2.2 Diesel 59 Plate Oil Pressure WARNING

[678hug]

2.2 Diesel 59 Plate Oil Pressure WARNING

Ok here’s the story. Please, please read this if you own this model.

59 plate 2.2 diesel with 72000 miles.  Full service history with correct oil used, no DPF problems and 95% motorway miles.

On a mild morning, 2-3 minutes after start, oil pressure light came on.  Pulled over. After a few restarts, light went out.  Drove the one mile back home. Oil level checked just below the full mark (not the overfull mark). Panic set in as I immediately suspected an oil pump.  Later in day another 10 second flash of the same light. No abnormal engine noises.

Oil and oil filter replaced. Oil data reset carried out using the pedal method described on this forum.   New oil pressure switch fitted.  70 mile test drive under various conditions and driving styles, problem did not re occur.

Internet reading (mainly this forum) showed a blocked oil strainer as possible cause.
Removed sump pan (putty knife / thin scraper required) and found strainer contaminated with carbon. As you can see, from the before and after pictures,it isn't easily accessible. I had to clean it by poking my little ginger into the hole and used a small paint spray gun cleaning brush.  Also used plenty of brake cleaner which comes in a high pressure spray tin

 

     
 Strainer cleaned. Oil pan refitted using Loctite 5910 sealant.

       

Further reading showed possible cause as fuel injector seal leakage allowing combustion gases to leak back up past the injector, into the head. This can cause carbon contamination to be carried back to the sump by the oil system.

Didn’t know how difficult it would be to remove a carboned injector so I put car into Mazda dealer for seal replacement.  2 hours labour at £100 / hour + £20 for 4 new seals.  The seal on the left shows carbon leakage across complete surface whereas others have a clear gold band of copper concentrically around the seal. The number one injector shows carbon contamination on the body

 
     

Mazda told me that this was the 3rd one with this problem that they’d seen in the past 6 weeks.  Unfortunately for the other 2, both needed a new engine and turbo where the lack of oil pressure had caused damage beyond repair.  £7500!!!!

Whilst in Mazda, I asked them to check their computer to see when the last oil data reset was carried out.  They confirmed it was done 80km ago which proves that the pedal method, not only resets the light, but also resets the ECU oil data.  The £220 I spent here will be recovered as I no longer have to go to the dealer just for an oil change.

 
     


Here are some pictures from another internet search showing somebody else’s experience with the same problem

 


It may be unrelated, but at 50000 miles, i was on my drive with the engine running and i heard a noticeable change in the tone of the engine similar to when the air con compressor cuts in.  Previous to this my car had always maintained 48mpg but following this, it fell to 44mpg over the next week and i have never been able to get it back to 48.  The next few weeks should tell.

I have attached the workshop manual details on how to remove the sump pad and how to remove the injectors.  It says Mazda 3 on the sheets, but it is exactly the same MZR-CD 2.2 Diesel engine.

I think i'll be cleaning the strainer and replacing the injector seals myself every 37500 miles.

     


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[dannyw13]

i also suffered the same fate mate.

I cleaned the strainer and changed the seals myself, no need to be paying mazda massive amounts of money to do it!
strainer was completely clogged like yours

[dannyw13]

[Farnsworth28]

Thanks for the heads up fella's.

I will get this cleaned and the seals replaced on the next service.

Farnsy

[DavidN]

Just an irrelevant observation. If this is stereotypical of modern diesel engine longevity and reliability and the Mazda 6 came 23rd in the 2014 J.D. power survey, then what must all the others be like?

[TrickyLuck]

For someone who would be scared to attempt such an exercise do you think it's worthwhile booking this in as part of every three services, based on the 37500 quote above?  Is this likely to happen on all cars of this model at some point is it just "one of those things?"

Or is it just worth leaving it until you get an issue, I know it sounds like a stupid question, as damage limitation would be the best method, but if caught pretty quickly (100 miles) after it starts giving the symptoms as described above is it ok to wait until this happens?

I suppose prevention is better than cure, and approx timings for hitting 36000 miles is around 3 years so it works out roughly 20p a day for peace of mind, using the £220 as a quote  

Appreciate the work that went into this post, 678hug,  P.S is there a reason the attachments were deleted, is it because the forum can't be deemed to be liable for any information passed on that "may" cause further issues?

