Hello,

I took my car to a Mazda Dealership as I was having problems with it and the techs there said the problem was complete engine failure. Can anyone advise me as to where I should look to purchase a new engine and what might the cost be for the engine and instalation?

Thanks,

Bill

 

pettitracing.com and pineappleracing.com

 

From everything I've read on this forum so far, this would be a typical response from the dealer. Most of them don't really know how to diagnose these cars, as there aren't that many in country to deal with training new service techs. What, EXACTLY, did they tell you was wrong. If they only say complete engine failure, my guess is to RUN down there and tow the thing out of there before they touch anything else and find a reputable shop. Complete engine failure = don't know WTF up, but would be glad to charge you a BUNCH for a engine replacement!

Hope this helps in any way...

 

I'm not sure what they mean by complete engine failure, probably a broken apex seal, but you can get a reman from Malloy Mazda for about $2000 with a core exchange. This is probably the easiest path, they send your engine in, you get a reman engine in exchange, and all they have to do is install it. DO NOT have them rebuild your engine, they'll almost certainly mess up. In my mind "complete engine failure" would mean something along the lines of a broken e-shaft (yowza if that ever happens!). However, they probably used that term to indicate to you that you can't continue driving the car in the condition the engine is in. I would definitely tow it to a rotary shop for a second opinion, it could be a minor problem causing horrible symptoms (this happens) although don't get your hopes up too high.

 

They done a compression test and said the car had no compression and no spark

 

Also the car will not run at all

 

It could be flooded in that case. Even a broken engine should have spark, so either you have a broken engine and a broken ignition system at the same time, or you have a broken ignition system which caused the engine to flood and then lose compression. I would replace the plugs and do the "ATF trick" to try and regain the compression. I mean, think about it, if there is no spark obviously its not going to run, broken or not, right? Also note that engine failures almost always occur on one rotor only, usually the rear. So if you have NO compression on either rotor, that would raise an eyebrow. I'm still recommending a second opinion by a rotary specialist.

 

What is the "ATF" trick??

 

The ATF trick is one way to "un-flood" a flooded car. i found push starting it to be more effective. either way it sounds like the mazda techs dont have a clue what they are talking about, and they dont know what to fix. so they tell you to get a new engine, because then they dont have to fix it. i agree with the above statements. get a second opinion.