Mazda 6 Forums UK

Technical Section => Engine/Transmission/Powertrain/Exhaust => Topic started by: PanPilot on September 08, 2018, 03:16:47 pm

Title: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: PanPilot on September 08, 2018, 03:16:47 pm
While my 2014 2.2D was in for MOT, it also had a 'Powertrain Control Module update'. I suspect it may be to do with the new 2018 EU emission regs... does anyone know anything about it?
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on September 10, 2018, 01:47:09 pm
New standards are only for new cars. So it must be something else like a regular update. Moreover, as the government will Brexit, there is no need to comply with EU law after the cliff jump. So it will be extreme to make the older cars comply.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: Flying Buttress on October 09, 2018, 12:25:44 pm
I had a letter about this in August.

"Your vehicle is now required to be installed with the very latest and improved engine calibration software. Software will also be installed to enhance the accelerator response as well as provide engine noise reduction".

This stinks of dieselgate - Mazda aren't going to be offering a free improvement in accelerator reponse and noise reduction, are they? So has anybody else had this done?
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on October 10, 2018, 11:23:25 am
It is law compliance. So they have to do it for free.

You do not have to do it if you believe that it will make the car worse. With the VW cars, there was (questionable?) evidence that made the cars worse.

You could wait to find out whether the same happens with the Mazda cars. But Mazda does not sell a lot of cars and so it will be harder to get the same evidence.

As these letters are sent by the Mazda Europe, you do not have to worry about them after the Brexit. They may not even do that at all from that point or they may charge for it.

As Mazda was never offically caught cheating, there is a good chance that the software will not make the car worse. If you do not plan to keep the car for some time, you can forget about it and let the next owner to decide what to do.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: Flying Buttress on October 15, 2018, 03:25:00 pm
I guess I'll have to take one for the team, then!
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on October 16, 2018, 10:21:18 am
Basically the phone companies have been caught red handed sabotaging old phones but so far there is nothing about car companies. Maybe if people serviced their cars at the dealers, they could sabotage them to sell the new model, but it is a bit extreme.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: alan33 on October 17, 2018, 01:10:31 pm
Hi I received the update letter went along having first noted my MPG over the past 200 and also the other trip showing 3000 plus miles and now after the upgrade I am getting better MPG over around town driving as I have not carried out any long trips since the update :)
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: Choppit on November 04, 2018, 11:43:01 am
Perhaps related, I received a safety recall notification letter on 22nd October;

"This recall campaign requires the powertrain control module fitted to your vehicle to be reprogrammed, in order to protect your engine from developing a fuel injector fault which may in turn lead to the engine stalling" ...

"While the above work is being carried out, your vehicle can also now be installed with the very latest and improved engine calibration software which will enhance the way you engine operates and improve the NVH/noise refinement characteristics of the engine itself."

I'm booked in to have the work done in a few weeks time. Has anyone else has this work done yet?, if so, what, if any difference did it make? The last injector calibration I had improved the MPG by -5...
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: mareng73 on November 09, 2018, 12:49:47 pm
I had this done on my 2014 diesel and then went up to Aberdeen and back with some time in Shetland.
The fuel consumption was higher than expected even on the long steady runs at 70mph using the cruise control, also the frequency of the DPF regeneration increased aiding and abetting  the poor fuel consumption.
So goodness knows what they cocked up with this software update. Also noticed the oil level has increased  in only 2k miles  following the service.
According to the Vosa website on recalls, this car is also required to have the injectors removed for cleaning and retorqueing , but this wasn't done at the service. I got the impression that dealers only remove the injectors if they can detect one blowing, by which time the damage is already done to   the lube oil and the rest of the engine.
From Vosa -  Vin numbers 105 981 - 347 652 ( last 6 numbers of your vin)  down as 'injector nuts' ( incorrectly tightened in the factory) R/2018/259
                                                                                                                                     Fuel Injector Software  R/2018/288

These are the Vosa numbers,  they all come under the Mazda number  AJ 0024*   followed by A to E depending on what SSP they are going to do.
This recall came out of Mazda Japan  a year ago, so Mazda Europe/UK have been dragging their feet.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on November 10, 2018, 11:56:23 am
Is this what you use to check the recalls?

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/default.asp

There is no 259 recall there.

I have the second generation car and when I got it had done less than 15K miles in 3 years. It was regenerating a lot but gradually it cleaned up. In that sense, if you drive in traffic all the time, the car can only clean up that much on a journey.

The only way to keep an eye on the consumption is to keep long term statistics. I bought it, went for a run around the corner (~100 miles) and before I returned home, I filled up and zeroed the counter. Since then I fill up and add the miles and the litres. I use the same website each time to give me the figures for that fill up and the overall. In that way, the current fill up may be not be good depending on traffic, etc, but the overall mpg is absorbing that. While the trip computer is still increasing the mpg, it is lagging behind the real statistics by 10+ mpg. At some point it will match up.

