My Brand New Three Cylinder thrashing machine

[Clarice]

Well, we have covered a grand Total of 1700 miles in Clarice, initially all was well and we were pleased with the comfort and performance together with a very respectable 50MPG indicated on the computer ( taken with a pinch of salt ) However I was standing next to her nibs when the wife started her up from cold at home and was alarmed by a nasty metallic rattle from the offside of the engine bay as Clarice initially for a few seconds ran on three cylinders before resuming her four cylinder beat. No dash warning lights illuminated when it occured

Wife then told me she had done this once before a few days earlier, naturally Mazda were immediately called for Clarice to be picked up, she was taken to our local dealer for the fault to be ascertained and hopefully put to rights... awaiting an outcome at present.

Has anyone experienced this from the 2.2 diesel engine so early ? The rattle to me was similar to a cam chain tensioner allowing the chain to thrash about before oil pressure kicks in and keeps it taut. The annoying point to this is that she runs absolutely perfectly once the three cylinder cough has gone and the rattle is not persistent. When she returns I will have my mobile on video to capture the cough and rattle when starting up as I know this will probably not rear it's ugly head at the garage. mobiles do have their uses

Anyone got ideas as to what this could be, as to date we have had five Mazda's in total, our last Model 3 had the same diesel engine as Clarice and ran perfectly in the three years we had her

[BigAl]

That's an odd one, have never heard of that before. Await outcome with interest...

Deduct 3MPG from the trip average, that should give you the true figure (based on logging fuel and mileage for the past 6 years)

Alan

[Clarice]

Well Clarice was checked out by the Garage and Big surprise..Nothing found amiss, so it's down to having the Mobile on video record at any future cold start-up so that should this re-occur i can then capture what is going on and send it to the Workshop manager who has indicated that it would assist them and Mazda as they have no data at present regarding these issues. Mobile will travel everywhere in future. GGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

[Clarice]

Ho Bloody Hum, Started Clarice up and Lo!! another three cyiinder start up which after 5 seconds or so chimed in on four which luckily I have captured on video on my smartphone, we have done this every day since the clattering 3 cylinder which started this thread. Today 1/5/2018 I received a call from her nibs to indicate that this happened again at her work to the extent others in the car park looked around to see what was about to drop off.
Nibs had her phone on record as she started up so we have this lousy noise and racket which we will be forwarding to Mazda HQ via Lodge Garage so that they can sort this out. Having had 5 Mazda's in total this one being the most expensive we have purchased looks to be a right royal sodding problem that has really P****d me off big style.
Will await what Mazda UK has to offer on this one but at this time I am looking to throw it back where it came from.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Clarice]

So having downloaded the two incidents of three not four cylinders doing their job we have been contacted by the Garage following these two captures being forwarded to the big cheeses at Mazda,who have indicated that a procedure will be made to aileviate the problem. Less than 2000 covered

We have now taken Clarice back to the Garage for this to hopefully be sorted out, along with the leather capping on the back offside door which is turning white at it's closure point at the rear end of the door, the dirty mark left by the mechanic on it's last trip on the drivers side 'A' Pillar internal capping.

The front proximity sensors to be checked as well because on two separate occasions whilst parked at the front of a queue with nothing in front they have  gone off  looking like the sound bar indicators of a graphic equaliser going up and down.

It's beginning to remind me of the Friday Night heaps that FORD used to be famous for back in the day

[Bert321]

I hope you actually get someone who wants to cure your problem thus time mate.  Escalate it to Mazda UK if you need to, they were quite helpful on a couple of occasions for us.

[Clarice]

Good News............The mark on the door and 'A' Pillar have gone.  Not so good news.....According to the garage when the computer was interrogated it threw up nothing regarding the front sensors.
They have gone through the first line check according to the Mazda guide regarding the Three cylinder start up and done a clean through of the injectors, if this does not cure the problem then it's another trip back to the garage for the injectors to be replaced.
My instinct tells me that we'll be returning to the garage

[Clarice]

Taken Clarice back today for a re-check, in short she hasn't played up again but has made a few rumbles at it so we'll just have to wait and see if she plays ball or gives it all another try, update will commence once she returns.

[Clarice]

Well, got Clarice back after two days at the Garage with another negative result from the Garage computer regarding the start up on 3 cylinders and the proximity sensors going ape twice but 35 miles added to her odometer and sandy footprints all over the drivers floor mat.
Most unimpressed by Mazda and Lodge Garage at this time regarding this issue which has been recorded twice by smartphone videos

[BigAl]

Post some details on their Facebook page, that generally gets a reply.
https://www.facebook.com/MazdaUK/

Alan

[Bert321]

Or phone Mazda customer service.  We've had great results from them. 

[Clarice]

Thanks Al and Bert I will be contacting Mazda UK soonest as Clarice has now hit 2273 miles. Wife in a hurry this morning and mobile up in the bedroom. Started up....you guessed it another 3 cylinders start up jobby so it'll be someone getting a rocket up the rear.

Apart from this recurrent annoyance we both love the car, Smooth, Quiet, ( especially after the Mazda3 Coupe which if you were sitting in the rear you couldn't hear any conversation in the front seats ) pretty good MPG considering her frontal barn door area and the ability to look down on the rest of the drivers in the lower riding cars, added to which we find that those jerks in BMW's Mercs, Audi's etc.  My opinion of course !! is that the more Prestigious the badge the bigger the idiot holding the wheel of said jalopy ) don't try and get into your boot area when YOU are in lane 2 or 3 of the Motorway or Dual cabbageway which of course is an added bonus.

[twabrigs]

I'd be starting to threaten to reject the car and demanding a new one. Get some advice from Citizens Advice or something cite the correct terms in the consumer rights act https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

[Clarice]

Using my Smartphone video I took another shot at start-up of Clarice today covering the whole of the instrument Binnacle, three cylinder thrashing start up commenced  to 1800 RPM to the extent that I expected a piston to break up it was that bad and I have plenty of working experience with all sorts of engines.

Took phone with captured video to Lodge Garage where it was shown, was advised that Mazda have sent out a message regarding piston slap on start up to be expected under certain conditions, REALLY ?

My 2015 Mazda 3 with the exact same diesel engine NEVER made such a cacophony of noise and rattle on start-up in the 3 years we owned her which is why we went for another diesel in the CX5.

I have now contacted Mazda UK and have sent the video capture direct to them for their investigation and await the outcome.

Not only is the engine rattled so am I.

[BigAl]

Maybe also look at an independent assessment by the RAC or similar? You might have to pay for it, but when proved correct you might be able to claim it back?

One thing I have noticed over the years is that garages (in general) no longer take any notice of customers who voice an opinion over a fault. They now seem to have this arrogant "we've had the manufacturer training" attitude and only want to follow their instructions. They can't think outside of those parameters, sadly.

Alan