NA CX-5 with Cylinder Deactivation Engine Repairs - Report In

Thanks for the update. If you can review the invoice and find the part number of the replacement cylinder head, someone here might be able to verify if the head is the revised one.
I don't really understand why you guys think Mazda has started using revised/redesigned cylinder heads in production..?
The latest TSB clearly indicates that it is applicable for even the 2022 model (I am attaching the screenshot).
My 2022 model CX5 was built 12/21 (the sticker on the engine shows 12/21 as well), but technically it is a 2022 model.
In my understanding, based on the latest TSB even the 2022 CX-5 model has the old defective cylinder head.
Correct me if I am wrong.
 

Attachments

  • TSB.jpg
    TSB.jpg
    123.5 KB · Views: 157
the date in red shows the updated text in red. It doesnt mean thst cars made on that date are affected. The applicable models years are listed.
2022 models are not affected based on the bulletin.
 
... If you can review the invoice and find the part number of the replacement cylinder head, someone here might be able to verify if the head is the revised one.
The part number that @JRMMTB just posted is the same one that's been sent out ever since Mazda packaged all of the individual valve components into a single head unit, as described in their TSBs.

And once again, I've never seen anything from Mazda confirming that this NA head has had any changes made to it over time, as they have done with the turbo head. And that's probably why his dealer waffled with the answer - he just doesn't know.
 
...find the part number of the replacement cylinder head, someone here might be able to verify if the head is the revised one.
An earlier report in a related thread also lists PYY4-10-SJ0 as the replacement cylinder head for a 2018.

Per realmazdaparts.com and mazda-parts.com, PYFA-10-100E is the part number of the cylinder head for the 2018 CX-5. When you look up PYY4-10-SJ0 and run the checker to see whether that p/n fits the 2018 CX-5, it says "This part does not fit your 2018 Mazda CX-5."

That suggests PYY4-10-SJ0 is different from the original head. I say "suggests" because part number changes aren't always associated with physical changes in a part. Sometimes it's just a bookkeeping thing or indicative of a change in the supply chain.
 
"I don't really understand why you guys think Mazda has started using revised/redesigned cylinder heads in production"..?

One might think that the 'head of warranty claims' would pick up the phone and call the 'head of engineering' and he would call the 'head of castings' and ask if
a small adjustment could be made to save potentially millions in warranty repairs
and a bad reliability rating to follow. [early on]
Probably not that simple in Japan.
 
Last edited:
"I don't really understand why you guys think Mazda has started using revised/redesigned cylinder heads in production"..?

One might think that the 'head of warranty claims' would pick up the phone and call the 'head of engineering' and he would call the 'head of castings' and ask if
a small adjustment could be made to save potentially millions in warranty repairs
and a bad reliability rating to follow. [early on]
Probably not that simple in Japan.
The Gen 2 engines have outstanding reliability records. A small percentage of anecdotal failures do not translate to bad reliability. As far as the anecdotes are concerned we know of at least one suspect report from a banned poster. Some reports on Reddit look suspect. How many are actually legit?

You'd think phony posters would not have the nerve to post a complaint on the NHTSA site. When I checked not too long ago there was a grand total of one report of a cracked cylinder head for the 2020 model year at NHTSA.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Gen 2 engines have outstanding reliability records. A small percentage of anecdotal failures do not translate to bad reliability. As far as the anecdotes are concerned we know of at least one suspect report from a banned poster. Some reports on Reddit look suspect. How many are actually legit?

You'd think phony posters would not have the nerve to post a complaint on the NHTSA site. When I checked not too long ago there was a grand total of one report of a cracked cylinder head for the 2020 model year at NHTSA.
Again, it isn’t how many cracked cylinder heads happened in the 2.5L NA with cylinder deactivation, but it’s the matter of the severity of the problem. Just ask yourself how many reports here and else where including the NHTSA complaints you had seen on fallen rocker arms for the same engine? We’d only seen 2 reports here until Mazda North American Operations issued the safety recall in 2019.

The potential of the cracked head is there forever, as there’re plenty of reports just in this forum. Not to mention the Russian YouTube video posted from Ukraine clearly showed the weak area which is so thin comparing to other heads and it’s why the area is prone to crack.

And we haven’t talked about another severe problem on the same engine, the failing switchable hydraulic lash adjusters where Mazda has issued several TSBs for the problem.

BTW, not all gen-2 CX-5’s feature this engine. Gen-2 CX-5 released in 2017, but the 2.5L NA with cylinder deactivation released in 2018.
 
Again, it isn’t how many cracked cylinder heads happened in the 2.5L NA with cylinder deactivation, but it’s the matter of the severity of the problem. Just ask yourself how many reports here and else where including the NHTSA complaints you had seen on fallen rocker arms for the same engine? We’d only seen 2 reports here until Mazda North American Operations issued the safety recall in 2019.

The potential of the cracked head is there forever, as there’re plenty of reports just in this forum. Not to mention the Russian YouTube video posted from Ukraine clearly showed the weak area which is so thin comparing to other heads and it’s why the area is prone to crack.

