My Brand New Three Cylinder thrashing machine

[Clarice]

Well we  have had the Silver Dream Machine for almost 2 Weeks now and every single start up from Cold has been video'd of it and Clarice.
What has it achieved ? well it has convinced my wife and myself that Clarice is a LEMON ( Engine Only )

The S.D.M starts each time without rattle, Is more responsive, gives better MPG and makes 'she who must be obeyed' very happy as it is what we wanted.

Clarice, her achilles heel is that engine, it is noisier, does rattle on start up, is inconsistent with the start/ warm up procedure and has lower MPG.

It is not often you get a 'Friday Nighter' but I am convinced as is my wife that Clarice falls into that category.

Before rants arrive on the forum it is solely to do with 'this engine' not the vehicle as a whole, we both love the visual of the outside design and the interior aesthetics which prove Mazda can and do make damn good vehicles.

THIS IS SOLELY AN ENGINE PROBLEM WHICH MAZDA ARE RETICENT TO ACCEPT AND RECTIFY TO MY SATISFACTION.
ESPECIALLY AS IT COST A LOT OF MONEY TO US.
END OFF !!

[twabrigs]

Interesting, I hope you get this resolved. Has the garage done a back to back comparison of Clarice and SDM?

[Clarice]

No, but that's our next step, if we get no satisfaction then there are other options we have in store for dealing with this.
it will not lie with us having a Lemon on our hands for 3 years you can bet your life on that but can't give away too much at this time.

[Clarice]

SDM has gone back following the 2 week trial, it proved to both my wife and me that Clarice has definately got something wrong with the engine which after all the video's of both vehicles making a cold start it is acknowledged that Clarice does have a noise not associated with SDM.
We have been promised a Senior Technician who will come to have a check over of Clarice, well if he/she puts it on the computer it will read 'No Faults'
To me No Surprise, I just hope the technician has X-ray vision so that he/she can peer into the interior of the engine as the fault is IN THERE not associated with the miriad of sensors.
The Front sensors which went ape twice on Clarice also did it in SDM at the same set of traffic Lights so it's not a sensor fault they are obviously picking up a stray light signal so at least that's that one sorted.
Will update when Technician has looked Clarice over.

[Anchorman]

SDM has gone back following the 2 week trial, it proved to both my wife and me that Clarice has definately got something wrong with the engine which after all the video's of both vehicles making a cold start it is acknowledged that Clarice does have a noise not associated with SDM.
We have been promised a Senior Technician who will come to have a check over of Clarice, well if he/she puts it on the computer it will read 'No Faults'
To me No Surprise, I just hope the technician has X-ray vision so that he/she can peer into the interior of the engine as the fault is IN THERE not associated with the miriad of sensors.
The Front sensors which went ape twice on Clarice also did it in SDM at the same set of traffic Lights so it's not a sensor fault they are obviously picking up a stray light signal so at least that's that one sorted.
Will update when Technician has looked Clarice over.

There’s one set of traffic lights in Manchester where my front parking sensors strike up every time when there isn’t a thing in sight. Strange.

[Clarice]

Hi Anchorman,
I added the part where our sensors went ape at the same set of lights down here on both CX-5's as I remembered you'd had a similar experience in Manchester, it must be the Traffic Lights give off a certain signal strength which is picked up by the sensors making them go up and down like a graphic equaliser.
At least we know there's nothing wrong with the sensors though as both reacted the same at the same lights so we can cross that one off the list.
Senior Technician arrives 17/07 so we'll see what explanation he/she comes up with.

[Clarice]

Well Clarice taken to Lodge yesterday so that the engineer could make assessment regarding the cold start clatter, requested that I was called when he arrived for discussion regarding this issue, after lengthy conversation and showing of further video captures I left the garage and engineer to carry out his investigation.

later called by Lodge to collect Clarice with no information given to staff at the garage. This I expected following an e-mail from Tracey Lines at Mazda UK who will be furnished the report in due course and who will contact me.

BOMBSHELL ALERT............!!!! whilst at Lodge I was informed that all diesel engined Mazda's will in future be utilising AD-BLU and known as  type 2.