Cheers

Tricky

[678hug]

For peace of mind, i would certainly get it done around the 60000 mile mark (4th service) as mine showed the problem 10000 miles later.

You may find yours costs a bit more as i cleaned the sump strainer myself rather than pay Mazda to do it.  Probably 2-3 hours labour in total.

If it happens to you, there really is no time t wait and get it done later.  If the oil pressure light comes on, stop the car immediately and get it recovered.  New engine and turbo is what you're looking at if you let the engine run with this light on.

The bits of my posts which were deleted were screenshots of the official Mazda manual which i presume are copyright.

[TrickyLuck]

Darn, just had mine serviced 60k, but if you see my other post I have a timing chain looming, sounds like I have to add this to the bill as well, going to be a very expensive month.  Thank goodness for 0% transfer credit cards

Thanks again 678hug, shame about those screenshots ...

Cheers

Tricky

[185_jools]

I'll add my experiences. I have already thanked 678hug (thanks again) as I had read his post some months ago, so was forearmed with the knowledge when it happened to me back in April.
I do 50 miles a day on A-B and Motorway roads so it has not been coking up around town,  on school runs.
My car, a 2.2d 185 sport on 54000k suffered the oil light coming on. I ran it straight back to the local mechanic I use for our other car and MOT's as it had just gone through it's MOT with no advisories.
I explained what I thought was wrong and had the sump dropped and cleaned. He summed up what he saw as what he would expect a 200k engine to possibly look like. He cleaned it all up, removing the gauze completely and changed the oil and filter, which came to £180.
Obviously, the leaking injector seals were still there, so I enquired with my Mazda dealer as to the cost of getting them changed, bearing in mind the 75K service was due in November. 
This was about £400 they reckoned, including changing the injector pipes, as they would on the 75K service.
I therefore decided to get the full 75K service done and injector seals replaced, which after a bit of haggling came out at £741.
When shown the pictures, the Mazda dealer were insistent that it was not an issue they saw much and that they would only drop the sump on the customers request. Which I argued was rather worrying, but they didn't seem that concerned.
So.. 
I have attached some pics, sorry they're not the best quality.
You can make up your own mind why, in my humble opinion, you should seriously get this checked out your 2.2d M6 is of a similiar vintage.

[678hug]

185_jools.
Great set of pictures to prove the problem without any doubt.
How did you manage to get the gauze out.  I couldn't get mine out and had the extremely painful job of trying to clean it in situ

[jensencars]

Hi
Just cleaned mine cleans pretty easy if you dip it in a petrol bath outer casing just prises out with a wide bladed screwdriver in the slot just go easy then tap it back in when reassembling.
Any one know where I can find the torque for the injector bolts after replacing the copper washers?
I can only find the torques for a dual type clamp these bolts won't stand 44foot pounds I would not have thought,

Thanks

[678hug]

Thanks for the info.

Here's the torque figures for a 2.2D ...... 76-79 in-lb


 
     

[jensencars]

 . Thanks

[mareng73]

Those problems with the injector washer leaking looks like the copper is too hard and not compressing to form the seal, the garage  has had  the injectors out for some reason and  been too lazy to replace the copper washers. I would recommend annealing even the new washers before fitting them and make sure the injector pocket  and injector is absolutely spotless particularly the seating faces.
I have just sold a Rover 45 diesel with 104K on the clock and I didn't even touch the injectors in 14 years and it still gave good mpg and plenty of torque.
One wonders who supposedly train these mechanics and what the Mazda designers were thinking of when they design an engine with built in problems.

This DP filter still blows carbon into the atmosphere during recycle. Fundamental law of Physics & Chemistry " Matter cannot be created or destroyed".

I.Eng AMI Mar Eng

[ColinB]

Having read this lot I'm just pleased that I chose petrol for my current 6. Hopefully there won't be something similar lying in wait! It does seem that Mazda have come unstuck with their engineering solutions in shifting unwanted carbon around inside the engine. I wonder to what extent similar problems are being experienced by other manufacturers.