Ajax1Man

Just bought a '04 with 60k miles. P0302 code battle ensued with me replacing spark plugs, wires, engine coils & fuel injectors. Engine light went from coming on at start-up to then only at high revs (after fuel injectors were replaced). Tired of doing work so took it in to Mazda. Spent $125 for diagnostic for them to tell me that work I did was fine but can't find the cause so they are now doing a 2 day $250 diagnostic.

Engine replacement keeps coming out of their mouths. I know the engine replacement is covered since its under 100k miles. My question is... what ARE they going to me hit with? Coolant & oil seem like obvious little things they'll make me pay for.

Also, they are claiming they will need it for a week & half to 2 weeks. Can I expect help with a temporary car?

First time Mazda owner so just trying to get a feel for what to expect.

Lastly, I'd like to shout out to everyone here on rx8club.com. If it wasn't for you guys and this site I would have never got the engine coils & fuel injectors replaced on my own. Top notch site, feedback, tips, illustrations and community. Pretty frustrated with this car and may end up selling after all is fixed but regardless you guys rock!

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

no temporary car.

coolant maybe, water pump maybe,

oil no, it's covered with warranty. the oil it's garbage in the first place and its supposed to be change out after the first 500 miles, if it's me I will do it in 100 miles, then 500, then 1000 then 3K and regular afterwards.

and engine warranty, u gotta be sure your car is still in the warranty. sure u are under 60K miles, but you have a 04 so u might want to check your warranty with Mazda first by calling their 800 number.

Ajax1Man

Good call - will definitely give them a buzz.

laythor

most people usually end up paying the diagnostic fee out of pocket then everything else is covered by the warranty for engine replacement.

make sure to get it up front from your dealer what they will charge

This is of course assuming Mazda NA approves the replacement, which is not always the case.

If the dealer tells you mazda denied the warranty replacement, all is not lost. You can contact corporate directly and plead your case. But this is putting the cart before the horse, just wait to hear back from them

2 weeks is also about normal for the replacement and you will get a rental car.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

no rental if u're out of b2b warranty.

Ajax1Man

Called Mazda and the cars engine warranty ends this Jan 17th. Whew. Just made it. She did confirm though that the extras such as coolant, oil, any wires and such would be out of my wallet. Anything I should be on the lookout for that they my try to get me to pay for that I shouldn't?

Thanks

laythor

when you drop off your car for the engine replacement, bring in a big box of cupcakes. I'm serious.

dirkyd3rk

Took mine in Aug 5th for engine replacement and its still not finished! I had to get my first replacement at 70k on my 2004 which isn't bad because I purchased the car at about 38k. No rental car for me but at least im pretty cool with service guy so he wont hurt my pockets too bad. Yesterday he called me and said they put engine inside but are having some "issues" so the master mechanic has to look at it. Id say expect it to be there about a month because it took them about a 2 weeks just to get engine from japan!

maranellored

2 weeks!

My dealer took just 1 week to get the engine and replace it. He called me yesterday to say that the car was ready for pick up. I'd dropped the car off last wednesday.
But then, I called Mazda USA, out of curiousity, and they seem to have idea whatsoever about the engine replacement at all.

Is that possible? Or do i smell something fishy with the dealer?
Any tell tale signs that I could use to make out if the engine was truly replaced or not? Any paperwork that I could ask of them?

Socr8tes

Why do you think the engine's coming from Japan?

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

The last engine that was replace in my car, they found the oil cooler lines leaking, due to corrosion and wouldn't release the car to me until they were replaced. Something about not replacing the lines would ruin the engine. Cost for new lines $1500. Cost to get lines off a part out car $150. Personally, I think the dealer was just trying to suck money out of me. It had been 4 yrs. Time to get this guy to buy a new car.

My first replacement engine came from Mazda Japan. But that was 05 and it took a month to get here. Since then they have been having them rebuilt in the states. Any delays, longer than a week, are likely due to parts shortages due to their typhoon or backlog at the rebuild facility.
Member of the 4th Engine Club

Ajax1Man

Thanks all. A month would be rough. just give me an engine so I can take out to track days at Laguna already!!!!

**UPDATE**
Doing the 2 day diagnostic and they sent 3 pages of info to Mazda Technical Support who said to replace the spark plugs even though my local guys said they were good. (they were replaced this past month as the first step of solving this engine light issue).

So $210 for plugs but they were nice enough to not charge for labor. I feel special. That was yesterday afternoon. Hoping to hear something from them here shortly. I did their word that should the plugs not be the cause I wouldn't have to pay the $210. We'll see.

RogueTadhg

Crossing fingers and toes for you.