Just bought car, engine dying :(

[dhruvprakash]

Hey guys,

I am a new Mazda3 (2006, 2.3 hatch GT, 123800 km, 5 spd) owner and a new forum member as well!

I purchased my car privately 4 days ago and all seemed well during the test drive, but as soon as I signed the ownership, I have been hearing a ticking sound that you seem to have experienced as well. Best to say that the car sounds like a Diesel

In fact I heard it on the way back from the MTO office, but at the time I just thought it was the front license plate banging against the bumper as I had tightened it without a screwdriver at the point...but that was not the case

A few characteristics:
- You can hear it while cranking the engine, during idle and during driving
- Increases with Revs
- Audible even during idle (when car is not moving)..so it’s not the suspension, or brakes or tires…
- Can be heard from the cabin and upon lifting the hood it sounds as if it is coming from centre-left area if you are facing the engine.
- It seems as if the sound is less pronounced when I go uphill. It is louder while driving on a flat surface or going down hill.
- Oil is almost black, but service record indicates oil change at 119,500 km

I have barely put 200 kms on the car since I got it transferred to my name and out of those 150 have gone to get the car inspected at Westowne by Vito, MOT (Joe was not in, spoke to Vincent yesterday) and a private garage. All three sources say that the car needs a new engine.

Only Vito @ Westowne was able to venture a guess and indicated that it sounds as if a connecting rod is loose / bearing is worn. He was nice enough to provide the diagnostic for free as well. Today, I took it to MOT, hoping for a more cheerful prognosis, but they said that they can’t guess unless they tear apart the engine. So I basically learnt nothing new, but walked out with a lighter wallet.

Thanks so much for your help/advice/suggestions regarding causes, fixes or hookups…I am really quite nervous. I would be happy to send you a small audio file in which you can hear the engine idling and learn of your opinions.

What blows is that this is also my first car, I am just out of school and I need it to get to my new place of work, which is not easy to get to by public transport. So instead of focusing on my new job, I am stressing on a car I have barely driven/owned.

Buying an '06, I was hoping for a few years of satisfying and relatively trouble free ownership...but...sigh

I have been driving the car like a grandma, basically shifting at 2200 rpm or less and not using the air conditioner (to save the engine any more stress than is necessary)

Your help and comments would be much appreciated!

Regards,
Dhruv

[MPS]

its normal for MZ3
but i think there was a fix for it
try search button

[notoriousb]

Don't you have a week before you can take a just bought car if there are problems that were not noted on your contract???


http://car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.c...erPage=1&iKey=

Those are the engines available for your car -- for some reason they are in the $2000 range --- I would just get an engine overhaul for about $500-1000.

Or first change your oil and use seafoam.

[dhruvprakash]

its normal for MZ3
but i think there was a fix for it
try search button

Thanks for the quick response, were you talking about the fix for the intake valve issue? Apparently, these dealers that I have mentioned think its something more serious than that...

If its not too much trouble, I would REALLY appreciate you pointing me in the right direction!

[jonjon72]

I would suggest getting a non-Mazda dealership opinion and have Jimmy at Street Performance take a look.

[MPS]

+1 for Jim 905-943-9449
i say its ur best option for good and honest mechanic with out any BS (ok some BS on saturdays only lol)

I would suggest getting a non-Mazda dealership opinion and have Jimmy at Street Performance take a look.

[dhruvprakash]

+1 for Jim 905-943-9449
i say its ur best option for good and honest mechanic with out any BS (ok some BS on saturdays only lol)

I have called Jimmy, and unfortunately he was closed this Sat being the long weekend and all. Do y'all know how much he will charge to have a look at it? I already dropped 125 at MOT without getting a clear answer from them as they said they would need to tear apart the engine to find out the exact failure.

Perhaps I will take it to Jimmy this Wednesday. I also have a new job starting on Tuesday (main reason for buying car)...so I'm gonna have to manage/coordinate all of that.

UGH, what a pain in the derierre!

Thanks for the advice, keep it coming guys! Its like my only ray of light in a dark dark time...

