are certainly comedic masterpieces. :)

As is recycling the face palm picture yet again.

Let's see what happens now that he's had a day to chase down the specifics on what the dealer told him. But if he still comes up "duh" let's try for fresh zingers.

Ken

we've all been there^

thanks to you guys for not being jerks, well basically when i took it to mazda they said it needs a new front seal for the oil leak and new thermostat hoses, now they put a price total for the repairs of 600 dollars, thats why im a little confused on why everyone on this is sayin like 1000 to 3000 dollars..

The high estimates are because of vague info. You mentioned the metering pump in your first post. That's a very expensive part. It also was not clear which seal. There are seals between the main engine components that require disassembly of the engine to replace. Not to mention the seals on the rotor that mean a blown engine if they fail.

So the seal would be just the one where the eccentric shaft comes out the front...I assume you're seeing oil dripping down the front of the engine? And the hoses are just water hoses.

For $600 go ahead and have them do it. You could save money by replacing the hoses yourself, but unless money is really tight (or not there) I'd let the dealer do it all.

Ken

Front e-shaft seal is about $13.
So oil is leaking out the crankshaft pulley huh?

Sorry for jumping to conclusions.

I hope that's all it is because I'm still suspicious about the $8k price. It sounds too good to be true. If the seller let it go at that price and all it has are those issues, then it doesn't make sense to me. He/she could have fixed it up inexpensively and sold it at a noticeably higher price.

Good luck.

Thanks ken-x8 for the coolness.

uhh huh, so a dealer is trying to charge u 600 for a 15 bux part. Thats assume if they can even do it correctly. Good luck with this, u will need it.

Does the seal just drop in by itself, no labor? I don't know how it is on a Renesis, but on conventional engines a front oil seal can be several hours work.

For the $600 the dealer is also going to replace some hoses and the coolant tank. Does not sound like a bad deal to me. Since Joel is not expert on cars, IMHO letting the dealer fix things and getting established as a customer makes a lot of sense.

Being cool can be fun. At the very least it pisses off the people who are not...and that's very rewarding. :)

Having once bought a car that turned out to have a blown engine, and having a couple of friends who made similar mistakes, I have great sympathy for a young person who buys a car with problems. In my case, the bearings were shot, and I wound up spending about $300 in parts (about a month's income at the time) and a month of spare time rebuilding the engine in a gravel driveway.

Ken

Hang on guys.... give this guy some space now...

Now, Front Seal (Oil Leak) which sounds like a Timing Cover Seal, which does not mean a NEW ENGINE at all, just a new seal p/n N3R1-10-507.

or MOP could be leaking from O ring seal, different job entirely.

As for Coolant leak or Thermostat Hose Leak, again need more info.

And yes, $600 to do both does not appear too bad...

If it is TC Seal then Front Pulley needs to come off.
Coolant Hoses at Thermostat needs other parts removal.

Knowing a Dealer probably about 4 hours work ...roughly

Most of that charge is for Labour, not parts...

Agree with you mate...

ok thanks alot, and also my CEL is on, do you think its possible that the cel would be on because of that timing cover seal? or do you think i have further problems

Are you too lazy to get the code read somewhere?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/...b5d808b0c1.jpg

the problem is that , most dealers have NO IDEA what they're doing these days, especially when there is no shop manual for the task :lol:

Thats why I said good luck to him.

Depends on the dealer and the local culture. You live in NYC, where the culture is pretty bad. You eventually had to go to another state to find a good dealer. Growing up in Queens myself, I learned to never go to a dealer.

But where I live now dealers tend to be pretty good. I've been satisfied with work done at the local VW, Honda, Toyota and Mazda dealers. All chosen because they're nearby.

Ken

That's complete BS. I mean, do you have experience with "most dealers"? I doubt it.

In my previous career, I was an auto mechanic. I worked at two different dealerships, and three different independent shops. I worked along side plenty of brilliant technicians. And some that I wouldn't let check my oil. (Including one that attempted to test a power window motor by wiring to the shop's 110v outlet. Not sure if he got the motor diagnosed, but we did learn that the shop's circuit breakers work. At least it made for a great story! ;) )

My point is, you can't categorize all technicians like that.

I guess I've seen enough Mazda dealership techs and how they do their work.

I've personally been to 7 Mazda dealership and only 1 of them are ok, and from all the news/info of all other members around the area (couple hundred of them), people agreed that there is really just 1 good dealership within the tri-state area. and I guess that's good enough to call it "most of them are garbage" at least within the tri-state area.

Any lawn mower mechanics...sorry Technicians :)

Yes, there are some GREAT technicians or mechanics here also, but they are few and far between.

A Mazda Dealership (or any brand for that matter) which ONLY sells and services Mazda or one brand will always be the better one to go to..

Multi franchise is just too hard for most Techs, too much info to absorb and learn...

Todays cars are so much different (even to a decade or so ago), today it is ALL DTC and Plug and Play, or throw away an assembly for another where there is a fault or issue.
Very little actual engineering, disassembly, diagnosing and rectification.

In most cases all Dealer techs do today are Oil and Filter changes....
When a "real" problem arises they are stumped because they don't see or experience enough rectification to learn...or they move on to another career or franchise.

Sorry, but that is not only inaccurate, but doesn't even make sense. A dealership doesn't keep 10+ techs on staff just to change oil.
That's really no different than most other high tech repair services. TV's, stereos, etc. Part of my current career involves semiconductor manufacturing equipment repair. Most faulty components/assemblies are replaced, not repaired. But none of those above examples have anything to do with the technician's abilities, but more about the end cost. Paying the hours of labor, in addition to the down time, just isn't as cost efficient.

Really..must be real hard to take out a defective circuit board and renew it..

Having worked in and around many Mazda dealerships and as a Service Adviser, 90% of the daily work done is Oil and Filter changes...the odd brake pad change, rotate tyres, air filters and sometimes spark plugs...ALL very basic maintenance.

There is so much re-work (transmissions, engines) when "out of the norm" repairs are performed at franchise dealers because of the lack of hands on experience or numbers done..It is just not cost effective to have "specialist" Techs (Transmissions, Engines, Differentials, Auto Electrical) at many Dealerships as there is not the work volume there to warrant their employment.

I cant talk for "other" makes of cars (GM, Ford, Chrysler) but considering the brand I know with the highest customer satisfaction/relability..there is no more work to do than what I have already said...this applies to most Japanese made cars.

Once the new vehicle's warranty expires you rarely-never see the customer/owner again until they may trade in.

This thread is about the OP asking about repairs at a franchise Mazda Dealer.

OK, a few days have past, anything happened??

IF the Oil Leak is the Timing Cover Seal (you don't get the orange CEL light).
You may get a RED Oil level light...make sure your engine has Oil in it.

IF your Coolant Leak is around the Thermostat you wont normally get a CEL light, again you might get the RED Radiator warning light, triggered from low coolant in Coolant Bottle.

IF you can afford to get these fixed, do so, THEN get the Dealer to report to you on the CEL, get them to Read the PCM and report back with a or the DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code/s).

Take it from there, as the yellow CEL could be a multitude of issues.