Just bought a 2016 CX-5 2.2L Diesel, any advice for things to check or do?

[Spruce15]

And secondly, look forward to joining your community!

Just seeing if anyone has anything they recommend I look into or check, or upgrade soon?

The car is on 100k miles, and has been serviced well at Mazda main dealers it's whole life. Doesn't look like there's been any major repairs or timing chains or belts (not sure what it has and what the intervals are?).

Any tips welcome!

 

[wlong01]

Not too many CX-5 diesels in the US or this site. I only know of one person on this board with a diesel. Hopefully our European neighbors with diesels will weigh in.

 

[HyFlyer]

Hello @Spruce15 and welcome to mazdas247 😁

... Not too many CX-5 diesels in the US or this site. I only know of one person on this board with a diesel. ...

Here I am. The one and only "Unicar" driver lol .

Spruce, what part of the world do you live? Does your cx5 SkyActiv-D use Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF, "AdBlue") ?

As far as things to do or look out for...

I would highly suggest that you invest in the FORscan app for your phone paired with a Bluetooth adapter to get a better look at things going inside the car's systems.

Known problems / issues to be aware of and watch out for with your model are:
Blown head gaskets/cracked cylinder heads from sudden overheating with no warning
Oil dilution / rising oil levels
Oil pump inlet blockage from soot contamination of the oil
Camshaft wear from oil problems
Timing chain wear from oil problems
Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) clogging
EGR system clogging with carbon

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Sure, there are stories out there on forums about overheating and cracked heads and other problems but I imagine there are lots of folks with a good experience too.

The SkyActiv-D is not (in my opinion) well suited to short distance urban travel with many start/stop cycles. It is more suited to longer driving where it can spend time at full operating temperature to burn off fuel in the oil and run it's DPF regeneration cycles.

I monitor my car with the FORscan app and see DPF regeneration cycles around every 200 miles. I make it a point to (as much as I can) always let the car complete a Regen cycle once it begins and continue driving a few minutes at least afterwards since it can run Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) of 1300°F or more. Pay attention to how often it regen's the DPF. If you notice the interval dropping consistently (there are variations based on driving environment... Open road is less frequent and city driving is more) and/or the DPF not clearing itself out completely those would be signs that it's beginning to get clogged up.

Use a good quality low ash motor oil such as Mobil1 ESP 0w/30 (or similar) that is specifically designed for diesel engine emissions systems. Don't skimp on changing the oil and filter to protect your timing chain, camshaft and turbos. Change the oil at recommended intervals. You can monitor the amount of timing chain "stretch" with the FORscan app. Mine started out with about 1.4° of camshaft differential angle and now at almost 70k miles is about 1.6° (they say 10° is about the limit and would require a new timing chain). If you get a lot of oil level rising (oil dilution with diesel fuel) you will need to change the oil. (I have only had minor oil dilution. So far, never enough to require an early oil change). You can see all of my UOA reports from new in the UOA thread if you like.

Mostly I just drive and enjoy my 2019 North American 2.2 liter SkyActiv-D powered CX5 efficiency, power and diesel powertrain's character and flavor. I bought mine new and now have about 70k miles on it with no issues. I hope you have a similar experience with your car 😁

 

[yrwei52]

And secondly, look forward to joining your community!

Just seeing if anyone has anything they recommend I look into or check, or upgrade soon?

The car is on 100k miles, and has been serviced well at Mazda main dealers it's whole life. Doesn't look like there's been any major repairs or timing chains or belts (not sure what it has and what the intervals are?).

Any tips welcome!

All good advices from one the only 2.2L diesel owner HyFlyer here. He bought his 2019 CX-5 2.2D brand new in the US, and that’s the only MY Mazda offers the diesel CX-5 in the US.

With 100K miles on your 2016 CX-5 2.2D diesel, unfortunately my only advice to you is: unload the diesel CX-5 ASAP.

Just search the forum on diesel CX-5 ⋯

 

[Spruce15]

Hello @Spruce15 and welcome to mazdas247 😁



Here I am. The one and only "Unicar" driver lol .

Spruce, what part of the world do you live? Does your cx5 SkyActiv-D use Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF, "AdBlue") ?

As far as things to do or look out for...

I would highly suggest that you invest in the FORscan app for your phone paired with a Bluetooth adapter to get a better look at things going inside the car's systems.

Known problems / issues to be aware of and watch out for with your model are:
Blown head gaskets/cracked cylinder heads from sudden overheating with no warning
Oil dilution / rising oil levels
Oil pump inlet blockage from soot contamination of the oil
Camshaft wear from oil problems
Timing chain wear from oil problems
Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) clogging
EGR system clogging with carbon

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Sure, there are stories out there on forums about overheating and cracked heads and other problems but I imagine there are lots of folks with a good experience too.

The SkyActiv-D is not (in my opinion) well suited to short distance urban travel with many start/stop cycles. It is more suited to longer driving where it can spend time at full operating temperature to burn off fuel in the oil and run it's DPF regeneration cycles.

I monitor my car with the FORscan app and see DPF regeneration cycles around every 200 miles. I make it a point to (as much as I can) always let the car complete a Regen cycle once it begins and continue driving a few minutes at least afterwards since it can run Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) of 1300°F or more. Pay attention to how often it regen's the DPF. If you notice the interval dropping consistently (there are variations based on driving environment... Open road is less frequent and city driving is more) and/or the DPF not clearing itself out completely those would be signs that it's beginning to get clogged up.