And we haven’t talked about another severe problem on the same engine, the failing switchable hydraulic lash adjusters where Mazda has issued several TSBs for the problem.

BTW, not all gen-2 CX-5’s feature this engine. Gen-2 CX-5 released in 2017, but the 2.5L NA with cylinder deactivation released in 2018.
It's a broken record that may bear repeating: Consumer reports shows 4 out of 5 for "Engine - Major" for years 2017 - 2019, with 2017 being pre-CD. 2020 - 2022 rate 5 out of 5.

Mazda sells 150,000 CX-5's, give or take, per year in the US along. You're going to need a whole lot more anecdotes than what you've seen to raise this to a level of probabilistic concern. Of course no one needs to be told that scare tactics sell on the webinets and interweb, which have become a fear-industrial complex in all manner of things.

Your repetition on this matter is beginning to sound like schadenfreude. So, you keep your 2016 with, what was it, 3 recalls and 7 repairs during the warranty period and I'll keep my 2020 with neither of each.
 
It's a broken record that may bear repeating: Consumer reports shows 4 out of 5 for "Engine - Major" for years 2017 - 2019, with 2017 being pre-CD. 2020 - 2022 rate 5 out of 5.

Mazda sells 150,000 CX-5's, give or take, per year in the US along. You're going to need a whole lot more anecdotes than what you've seen to raise this to a level of probabilistic concern. Of course no one needs to be told that scare tactics sell on the webinets and interweb, which have become a fear-industrial complex in all manner of things.

Your repetition on this matter is beginning to sound like schadenfreude. So, you keep your 2016 with, what was it, 3 recalls and 7 repairs during the warranty period and I'll keep my 2020 with neither of each.
Yeah I still remember Consumer Reports recommended new VW Rabbit and then listed those in Do Not Buy list years later. I still remember CR put out a couple of fake reports about roll-over stories on Isuzu Trooper and Sidekick where the editor ordered the driver doing whatever it takes to make the vehicle rolled. I still read the CR from time to time, but I do use my own judgement to make decisions.

Apparently you keep ignoreing the YouTube video which showed the evidence of poor design of the cylinder head on the 2.5L NA with CD. Yeah my 2016 CX-5 does have 4 recalls and 10 warranty repairs (1 of them has become a recall later), but none of them are as severe as the cracked cylinder head and failing hydraulic lash adjusters. And I do recommend 2016 and 2016.5 CX-5 here all the time.

You said repeatly a previous member here made a fake report about the cracked head, and implied there’re many more who are trying to ruin Mazda’s reputation. But I’d say this has to be very rare. If there’re people who are trying to destroy a car manufacture’s reputation, they should go against Toyota who is selling the most cars, or even Honda, but not against Mazda.

If you read car news world wide, you’ll find Mazda’s quality and reliability have been falling recently in Asia and many car enthusiasts have no longer consider Mazda vehicles which are reliable.

I’m not trying to scare people here like you accused, but only stating the fact.
 
Yeah my 2016 CX-5 does have 4 recalls and 10 warranty repairs (1 of them has become a recall later), but none of them are as severe as the cracked cylinder head and failing hydraulic lash adjusters.
Your repair record is horrible. You should at least stop recommending people buy a 2016 if you're going by anecdotal experiences.

The fact of the matter is you have no idea what the frequency of those issues might be. And your assumption that the cylinder head is badly designed is a speculation. Some video instance and a handful of reports could be the result of a bad run of parts or the raw material going into them.

By the way, I didn't say most reports of these problems are fake. I said some could be because I see problems within some of those reports. I didn't even mention the possibility of duplicates across platforms. I mean really, people lie on the internet just for sport, let alone whatever advantage they might see in doing so, like thinking if enough people complain, legitimately or not, Mazda will do something about it, as with Jack Rabbit. Some people might exaggerate problems with a particular model year to demonstrate their wisdom and justify their ownership of a different one. But even if every one of the reports was legit, there still are not enough to raise a concern given some 750.,000 CX's have been sold in the US alone since 2018.

I'll stick with the CR survey results, a larger sample without the nonsense internet forums tend to attract.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Your repair record is horrible. You should at least stop recommending people buy a 2016 if you're going by anecdotal experiences.
The warranty repairs to me isn’t severely enough to stop me recommending my 2016 CX-5. Of course the 2016.5 CX-5 is the best to me if I was looking for a used CX-5. I’d never recommend a car with potential major engine problems however you think it’s rare.

The fact of the matter is you have no idea what the frequency of those issues might be. And your assumption that the cylinder head is badly designed is a speculation. Some video instance and a handful of reports could be the result of a bad run of parts or the raw material going into them.
The fact of the matter is I have a clear idea of the bad design on the cylinder head form the 2.5L NA with CD by looking at the video posted by the guy who took apart the engine. The thickness of aluminum in problem area was around 2 mm but others are about 7 mm. This’s without the doubt a bad design, not a bad run of parts or the raw material.

