Engine Number Three - Page 11

9krpmrx8 · 2009-07-05 19:36:05

That's a good combo, you should get the Richard Sohn adapter as well.

03-17-2010, 12:43 AM

#252

Omega8

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Quote:

Originally Posted by alnielsen

You absolutely correct, something isn't right. And, that is why Mazda extended the warranty on the car.
The mode of failure for each of the 3 were different. #1 had a warm start issue. It had a bad apex or corner seal. #2 would sputter when I first started the car in the morning. It was found to have a coolant leak into the second rotor housing. #3 would die at idle after it was warm. It had bad compression on one lobe of one rotor. I suspect a bad side seal. Of course the Mazda dealers don't open the failed engines to give us a complete postmortum, so the exact failure isn't known.
On each of these the oil was changed by the dealer as they supplied me with free service coupons. Now that the car is out of warranty, they don't give them to me anymore. I am putting in a heavier weight oil & premixing in hopes of making this engine last longer.

When you say that #2 sputtered when you started it in the morning, how exactly?

I ask because I have a 2006 that runs beautifully @22K miles on it so far, but if it sits all day or overnight, and I then start it, if I rev it a little right after starting it, the engine will emit a series of little pops. A couple of revs will take care of this, after which it never comes back until it has sat for a day, but when I read your post, it got me thinking about my own little sputtering annoyance...
It's been doing this for the last 2 years (I don't drive in winters, and put about 7500 a year on it.)

Edit: The other part of this that is interesting is that I need to periodically add coolant. The level drops slowly over the summer to the "low" marking, so I top it up. I am not sure that this is normal/evaporation, or a developing problem..

Did you have gradual coolant loss as well?

Last edited by Omega8; 03-17-2010 at 12:48 AM.

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