Why a Bombshell ? Well to me, this signifies that after 5 Years of trying High End Technology to overcome exhaust emissions.

The disaster of an Engine we have in OUR CX-5 with it's erratic 800- 1800 RPM start-up and associated 3 cylinder and heavy banging all in the name of quicker EGR and Catalyst warm up have proved to be a major problem for owners of the Marque and all those other unfortunates all over the world who have issues with the Diesel Skyactiv and it's cold start procedure is something Mazda engineers with their collective cleverness have belatedly realised they cannot overcome and have had to follow the same route as all other manufacturers so that their engines have some degree of longevity which currently they  do not have.

So to all the Technologists at the cutting edge this has come back to bite Mazda right in the rear end.......again.

I shall be waiting for the outcome from Mazda UK and will take this further than them should it not be favourable.

[Anchorman]

I don’t agree that it is a disaster.  There is an issue with cold starting but that doesn’t make it a disaster.  Its fine when it is running.  The 1800 rpm start up is explained in every handbook - it is there to speed up the temperature rise in the cat.  This silver one I have does knock (not bang) on start up but the red one which was written off didn’t so it isn’t common, there is something amiss.  The reason they are adding Adblue (which might be new to you but I’ve had the pdf’s for a while now) is because it is needed for the US market where some states have very tough emission laws.  It was always intended to be so, thats why you have the blank next to the fuel filler.

I don’t know why you are so hostile towards Mazda.  If its that bad, sell it and buy a Tiguan.  Good luck with that, after months of trying to sort out a dangerous flat spot on a brand new vehicle, my mate has just got his money back on his.

I’m interested in how you get on as mine goes in on the 1st for the same thing but they don’t all do it so it will get sorted.  Not everybody is as discontent as you are.

[twabrigs]

I'm inclined to agree with Anchorman, although I'm still on my first CX5 others on this forum and elsewhere have had two or three without the problems you've had with Clarice.

Not to diminish the hassle you've had at all, and that is opinion-forming. I just took two flights with Thomas Cook Airlines and never will again. So personal experience is very powerful.

However, the cold start 'problem' isn't a problem, it's a characteristic and explained in the manual and on this forum. The 3 cyl banging seems a genuine problem with your car - and you have my huge sympathies - but I haven't seen evidence that it is endemic.

[Clarice]

I will answer in as few words as possible,
1. I have only ever owned one new vehicle in my 45 years of driving a Honda 400/4. It took me and my wife until 2003 before she bought a new Seat Toledo diesel as purchasing a house and having a horse used up most of our income so all our vehicles were cheap and very old, however as I was able to keep them going, I didn't mind as you make your choice in life and Nibs always wanted a horse so rather than wish for it we did it.
2. After our horse died, in 2011 her nibs bought a new Mazda MX-5 Sport Black, replaced it in 2013 with another MX-5 then in 2015 a Mazda3 coupe diesel.
3. We had always hankered after a Mazda CX-5 but found it didn't suit at the time so when the new updated series 2 came out we looked at the CX-5 again in auto form and with diesel, this was the biggest purchase of a vehicle we have ever made in 2018.
3. Having made a big purchase the vehicle was initially okay but 1170 miles in we had this awful banging and 3 cylinder start up which in all my years of driving I have never heard any engine make such a racket without shortly afterwards becoming history.
4. To me having shelled out a lot of money I have a vehicle which has a problem engine in the making as my wife drives it too and from work on the A34 dual carriageway 22 miles each direction. Not a road you'd want to break down on I can assure you as it is the heaviest used dual carriageway in the country.
4. Mazda having been dragging their feet and failing to sort this out properly merely skirting the edges until I contacted the CEO, to warrant rejecting a vehicle is not a straightforward issue either and their are routes that have to be followed for a positive outcome.
5. Ad Blu is a product I am well aware of as it has been used in the commercial field for years. Mazda now adopting it signifies to me that despite the claims the skyactive technology could reach Euro 6 standards on it's introduction without expensive additives it has turned out to be a problem for this latest engine with the erratic high speed start up that the engineers in Mazda have had to now abandon for tried and tested technology in the shape of Ad Blu which does the job without the engine being forced to have an overly complicated startup regime as it currently the case.
6. All the other CX-5's we have tried have NEVER displayed the noises our's makes on cold start which to me marks our's out as a Bad Engine which we have paid top money for and which Mazda have made no headway for us and I feel having paid much a feeling of discontent is a mild way of putting it.