Wow, that sounded rather melodramatic!

[rick10]

best advice i can give you is DO NOT TAKE IT TO THE DEALER... They are going to charge up the ass and you are not going to get anywhere...

Something similar happened to a buddy at work , he had to dropped almost 800 for the dealer to tell him they are still not sure what the problem was ....

Just take it to a garage ( like mentioned before) those guys are most likely to give you a diagnosis without charging you too much ( most of the times free)

worst case scenario you have to put a new engine in it which is not that much , I read someone in this forum already got a new engine ( used one with 20 000 km) for under 2500 installation included ... Of course if you go to the dealer they are going to charge you at least 10 000 ( that was the quote i heard from the same member that got the engine for 2500) for a new engine...


Dont stress too much about it , worst case you put a new engine which is around 2 - 3000 grand and you have a car with much less KMs , if you bought it private you probably saved a lot in taxes so just think as you paying the dealer tax ( which is probably around 2000-3000) and you are getting a better engine with less KMs....

just trying to be positive!

[MajesticBlueNTO]

does it sound like this? does the noise stop after unplugging the harness as shown in the video?

this thread discussed the noise in that video being from the butterfly valve in the intake manifold.

if it is that noise in the video, it's not detrimental to drive it...however, the intake manifold is an expensive replacement outside of warranty.

if it's not the noise in the video, does the engine/car shake? a loose con-rod, fouled spark plug, loss of compression in a cylinder would throw the engine out of balance and cause shaking to go along with the noise.

if it is not that noise in the video, and there is no shaking, it could also be noisy fuel injectors.

...have a compression test done on the engine, which will also reveal the condition of the plugs.

just take it to jimmy and you'll be in good hands.

[MPS]

Jimmy wont charge you nothing for looking at it

I have called Jimmy, and unfortunately he was closed this Sat being the long weekend and all. Do y'all know how much he will charge to have a look at it? I already dropped 125 at MOT without getting a clear answer from them as they said they would need to tear apart the engine to find out the exact failure.

Perhaps I will take it to Jimmy this Wednesday. I also have a new job starting on Tuesday (main reason for buying car)...so I'm gonna have to manage/coordinate all of that.

UGH, what a pain in the derierre!

Thanks for the advice, keep it coming guys! Its like my only ray of light in a dark dark time...

Wow, that sounded rather melodramatic!

[dhruvprakash]

Hey Guys so I have uploaded my first youtube video as well where you can see/hear thee engine. Available here.

Thanks for the advice regarding Jimmy..lets hope his recommendations are not as extreme.

MajesticBlueNTO - thanks for posting the youtube links. I am not sure, but it sounds as if my engine has a deeper sounding tick. I guess its more like "thuck thuck thuck". Let me know what y'all think.

To answer your question MajesticBlueNTO, the car and engine don't really shake, though you can feel the vibrations (slightly) inside the car. Spark plugs were changed less than 5000 km ago by previous owner according to service records.

I barely have any money in my accnt...so if the car needs a new engine, I really wouldn;t know what to do...

[MPS]

i think its the motor

[omalak]

Did you get the car checked out by a mechanic before you bought it? def not a normal sign.. hopefully jimmy can pinpoint it.

I also notice the battery air duct is missing, and you got a strut bar on there and wheels.. I assume the car was pre modded..

i know most of us take good care of our cars, but with modded cars you always gotta take that extra precaution when buying.. you never know what was done

Good luck, hopefully it's not too expensive to fix

[BiGBanG]

does it sound like this? does the noise stop after unplugging the harness as shown in the video?

this thread discussed the noise in that video being from the butterfly valve in the intake manifold.

if it is that noise in the video, it's not detrimental to drive it...however, the intake manifold is an expensive replacement outside of warranty.

I have that noise in my car, is it covered under warranty?

[Zoom Zoom Boy]

i think its the motor

+1. It sounds like the engine is on its way out. Jimmy will know...all praise the Jimmy...

