I took my car to the local Mazda dealership to have a compression test done and the results came back with 570 kPa on the front rotor and 360 kPa on the rear. Obviously low..

The car is an '07 with 99,000 miles on it, so I am still within the warranty.. but the service adviser is telling me that Mazda will not replace the engine because there is no catalytic converter in the car (PO gutted the stock cat) and "they won't touch it because the car has been modified and is not stock".

I know that I am definitely not the only one that has dealt or is dealing with the engine core warranty, so can someone help me out? I'm just mainly looking for some advice about the situation and would also like hear some personal experiences.

-Thanks

Mr_Insulin

 

Legally, they have to prove exactly how the 'modification' caused the failure.

The presence of a cat or not will have zero impact on the ability of the engine to lubricate it's own seals, and worn seals is the basic cause of your low compression. If you had blown a seal and had zero compression on a rotor, they might have more grounds to stand on, as running catless on the factory tune could make you a bit leaner than normal, which, in extreme theory, could cause a seal-shattering lean spike. Catted vs catless won't have any impact on the OMP's lubrication ability, or affect the wearing of the seals in any way.

You can fight it.

 

Dealership is just trying to get out of it. If you want to be lazy, ask the dealerhsip to show you where it states that since it isn't stock, they can't touch it. Also you can ask them to explain how the catless made the compression loss. If you know enough about cars you can fight their argument. Also doesn't help to talk to a manager.

The mods in no way made this compression loss.

Also more info: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...rranty-147287/

 

My thoughts exactly. The service adviser actually had no idea that there was a 8 year/100,000 mile engine core warranty until I mentioned it to him again yesterday.. and he is apparently the rotary service adviser.

I will definitely talk to the service manager next. I need this engine.

 

Yea just skip the advisor. If he doesn't know what he is SUPPOSED to know, don't even bother. It isn't worth your time to talk to someone that doesn't know what they're talking about.

 

you might make the case that the defective engine killed the cat....

i did this scenario with my engine warranty car, and they agreed to replace the engine if i bought the cat, which i needed to pass smog anyways

 

The stock pipe was gutted by the previous owner. Also, there is no emission testing down here when the car is inspected.

A little update:

I spoke with the service manager yesterday and gave her all the details on my situation. She told me that she would send an email to her contact at Mazda as she did not have enough experience with rotaries to be able to answer my questions or give me a definitive answer on whether I could get my engine replaced under warranty.

 

I had a BHR mide pipe and BHR ignition, my dealer didnt care. I have an '07 with 63K miles.

 

I'll have to see what the service manager comes up with when I give her a call in a bit..

 

Keep us informed, would like to know the result of the call and help you anyway we can.

 

I finally got a call from the service manager today(after I talked to the GM and found out that she had "gone out of town on business" for 3 days). I was told that "Mazda will not even entertain the idea of replacing the engine under warranty because the car is lacking an air pump and catalytic converter".

Well, that's the most relevant part of today that I feel like typing.. and I'm already on my fourth beer.

So, I just wasted 10 days with these useless ******* at the stealership.. I guess I'll be calling Mazda tomorrow; I probably should have just started there in the first place.



Edit: Maybe I'll just trailer it up to San Antonio one weekend and try another dealership..

 

You just mentioned it above but please call Mazda directly! I had much more help once I spoke to someone at Mazda who knew about the warranty and all other rx8 related warranty work. They will then contact the dealer and force them to deal with the issue. They cant deny you under this BS. It is their job to prove failure not yours.

 

I called Mazda on Friday and got the ball rolling. Hopefully I will hear back from them today.

Number of days that my car has been at the stealership: 18

 

That's dealership dude.

dealerships are all the same ... all over the world ...

 

So, the girl that I talked to at Mazda finally called me back after I talked to her and opened up a case number on the 23rd..

Does anyone have a contact at Mazda that knows what the **** they are doing? I just waited a week on this girl to tell me the exact same **** that I heard at the dealership. She also could not answer any of my questions and just kept telling me that the modifications that were done to the car could have caused the engine failure.

I guess a semi-brightish side to this is that the dealership is now willing to "re-evaluate" the car if I replace the catalytic converter(I would need to find a used one) and the air pump(which I have).

*******.

 

Well simple choice.

1) Fight it because they're wrong and dumb people.

2) Don't fight it and put the cat and air pump back on and then take the cat and air pump off later, assuming they will still do the work after the itmes are back on.

Personally I would fight it because they're just being dicks and not resolving anything. Also I dunno what level they were, but try talking to someone above the woman you talked to at Mazda, there could be someone with more authority (and sense).

EDIT: Just thought about this, you could try contacting your attorney general's office. Don't know how much help it would be but if you want to go with option 1, you might have to start getting some legal help on your side.

 

I guess I'll update this post a bit..

I ended up buying a used cat for super cheap and installed it on my car along with the airpump. Mazda decided to honor the warranty and replaced my engine; I get to pick up my car today.

So yeah.. that's 3 months and 1 day since I took the car in for a compression test.


Edit: I forgot how terribly-titled this thread is

 

I have had HORRIBLE Mazda Dealership issues, and as mentioned - they are dealerships, they do all the shaddy stuff to get $$$$$

Glad you finally have your 8 back.

 

Hope you like this better ;-)

 

Hah.. that works