[Anchorman]

Listen, I get your frustration about the misfire at start up. Mine does it and while I’d rather it didn’t, it doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers you.  I worked on trucks for 12 years and I’ve trawled many troublesome engine faults. Mine is booked in to investigate.  The reason it doesn’t bother me is that as soon as it runs on 4 cylinders it is fine. You tested a second vehicle and thought it was better. I had another 2017 and it didn’t make this noise and although I can’t be sure, it might have run smoother like you thought. I think it might be air that accumulates overnight in the common rail and that’s why it clears so quickly.

Now regarding point 5, you’re way off mark on that. The CX-5 has been meeting Euro VI for several years. There is very little difference between the 2015 model and the 2018. The blank next to the filler cap was always intended for Adblue because it needs it to meet Californian regulations, it is not a devious change that you seem to think it is.

Anyway, I hope they sort it out for you, if my dealer sorts mine I’ll let you know straight away.  Don’t let it consume you, it doesn’t matter that much.

[Deeps]

The CX-5 has been meeting Euro VI for several years.

As per the then existing EU testing parameters (which I believe is the argument that another manufacturer appears to be using) or actual in use on the road conditions?

[Anchorman]

The CX-5 has been meeting Euro VI for several years.

As per the then existing EU testing parameters (which I believe is the argument that another manufacturer appears to be using) or actual in use on the road conditions?

Yes, the existing parameters.  You think they’ve been cheating like VW?

[Clarice]

My last missive was to let you know that I have had cars and vans of all denominations and none of them ever let me down despite their age or condition nor did they have any mechanical clatter that would suggest failure of a major component in all my 45 years of driving experience coupled with 13 years of Motor Trade Technician experience

The CX-5 Skyactiv engine to me is an experiment in it's latest guise that has been redesigned inside and which has failed to live up to expectations hence why Mazda are shortly bringing in Ad Blu to overcome the current startup which involves complicated valve technology and high revving to overcome the lowering of the compression ratio on cold start. Mazda claims that the Skyactiv engine has exceeded Euro 6 emissions since it's inception without any additional costly emissions control. So why now are they using Ad Blu as other makers have been doing for years ? To me it signify's a flawed engine start up Mazda are keen to put behind them and nothing else.

Any engine which when brand new splutters into life on 3 not 4 cylinders and an accompanying racket which to me meant imminent mechanical failure is not a good sign of any longevity and not what I have paid good money for, simple as.

[Anchorman]

My last missive was to let you know that I have had cars and vans of all denominations and none of them ever let me down despite their age or condition nor did they have any mechanical clatter that would suggest failure of a major component in all my 45 years of driving experience coupled with 13 years of Motor Trade Technician experience

The CX-5 Skyactiv engine to me is an experiment in it's latest guise that has been redesigned inside and which has failed to live up to expectations hence why Mazda are shortly bringing in Ad Blu to overcome the current startup which involves complicated valve technology and high revving to overcome the lowering of the compression ratio on cold start. Mazda claims that the Skyactiv engine has exceeded Euro 6 emissions since it's inception without any additional costly emissions control. So why now are they using Ad Blu as other makers have been doing for years ? To me it signify's a flawed engine start up Mazda are keen to put behind them and nothing else.

Any engine which when brand new splutters into life on 3 not 4 cylinders and an accompanying racket which to me meant imminent mechanical failure is not a good sign of any longevity and not what I have paid good money for, simple as.

I don’t know where you think the Adblue goes but it is injected into the exhaust - nowhere near the engine and the new version will still rev at 1800rpm when cold.  I’ll add a couple of pdf’s so you can have a read.  The knocking wouldn’t happen if it didn’t misfire and if it were a serious impending issue it wouldn’t run perfectly after start up.  I’m not trying to dismiss everything you say but if they can’t stop it you’re going to become very unhappy and I don’t think there’s any need.

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