I have the car in the shop for a coolant leak and at 580 miles they tell me that it needs a new engine block. It is a weekend car for me so I have had for three months already. This is insane that a new car should need a new engine at 600 miles. They are contacting Mazda on Monday to see what they have to say. Has anybody heard of this being problem before?

Yep, but not for some time. At least it happened early on. Do a search and you will find at least one other person that had this happen. What is your last 6 digits in your vin#, or mfg date?

Good luck,

Was anyone offered a buyback that needed a new engine.I know I do not want a 600 mile car that is on it's second engine.

I did not hear of anyone getting that. I can see your position though. However, those that did get new engines received completely new drop in packages that included all new components, wiring, etc. Mazda wanted the bad ones back complete for inspection.

Good luck,

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try for the buyback and see what they say. They bought back cars with nothing wrong with them because of miss stated HP.

I can understand that a replacement engine sounds like something that you only do on used cars, but think of it as Mazda putting something better in your car, that should have been there in the first place. The engines are sealed assemblies from the factory, and your engine will probably go back to Mazda for analysis. Its up to you, but I would rather stay with the same car (better the devil you know) than try for a new one.

Your decision.

P.S. Rotaries don't have a 'block', they have rotor housings sealed together with O-rings. It is from around these O-rings your coolant leak is probably sourced

You want the new engine! Maurice found it was much better than his original.

There seems to have been a machining error on some of the engine parts - "O" ring grove poorly aligned or something. Luckly it's not too common. There are also small "O" rings used around the long bolts that hold the engine together (actually around the hollow tubes that align the housings - the bolts go through the tubes). These have also failed in the past, though this is much less common than the main "O" rings failing.

Topgun, I have heard of this issue happening to a few people already who experienced coolant in the engine block. From what I recall all of these incidents happened to early production vehicles. One user I have spoken to in person, "ectomort", had his engine replaced and is running fine. I have heard of no instance where a dealer offered or gave a buyback due to a lost engine.

I had no problems with performance on this engine it ran strong.
It did have a fair amount of pinging in it. I noticed coolant on the floor of garage a few weeks ago. Do these engines have VIN #s on them? I would hate to have to explain that the car is on its second engine after 600 miles. I buy a new toy car every year and that hurts enough without having a horror story on top of it.

Man, I didn't whine this much when my Porsche Boxster ate its engine at 7500 miles....

It has nothing to do about whining. It has to do with a car I just bought needing a new engine and I was looking for information. I thank the guys who gave me info that was helpful. I guess there has to always be one idiot in the group. I was looking for help not BS from somebody I do not even know!

whoa whoa, relax Topgun. Psylence doesn't mean anything by it.

yeah, having it fail early is a bit of a lucky stroke, and the new one ought to be better.

If he did not mean it he would not have said it. No big deal. Mazda had no interest in doing anything for me. They just told me to read my warranty manual. They ordered the new engine today and said it might take two weeks for it to come in.I hope I have better luck with the new engine.

I had my engine replaced at 5000 miles for the coolant leak. It was happening since I had 1000 miles and it took them that long to figure it out. Anyways Got 9000 miles on the car and havn't seen a CEL. Runs great! And the new engine came complete with everything. So I wouldn't worry too much if you have to get a new one.

Topgun,

What is your build date?

I think it was sept. 03. I looked when the first recall came out and it did not apply to me. But the car is in the shop and I do not recall 100%. I bought it mid Dec.

I just got off the phone with the dealer. They are no longer swapping out complete engines. They are just changing the block and taking the rest off the old engine.Could they get any cheaper at taking care of this problem.

That is kinda weak...but if it fixes the prob and your butt gets back in the seat, then thats all that matters.

Topgun, I have heard of this issue happening to a few people already who experienced coolant in the engine block. From what I recall all of these incidents happened to early production vehicles. One user I have spoken to in person, "ectomort", had his engine replaced and is running fine. I have heard of no instance where a dealer offered or gave a buyback due to a lost engine.

My engine was just replaced at 46K miles. Cause: coolant leak from rear rotor housing. It probably wouldn't have been found if I hadn't provided them with a detailed list of issues I was having. The issues I decribed that led to the engine replacement were a whirring, ticking sound from the engine on startup, and I could hear air bubbles in the coolant circulating behind the dash. The leak must have been very minor (never saw it on the garage floor), and the engine still seemed to run (fairly) normally.

My best advice to anyone taking a car in for service - sit down at the computer and type up in detail every possible issue you can think of. The two issues I mentioned were only put on there as an afterthought - I was primarily going in for a vibration and a brake shudder problem.

Also realize that they are replacing engines, because it is much easier and probably better than having a Mazda tech break yours down and try to rebuild it. They are not the same as piston engines.