When I bought the car, it had the oil changed but as it was regenerating a lot, it started rising up as you say within the first 2K miles. They removed a bit of oil but later I realised this was down to the regeneration. Now I am due a service after 13.5K miles since the last change and the oil level is half way through.

You should go back with the invisible recall and ask them to do it properly and make a note that you are not happy with the software update. If the car is not running wrongly, the consumption statistics after the update may not be great but they may have been like that even before the update.

A lot of garages do failing parts only and they do not touch anything else, e.g. replace one injector seal, one shock absorber, one spring, one calliper, one bearing, etc. These should be done in pairs at least for the same axle. So for injector seals, if you have found out that these needs to be done, do all of them. There are old posts about a Mazda specialist called AS that they advertise that they do the seals for £95. So if Mazda has a recall for it and they just do one of them, it sounds that they play very cheap as the total cost of doing them all is almost nothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FzfrdoMUaI
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: mareng73 on November 10, 2018, 02:59:00 pm
Apav,

Yes that's  the  website, but you can also go to another part of the site and enter your  Reg which will list any outstanding recalls plus in another section MOT  dates. But oncedone and the dealership has entered the data on the system then under Reg, it will say no recalls.
I notice your car is not a Gen 3  as  this recall applies .

The website is a bit specific, try altering the build date to 2013  and the recall dateto November 2018  it will be at the bottom of page 4.

Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on November 11, 2018, 10:07:51 am
It seems that on this website they have the details and on the personalised one with the registration they have a recall note.

Just print out the recall you found and show it to the dealer.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: mareng73 on January 11, 2019, 09:48:52 pm
I had a letter about this in August.

"Your vehicle is now required to be installed with the very latest and improved engine calibration software. Software will also be installed to enhance the accelerator response as well as provide engine noise reduction".

This stinks of dieselgate - Mazda aren't going to be offering a free improvement in accelerator reponse and noise reduction, are they? So has anybody else had this done?


Yes I had it done supposedly  on a 2014 whilst in for a service. I cannot say it improved the performance nor did it improve mpg as compared to the same time last year when I was touring, so  long motorway runs , in other words.
If they improve the emissions then in most cases fuel efficiency suffers, so a bit self defeating in my eyes.
I will have to start using  Shell V or BP Ultra again see if the consumption improves.

Anybody else seen a detioration since the PCM upgade?
The other thing they were supposed to check was the blowing injectors, rather than reseat them with new washers and correct torque. They are waiting until it happens, causes damage to the engine , then expect you to pay for repairs. 

Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: But_Why??? on February 08, 2019, 07:33:54 pm
I had this PCM "update" applied last November 'ish as I was booked in to the Mazda dealership for another issue.  My other issue was that the Engine Oil Level warning light came on while in the outside lane on the motorway while driving to work.

The oil level issue turned out to be too much oil!  I had the RAC come out to my car as Mazda couldn't look at my car for a few days and the oil warning light said something like "continuing to drive may damage the engine".  The RAC guy said that if you're a bit keen with the accelerator pedal then excess diesel works its way around the piston rings and filters down into the oil.
I've no previous experience of diesel engines and have just read one of the other posters suggesting the re-gen causes oil level to rise?

Anyone know how that happens?

Getting back to the PCM update.  I do 70 miles a day, never at busy times (due to shifts) so I have predictable traffic and 400 miles a week.  I reset my trip computer at every fuel fill-up and fill to the brim every time.  After the update (following day) I noticed a change in the instant-fuel consumption figures and over the last few weeks I've started logging my average fuel consumption. 
It seems to have dropped from 49mpg / 56mpg (worst case / best case) to 45mpg / 51mpg.

Before the update I could actually get 60mpg if I drove slowly everywhere but that involved driving at approx. 60mph with the lorries on the motorway and letting my car slow down significantly on hills.  The quoted Mazda fuel economy figures are a work of fiction.

I've recently been back to Mazda with a faulty wing mirror motor and got them to look into the fuel economy issue.  They said they have re-calibrated the injectors (whatever that means?) and asked me to see if it has changed.

NO - still the same.

I have already ruled out tyre wear / tyre pressure (as I've changed all 4 tyres in the last month)
I've ruled out excessive current-draw from devices by turning all non-essentials off. I had bought a air nano-particulate filter which may have been drawing over an Amp constantly.
I wondered if the I-Eloop / Alternator system was engaging due to battery drain.


I will be going back with my complaint about the fuel economy change soon.

I've just checked the D&VSA recalls page and .Gov recalls page and this PCM reprogramming recall was there last November but is no longer there!  What is going on!
There is now a recall notice about injector current not being controlled correctly - maybe Mazda had to admit what "PCM reprogramming" meant and it has been re-worded?