[notoriousb]

does it sound like this? does the noise stop after unplugging the harness as shown in the video?

this thread discussed the noise in that video being from the butterfly valve in the intake manifold.

if it is that noise in the video, it's not detrimental to drive it...however, the intake manifold is an expensive replacement outside of warranty.

if it's not the noise in the video, does the engine/car shake? a loose con-rod, fouled spark plug, loss of compression in a cylinder would throw the engine out of balance and cause shaking to go along with the noise.

if it is not that noise in the video, and there is no shaking, it could also be noisy fuel injectors.

...have a compression test done on the engine, which will also reveal the condition of the plugs.

just take it to jimmy and you'll be in good hands.

let's hope its the intake manifold -- It costs around $250 and you can install it your self...

The engine on the other hand -- you can get replaced for $600 + the cost of the engine ... which is about $1500-2500 depending on the mileage and where you get it.

[notoriousb]

Your engine makes wayyy too much noise besides the ticking lol

but it almost sounds like an exhaust leak? Did you check if that's it?

Maybe in the exhaust manifold area???

[Flagrum_3]

It definately sounds like an engine internal! I don't think it's as serious as a loose rod or thrown bearing as the engine runs too smooth.I would guess it's either what MajesticBlue mentioned or a bad/loose tappet or maybe even the Variable Valve timing actuator, which is a known problem with these engines.

Hope it's not too serious and good luck!


Let us know what fixes it,

thanks.


_3

[x_o_k_x]

sounds like a blown engine.

[Gizzmo_jr]

Spun bearing. Sounds identical to someone who did just that at my autox club (z04 corvette thou)

[mazdabetty]

ohhh noooo that sucks.... wouldn't your 5 year warranty cover this?? Or is that just the drivetrain?

[Flagrum_3]

ohhh noooo that sucks.... wouldn't your 5 year warranty cover this?? Or is that just the drivetrain?

Unless he has MAP extended warranty he's well over on the mileage.



Guys, comments like "It's a blown engine" etc; do nothing here.Does anyone here know what a blown engine sounds like? Most of the time a 'Blown' engine will not even run as usually they will seize-up...his engine seems to run fine except for the noise and remember the engine was still cold in the video...A noise like that could be anything from some things mentioned here to as simple as the water pump...So let's give the guy some hope here and see what Jimmy says.


_3

[MPS]

x5 blown motors with Mazda
i know the sound and with that he can still drive for a while
i did for about 5 weeks
royroy did same with his speed drove it till it went

Unless he has MAP extended warranty he's well over on the mileage.



Guys, comments like "It's a blown engine" etc; do nothing here.Does anyone here know what a blown engine sounds like? Most of the time a 'Blown' engine will not even run as usually they will seize-up...his engine seems to run fine except for the noise and remember the engine was still cold in the video...A noise like that could be anything from some things mentioned here to as simple as the water pump...So let's give the guy some hope here and see what Jimmy says.


_3

[x_o_k_x]

Spun bearing. Sounds identical to someone who did just that at my autox club (z04 corvette thou)

+1 or belt tensioner. It reminds me of 09 wrx265 enigine failures. Same sound too

[whodilly]

Sorry to say, but the engine is toast. Had the same sound with my engine but "mazda" mechanics were unable to diagnose exactly what the culprit was and just said I needed a new engine. Biggest waste of $100! Took it to another shop and they said my engine was dry and was burning oil. I had just got an oil change 1000kms ago. The shop tore down the engine and found that the upper engine bearings in 2 cylinders were done but didn't know why (could be from the lack of oil). They also found that 2 cylinders were fouled so it seems that there wasn't a proper seal and thats why I was burning oil. In the end got a new "used" engine put in.

If you're having the same problem as me, monitor your oil level constantly to see if you are burning oil and check your spark plugs for fouling/carbon build up. If so then your engine is toast.

My advice to you is that if you have the money, it will cost approximately $3000 dollars to get a new "used" engine put in depending on the mileage. That is probably the cheapest solution.

Another option is to get the engine rebuilt but that could be cheaper or more expensive as it depends on how bad the damage is and what needs to be replaced. Can't tell without taking it apart so it may not be worth the effort.