Use a good quality low ash motor oil such as Mobil1 ESP 0w/30 (or similar) that is specifically designed for diesel engine emissions systems. Don't skimp on changing the oil and filter to protect your timing chain, camshaft and turbos. Change the oil at recommended intervals. You can monitor the amount of timing chain "stretch" with the FORscan app. Mine started out with about 1.4° of camshaft differential angle and now at almost 70k miles is about 1.6° (they say 10° is about the limit and would require a new timing chain). If you get a lot of oil level rising (oil dilution with diesel fuel) you will need to change the oil. (I have only had minor oil dilution. So far, never enough to require an early oil change). You can see all of my UOA reports from new in the UOA thread if you like.

Mostly I just drive and enjoy my 2019 North American 2.2 liter SkyActiv-D powered CX5 efficiency, power and diesel powertrain's character and flavor. I bought mine new and now have about 70k miles on it with no issues. I hope you have a similar experience with your car 😁

That's alot of info, thanks for sharing! Mine is the last year before ad blue was introduced, so I don't need to worry about that.


95% of my journeys are fairly long distance, 1hr minimum usually so shouldn't be too hard to keep on top of regens and keeping the DPF happy... hopefully.

I'm in the UK, so diesels are much more prevalent here, and with the cost of fuel, generally cheaper to run (as long as anything expensive doesn't break!)

What adaptor would you recommend for Bluetooth connection, as that sounds like something that's very handy to keep an eye on.

Does the car let you know that it is performing a regen?

 

[HyFlyer]

What adaptor would you recommend for Bluetooth connection, as that sounds like something that's very handy to keep an eye on.

On the FORscan website, they list several Bluetooth adapters that they recommend. Personally, I use the https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Does the car let you know that it is performing a regen?

There isn't any indication from the car to let you know a regen is in progress. I think Mazda wanted it to be "seamless" with no driver involvement. They don't want you to "worry" about the system and to just drive and enjoy. They say there is no problem with stopping in the middle of a regen cycle and it will just just run another cycle when necessary. Personally, I don't agree with that and I believe it is NOT a good thing to suddenly turn off the motor when it is operating at high EGT's and it is better for it to fully complete the cycle as much as possible. Sure, there are occasional times that a situation pops up where I need to stop or if Mrs HyFlyer takes it on a trip she doesn't pay any attention to that stuff so it can happen, I just work to limit it as much as feasible. It's not hard to do ... With FORscan I can predict when it's about ready to regen and if it's going to be close to when I need to stop I can choose to either "give it the beans" to get it into regen and get it done -or- conversely drive very easy to stretch it to my destination and "defer" the regen till next drive. I wish it did have a button to "inhibit" or "induce" the regeneration cycle manually if I chose.

About the only thing you will notice from the car is the "instant" mpg readout will be lower than normal for about 10 minutes.

 

[APDunne]

Hello,

Also in the UK with a diesel CX-5 - mine's the 2015 - very early facelift.

I use a USB OBD2 reader - but it's also a vLinker one - the FS. I used Forscan to enable the auto locking menu, but I'm a long-time Forscan user as I came from an S-Max.

I've only had the car for 6 months, so still getting used to it. Really enjoying it so far though.

A

 

[Spruce15]

Hello,

Also in the UK with a diesel CX-5 - mine's the 2015 - very early facelift.

I use a USB OBD2 reader - but it's also a vLinker one - the FS. I used Forscan to enable the auto locking menu, but I'm a long-time Forscan user as I came from an S-Max.

I've only had the car for 6 months, so still getting used to it. Really enjoying it so far though.

A

Great to hear.

Finally picked it up yesterday, liking it so far! I've been a honda civic guy for a good few years, so taking a bit of getting used to, but really enjoying it so far.

Got lucky with one that has white leather interior, makes it feel quite premium.

Thanks for the tips on OBD2 readers, will definitely be getting one!

 

[Spruce15]

Here's a little photo of it

 

[yrwei52]

One of the worst problems on Mazda’s SkyActiv-D 2.2L diesel before using the AdBlue DEF is the sudden overheating without warnings. Some countries such as Taiwan, ROC has mandated (after many CX-5 diesel owners protested to the government) the Mazda to extend engine warranty on overheating for life which made Mazda Taiwan stopped importing the popular diesel vehicles into the country a couple of years ago.

Although there’re only a few discussions on Mazda’s 2.2D here, but here’re some discussions on the 2.2D from this forum:

In Taiwan ROC Ministry calls for Mazda to respond to Safety Probe

Blown head gasket for CX-5 Diesel

2015 Mazda CX-5 engine replacement?

Need help with my CX-5 2014 Skyactiv 2.2L Diesel

2015 CX-5 2.2L Head Gasket Conundrum

CX-5 2016 Blown Head Gasket

2.2L CX-5 Diesel head gasket blown...DIY fix?

Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring 2012 2.2L Diesel Coolant leak?

Recalled for potential issues with diesel engines between 2012-2018

Carbon deposits in the intake shutter valve (CX-5)

And this’s the latest wows on Mazda’s 2.2D with broken oil pump chain. The same CX-5 owner group who pushed Taiwan government for mandating lifetime engine warranty on overheating now is pushing the government to warranty this oil pump chain problem:

Oil Pump Chain Broken While Driving Mazda 2.2L Diesel

Finally, if you have time, you can read this long thread with 2341 posts and you’ll understand more about history and problems on Mazda’s 2.2D:

How many Brits? Fancy a cuppa?