one had been loose and gotten stressed or abraided. The mods were the alteration to the rubber insert and the extra washer, which appeared to do nothing but allow for a greater crush of the rubber portion which would limit movement and hopefully prevent the bolt from working its way loose again.
....
It was also a higher tensile strength bolt. I think it went from a number 8 to a number 10. I wonder if having had a new rear motor mount would help or hurt his case with Mazda. They might argue that firming up one mount would increase stress on the side mount.
I'd be worried about the ETS in terms of them trying to deny a warranty claim. That and the BOV are liabilities since both can be perceived as affecting boost. Too bad there was no time to swap them back to stock. You may have to argue with the dealer they have no net affect on boost. But it may be the TSB/recall is so well established that it would take really serious power mods (ie., turboback) for them to try to duck responsibility.
OK, went to the dealer this morning to get the verdict on the car and this is what they said. Basically they could not figure out why the bolt backed out of the mount so they came to the following possible conclusion. Because I have a stiffer rear engine mount, the other softer mounts (including the trans mount) were under greater stress, possibly causing excess vibrations and causing the bolt to back out even after the recall work was done on the car. It appears that the recall work was done to specs including loctite on the bolt so there is no reason for the bolt to come off. They suggested that I replace the stiffer rear mount and put the stock rear mount back on. The dealer was great and they will not void my warranty.The car should be ready tomorrow and I will post again when I get the full breakdown.
- :
- 2007 MS3
It was also a higher tensile strength bolt. I think it went from a number 8 to a number 10.
If that is the case, then either my original or my replacement bolt was not factory spec, because we (the tech and I) compared the markings on the boltheads and they were identical.
OK, went to the dealer this morning to get the verdict on the car and this is what they said. Basically they could not figure out why the bolt backed out of the mount so they came to the following possible conclusion. Because I have a stiffer rear engine mount, the other softer mounts (including the trans mount) were under greater stress, possibly causing excess vibrations and causing the bolt to back out even after the recall work was done on the car. It appears that the recall work was done to specs including loctite on the bolt so there is no reason for the bolt to come off. They suggested that I replace the stiffer rear mount and put the stock rear mount back on. The dealer was great and they will not void my warranty.The car should be ready tomorrow and I will post again when I get the full breakdown.
It's not that I don't believe you but this doesn't make sense. A stronger rear mount should put less stress on the other mounts right?
- :
- 2007 MS3
I would tell you to advise the dealer to get a Mazda USA rep out there ASAP to inspect this.
I understand why, but that might be shooting himself in the foot. The Mazda rep may not be as understanding about the mods as his service advisor is and he may end up with a voided warranty and get one of the good dealerships in trouble at the same time.
That's a good theory, but I believe the only change for the 08's is that they came with the so-called upgrade already installed.
All the fix is designed to do is prevent the bolt from working its way out like the original factory install would. I watched the tech do the swap and all he did was modify the insert and replace the bolt with a new identical one that had an extra washer. I'm assuming the new bolt is just in case the previous one had been loose and gotten stressed or abraided. The mods were the alteration to the rubber insert and the extra washer, which appeared to do nothing but allow for a greater crush of the rubber portion which would limit movement and hopefully prevent the bolt from working its way loose again.
I don't see a rear motor mount upgrade in the mod list. Most guys with those kind of power mods have upgraded it. This may be the key. If the power was upgraded considerably but that rear mount wasn't upgraded, the motor could be rocking excessively, which would strain that transmission mount. If the OP just forgot to include his mount upgrade in the list, then I have no idea.
The other motor that recently dropped had a SU rear motor mount installed when it happened. SO I don't think the rear motor mount will prevent anything. Also the other cars (total of 4 people) That have reported on this board also had rear motor mount upgrades.
SO either the mount was not done correctly with the right bolt/technique or not torqued correctly or everything was done correctly and the fix is still not holding up.
One of the guys had his mount broken 3 times but Im pretty sure he drags often from what I get from his posts/mods.
Also is it worth upgrade to aftermarket mount KIT from trz? Have you guys ever driven a car with all aftermarket mounts/ or inserts? Just imagine the vibration you get with rear motor mount and multiply it. I ve only drivne my track cars with all upgraded mounts because the vibration was so excessive. I cant imagine driving it as a daily driver. the rear trz poly amount is enough vibs for me.
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