Camshaft Failure leading to Vacuum Pump Failure

[AJMo]

My 2012 CX-5 have just been in for it's 75,000m service. I was advised that the vacuum pump was in the process of failing. That's the vacuum pump which provides servo power to the brakes! It needed replacement otherwise driving the vehicle would become dangerous. Ok. So why did this happen? Because the cam shaft was worn excessively (there was a faulty batch), putting iron filings in the oil. Given that diesel CX-5's leak fuel into the engine oil causing it to thin (another known fault) this led to the toxic mix of thin oil with iron filings destroying the pump. So what other damage might it have caused? "It's usually the turbo that fails first sir". And what else? " Wouldn't like to speculate, sir"

The upshot is that as the car was out of warranty, I paid £1,000 repair bill and have an engine that I have no confidence in surviving much longer. Mazda UK will take no responsibility despite the car being purchased from new and it having a perfect main dealer service record, and also my 15 year history with Mazda.

Be warned, although you are driving a lovely car ( I loved mine ) but you can expect premature engine failure or worse. My advice would be to get rid of it before the warranty runs out or purchase the extended warranty.

[Willpower]

Firstly welcome to the forum. Sad to hear of your situation, but I'm afraid it is a well known problem that has been extremely well documented on this forum, going back for many years.  These are some of the benefits of joining a forum early in your ownership of the car, instead of waiting until something dire happens.

Thank you for your warning, but some research here might have warned you earlier of the problems and the experiences of other members with this situation. This included a recall for vehicles of the same age as yours. Were you not informed of this by your dealership ? 
Mazda knew about the camshaft heads disintegrating because of faulty hardening and the results of this including shedding of filings into the oil and ultimate Turbo failure.
It's all documented here. Have a search though the forum. There might be a snippet of information regarding communications with Mazda and other members, that might be of some use to you.

[Deeps]

And in support of the above post I would suggest that it would be in your best interest to seek out legal advice. There may be a possibility; a very good one in my personal opinion, of you being able to make a claim against the dealer, Mazda UK or both. The dealer in the case that they were informed by Mazda of the issue with advice on how to deal with the matter which they failed to pass on to you or, in the case that the dealer wasn't informed, then against Mazda due to this issue being well documented.

[ROCKETRON]

The camshaft and the vacuum pump problems were checked for a couple of years ago, did yours go in for a check? As it's a known problem and you have stuck with Mazda services then I think that they should have covered the problems under goodwill. The problem with Mazda is that they always say "there are no problems". When mine went in for the vacuum pump/cam check they kept the car for 3 weeks and said they have fitted a new pump, when I asked the service guy if it also had a camshaft he said he didn't know anything about camshaft problems. I think the fact that you have done 75k miles doesn't do you any favours for goodwill but even so I don't think that us users should have to pay for known faults and engines that weren't tested completely enough to iron out problems before us consumers got them. When my car was 3 years old I took out the Mazda extended warranty so hopefully I would be covered if mine went.
If I was you though I think I would try Mazda uk to try to get some of the repair costs back. Good luck with it!

[AJMo]

Thanks for the replies.
Firstly, apparently Mazda did check the vacuum pump during a routine service visit shortly before its third birthday. I was not informed of this. At subsequent services, also at  the Mazda dealership, the vacuum pump was not re-checked until it became clear that the brake performance had deteriorated. Mazda UK stated clearly that this was because the car was now out of warranty and it was no longer their responsibility. I did decline the extended warranty when it was offered because of 15 years experience of the brand and a misplaced confidence. Clearly this was a mistake.

I had a long discussion with Mazda UK trying to make my point about the recklessness of not following up the vacuum pump failures more effectively and that they should have at least informed affected owners for their safety but got absolutely nowhere, I did receive a £250 credit note redeemable at the next service. This is of no value to me as I have just traded in the car and will not be buying another Mazda. The money and the loyalty issues pale into insignificance when I consider that Mazda UK seem to believe they have satisfied their obligations despite putting the life of me and my family at risk.

[Willpower]

Thank you for joining the forum just in order to vent your frustration with Mazda. I'm sure that this latest information will be well received and will prove useful to other members.  It is through the forum community that information becomes available to those who look for it.

I hope you have better luck with whatever brand of car you have chosen to replace your CX-5 and Mazda in general. 

[AJMo]

My apologies Willpower for not joining the forum earlier.
I joined recently simply to share my experiences with other owners so that they would be forearmed.
 In terms of venting my frustration at Mazda, I did that by contacting Mazda UK directly and the resulting conversation extended to a number of calls over several days before reaching a conclusion. I have shared that conclusion here also, again so that other owners are aware of Mazda UK's position on this matter.

[Willpower]

LOL No apology is necessary, but it might have saved you some anxiety.

Good luck with your new motor. 

[dcli001]

I wonder if any of you out there could advise me. Our car was called in for the Vacuum pump recall in Jan last year. The pump was inspected and as nothing was done, I assumed there were no issues. The car is now outside of its warranty and has just been into our local dealer for its MOT. They have said that there are iron filings in the CAM shaft and therefore it will need replacing along with the vacuum pump. They are quoting around £3k and I cant help thinking that this is all down to the obvious faulty part that it was recalled in for in the first place. All advise would be greatly received

[ROCKETRON]

What made the garage look at the oil or camshaft when doing an mot as they can't see the cam without taking the top off. Where did they see the iron filings?