DFW Blown Struts Part 2
 

So I brought my car to the dealer today to check alot of issues.

This is what I went in for
1. Oil light coming on and off more frequently than normal (possibly related due to heat)

Was told the sensor wasnt reporting sometimes but that it looked fine now and was working and oil levels looked good. Told I need a new oil pan. 400 for pan and labor.

2. Coolant light coming on and off more frequently. Not related to heat due to it coming on soon after turning the car on after it being in the garage all day.

Was told needed a new resovoir, 400 for parts and labor

3. Asked to check front suspension as it sounded a bit more squeaky lately than was to my liking.

Was told that front suspensions looked fine, but that I had two blown struts in the back

900 parts and labor

4. Check Engine light staying on. Got a free read at autozone and was told the gascap (no really?) (Was staying on even after checking the cap several times and after several fillups) Was told be dealer would cost a diag fee of 100 regardless and there is no such thing as a gas cap error (my ass there isnt). 100 dollars later I'm told the seal is broken on the gas cap (no shit sherlock). Bought a new cap for 18 bucks. What pisses me off is that this is the third cap on the car. Why couldnt they just replace the damn cap in the first place?! :anger:

So any recommendations on parts for the above?

New Oil pan? Is it cracked? That is BS. Leaking shocks, well that is obvious to see. I thought you went to a good dealer? Oh, and the gas cap CEL is usually an EVAP code of some sort.

Yeah Thomas, sounds like you got your ass rocked...

Coolant Bottle assembly with sensor $169.95 from Rosenthal Mazda

http://finishlineperformance.com/sto...cat=336&page=1

not that hard to change just BE CAREFUL witht the hose connecting to top of radiator. My brother broke the Nipple off the radiator trying to remove it and had to replace the radiator.

$900 for shocks and labor BS... order you some aftermarket ones and get you peeps to help you change... I would ask Team for help he just finishd helping deadphoenix last weekend

if your going to do the coolant reservoir then make it a group effort and have a pow wow over it. You have lots of options on shocks and I'm not sure unless you drove over something why you need a new oil pan? Did they give you a good reason? what codes did you end up pulling?

Well as far as going to a good dealer, I've always used the same guy, except for today because he was on vacation.

I think the oil pan is BS, wasnt given a reason for needing a new one. I think it is drinking more oil lately, but again I think thats due to heat. I notice no leaks in my garage.

Coolant resivoir I'd find more believable, due to the frequency of the light coming on and off lately, but again, notice no leaks in my garage.

Struts, I'm inexperainced with what exactly a leak should look like, but they look nothing like dead's huge oil spill picks I've seen. They showed both of them to me, and I did see what looked like greese on the struts but I have no idea if thats from a leak or normal wear and tear.

There's no way I'd let them do any of the work they are suggesting, but lets say for the sake of arguement that I do need struts (I did notice a difference taking a turn on monday) What struts do you guys like?

And no I do not want to lower my car on these god awful roads.

you know your struts would be fine if you hadnt started hating on my wheels earlier :p

anyway, plenty of people were offering me their OEM shocks during my fiasco. bobby and kid brandon both have sets.

but greasy struts are leaking struts. ill take some pics of mine. you just have a much slower leak. my right rear one had a slow leak and was on its way out. the left rear exploded. which is why i had a huge oil puddle. check for tiny oil puddles under next time you park your car for more than an hour

Not seeing any spills under any part of my car, but isnt there a dif between struts and shocks??

a strut is the entire assembly. coil spring and all. they all have OEM shocks. technically. im partial to not caring.

http://www.kyb.com/technical/faq.php


very good read... answers a ton of questions


Not that I am trying to sell the products that my company sells, but KYB is a really good brand. They are the shocks/struts that I will be putting on my car here shortly.

Not sure what year your car is, but here's a few TSB's related to the issues you mentioned. I'm guessing the warranty has already expired on your car, but it's worth a shot to see if they'll cover any of it.

Oil Pan:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...13-04-1341.pdf

Gas Cap:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...26-07-1800.pdf

There was also one for the coolant bottle. Apparently the float absorbs coolant, causing it to sink and turn the light on. I can't find the TSB for that one, but I know I had it replaced in my car and haven't had any problems since.

And talk to Steve and get the name of the guy at Freeman Mazda. Joe and I got our Mazdaspeed shocks and springs from him for under $700 total! If you don't want the MS stuff, I'm sure he can get you a good deal on stock replacements and we can put them in one weekend.

Car is not still under warranty sadly.

Anyway, small update:

So I got a call from the dealership's service dept today doing their satisfaction survey's and I basically gave them a 1 out of 10 because 1. I was pissed at having to pay a $100 diag fee for a freakin gas cap issue when I TOLD him that was the issue and 2. the oil pan sounded like BS.

So of course this gets back to the guy and he calls my buddy that I normally use and then my buddy calls me explaining things a bit better.

The oil pan is because the sensor is built into it and the computer was saying it wasn't reporting sometimes, aka going bad. Not an issue if I constantly check my levels.

He also explained that normally the diag fee is waved for the gas cap issue, but because I had them check out so many other things like suspension and other warning lights that they left it on.

All that to say that I will be calling tomorrow to apologize for the 1 out of 10 when it was really more like a 5 because honestly I would have been fine with all of that had it just been explained to me better.

I don't think the oil level sensor is built into the pan but I would have to clarify. But When I removed my pan I am pretty sure it was removable.

You have to remove the pan in order to change the sensor

my cost for the sensor is $55, $118 for the pan complete, it's a PITA to replace but not terribly difficult, with the usual stealership labor rate it's cheaper for them to replace the pan rather than clean up the old one

Yeah getting the pan off and removing the old gasket is a bitch. I know grungepup priced the sensor recently and surprising enough Advance Auto parts had it for like $17.00. Not sure what the quality of that sensor would be though.

So I want to get factory replacement parts, but I dont really want to pay stealership prices.

I found this website, but I'm not sure if I actually want to order from it. Where do you guys go to get factory replacement parts, if you do at all?

http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/inde...layCatalogid=0

200 bucks for 2 year struts seems like a steal to me... thoughts?

if your fine with OEM I would just read up on some reviews from the site. If their aren't any you could be the first lol.

Team, that's so relative. A PITA to you might put some of us in the hospital for trying.