Again, watch the video, don’t just speculate.
 
You guys might be better off ignoring each other regarding this topic, it's pretty clear that neither of you is going to change the other's mind.
 
It's a broken record that may bear repeating: Consumer reports shows 4 out of 5 for "Engine - Major" for years 2017 - 2019, with 2017 being pre-CD. 2020 - 2022 rate 5 out of 5.
If you prefer a vehicle with 4 out of 5 rating in certain MYs for "Engine - Major" reported by Consumer Reports, that’s your choice. But you shouldn’t claim “the Gen 2 engines have outstanding reliability records” with such rating by CR. I’d choose a used car with 5 out of 5 for "Engine - Major" any day, and there’re plenty of them available.
 
An earlier report in a related thread also lists PYY4-10-SJ0 as the replacement cylinder head for a 2018.

Per realmazdaparts.com and mazda-parts.com, PYFA-10-100E is the part number of the cylinder head for the 2018 CX-5. When you look up PYY4-10-SJ0 and run the checker to see whether that p/n fits the 2018 CX-5, it says "This part does not fit your 2018 Mazda CX-5."

That suggests PYY4-10-SJ0 is different from the original head. I say "suggests" because part number changes aren't always associated with physical changes in a part. Sometimes it's just a bookkeeping thing or indicative of a change in the supply chain.
If you look at the older service alert (SA-058/20) then it lists the new part number for the kit and then the components of the kit, including PYY4-10-SJO. But then below it lists what PYY4-10-SJO contains, where the first item on the list is "Head, Cylinder (Older Assembly)". That's not too reassuring if it's not a new design. The second SA (031/21) does not list any part numbers but suggests that there is a new cylinder head. There is a new assembly, but this could only be the fact that it is a kit, maybe? I hope it is a new design because I have a 2.5 NA built in 6/22 (a very late 2022).
 
Here are the receipts. I was planning to keep this one after the lease expires but now I have doubts about the repair done on the engine. 2019 CX5 NA DC.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3594.jpg
    IMG_3594.jpg
    156.5 KB · Views: 122
Here are the receipts. I was planning to keep this one after the lease expires but now I have doubts about the repair done on the engine. 2019 CX5 NA DC.
Thanks for reporting in with a service novice for the cracked cylinder head on your 2.5L NA with cylinder deactivation. Personally I wouldn’t keep any vehicles with cylinder deactivation for long term based on the history of such system.
 
If you look at the older service alert (SA-058/20) then it lists the new part number for the kit and then the components of the kit, including PYY4-10-SJO. But then below it lists what PYY4-10-SJO contains, where the first item on the list is "Head, Cylinder (Older Assembly)". That's not too reassuring if it's not a new design. The second SA (031/21) does not list any part numbers but suggests that there is a new cylinder head. There is a new assembly, but this could only be the fact that it is a kit, maybe? I hope it is a new design because I have a 2.5 NA built in 6/22 (a very late 2022).
I looked further into this, PYY4-10-SJ0 is listed as replacing 3 older part numbers, listing 2018-21 Mazda 3 and 6. It says Mexico built. I think it is just a mistake that they omitted the CX-5. PYY5-10-SJ0 is another part that is Japan built and without cylinder deactivation. There is also PYY6-10-SJ0, which I found listed for CX-50, but then it says that the PYY4 replaces it if you look up PYY6. Also, in looking for parts for 2022 and later, I can't find anything on these "discount" dealer websites.........
 
We had this problem on our 2018 CX-5 GT (normally aspirated).
Noticed a burning oil smell and took it to our mechanic. He spotted the leak at the head and told us to take it to the dealer as Mazda may cover the repair.
Took it to the dealer and found we had a cracked cylinder head. Quoted over $5,000 to repair.
We were 3 weeks past the 5 year powertrain warranty.
I called Mazda Customer Experience and told them I expect Mazda to pay for this as it is a known issue and I've been a loyal Mazda customer for decades.
They offered to pay for all but $250 which I accepted. Should have the car back this week.
I still feel they should have paid for the entire repair as it is not an isolated issue.
 
We had this problem on our 2018 CX-5 GT (normally aspirated).
Noticed a burning oil smell and took it to our mechanic. He spotted the leak at the head and told us to take it to the dealer as Mazda may cover the repair.
Took it to the dealer and found we had a cracked cylinder head. Quoted over $5,000 to repair.
We were 3 weeks past the 5 year powertrain warranty.
I called Mazda Customer Experience and told them I expect Mazda to pay for this as it is a known issue and I've been a loyal Mazda customer for decades.
They offered to pay for all but $250 which I accepted. Should have the car back this week.
I still feel they should have paid for the entire repair as it is not an isolated issue.
Our powertrain warranty on our 2018 CX5 will expire in a few weeks also. They need to extend the warranty on these engines like Mazda did years ago on their rotary engines. Glad to hear they covered most of the cost for you.

How many miles on your CX5?
 
Back