I find the lack of transparency regarding recalls and warranty fixes highly suspicious!
When I was last able to get access to my online service record there was no record of the turbo or rear brake calipers I had replaced under warranty.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on February 09, 2019, 12:12:43 pm
Yes the regeneration causes fuel to pass into the oil sump. This happens because the forced regeneration happens by increasing the working temperature of the exhaust. In order to achieve that, the car injects fuel while the exhaust valves are open. Some of the fuel goes directly to the exhaust and burns to increase the temperature but some manages to filter through the piston rings and goes into the sump. This sump fuel later burns out and all is OK in theory.

In practice, Mazda suffers from a quality problem with the injectors. There are recalls about lose injectors. These simply oil too fuel in the engine and as a result, there is so much fuel in the sump that it cannot burn. Your car may needs this injectors recall either for lose injectors and/or replacement of the injector rings. This happens with all diesel Mazda cars since the first generation of 6 and so it is not nothing new. It is just poor design and implementation.

With your particular consumption, it is hard to tell what is going because you have no statistics over the years. You do not need to reset the figures after every refuel. You may find helpful to keep a diary with the fuel and distances you cover and compare with the trip computer. There is a case the update increased your consumption but you cannot really tell. The colder the weather becomes, the more the consumption will increase.

Also, it sounds like your driving style is a bit on the less economical side but when you try to drive economically you reach the official figures. So that is good. Most of the people think that X power and Y consumption will come together, i.e. use all the power and get the best consumption, but it is one or the other. It is not like Mazda has a magic way fixing that.

The injector calibration is making sure that the right amount of fuel is injected at the right time. This loses its calibration over time, because driving takes place in the real world and you need to accelerate, stop the engine, etc, at the wrong moment. It is a simple task to do, you just need the engine to be hot enough and while ticking over it will increase the fuel load and tick over 1.1K rpm or so, gradually alternating injectors for a few minutes. If your car is out of calibration, you will notice a smoother operation to say the least.

Overall, the recall may have caused an increase to the consumption but you had to do it. There is no way back now. There should be no negative effects of any recall and so you should insist in finding out whether they did everything right.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: mareng73 on February 19, 2019, 08:52:23 pm
New standards are only for new cars. So it must be something else like a regular update. Moreover, as the government will Brexit, there is no need to comply with EU law after the cliff jump. So it will be extreme to make the older cars comply.


I would tend to disagree with part of your statement.
Regardless of Brexit, the emissions is part of the Paris Agreement which is World Wide (  though you go to the US and they drive down the street in huge great clunkers, just to buy a newspaper, nobody thinks of walking or using a bus to work).  Then you have the Kahn Stealth Tax  effect in  London and other large cities  plus the government decreeing  Electric cars by 2022 or so.
Wasn't there a Car Scrappage scheme a few years ago using failing emissions to scrap them and boost the economy by people buying new cars. They cannot tax them much more so they scrap them. I was paying £250  car tax 6 years ago on a 14 year old diesel, now I am paying £20  on a 5 year old diesel, a neighbour with a petrol of the same year is paying £140.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: apav on February 20, 2019, 05:53:43 pm
Yes I suppose the Brexit comment sounds more like a failed joke now that the car companies are leaving but I think a widespread deregulation may follow as they already scrap basic human rights that they do not want to pass to the new laws. It is a wait and see game but if any car manufacturer stays behind, they will produce EU compliant cars to sell them to Europe, so the local law will somehow approve them. It seems very difficult to believe that the public will start buying brand new Russian/Chinese/Other similar new old cars that are based on past regulations after they got used to cheap finance and niche models, but somehow the government argues that this what they people want to do.

Maybe the car tax increase will do the trick as well. But I think this works only for the most expensive £500+ tax. There were cars like the Daewoo Tacuma that suddendly got a £500 per year tax and people started selling them for nothing. But even that is something like £10 per week like buying a meal deal insteading of cooking at home once per week. So some people will still keep the cars they like.

I think the previous tax system made sense considering the consumption was increasing the emissions and therefore there was more fuel burnt. But even with that, gradually I think people saved very little by buying a newer model because of the huge depreciation.

The current flat rate is like the government admitting that only cared about the money that could charge. They already make plans on how to make up a new tax system for charging electricity. Currently the fuel is taxed at 58% and they add 20% to that and the VED. Then you can fly around paying no duty or tax, stange times.
Title: Re: 2018 "PCM Reprogramming Campaign"?
Post by: mareng73 on April 14, 2019, 11:15:44 pm
In reply to 'But Why's' post, I would suggest you ask your dealer to carry out an Inlet decarbonisation  as the performance has detiorated since the October 2018 recall.
This will be free under Mazda's warranty even though you are past the 3 year mark.  Any parts in the inlet system from the EGR up to the cylinder head ports  will be either cleaned  or replaced. Takes place over 2 days.
The jury is still out on mine, but it looks promising, give it some time and hopefully it will be back to 48 from 44mpg. I would think an Injector relearn would help it now.