Mazda Maintenance Mitigation

"Flat Six" (flat-six)
04/02/2015 at 11:00 • Filed to: Mazda, DIY, Maintenance, Repair, Tips

I took my 2004 Mazda 6 wagon in to the dealer for an airbag recall. They went through the car thoroughly and presented me with a $4585 quote for fixing all the miscellaneous quirks.

It's everything from replacing control arms to fixing engine mounts and doing throttle body cleaning. The big one was $2000+ for engine resealing. I already spent quite a bit last year on it replacing ignition coils etcetera. I can probably get a better deal at an independent shop (I have an appointment for Monday), but I know a lot of these issues are real.

The Mazda 6 has been a relatively fun driver, and was a good value when I bought it, however the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! does not seem to match up to the other Japanese brands

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See: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

At this rate I could almost finance or lease a new car. The bulk of the quote is labor costs, but I don't have the time to do it myself. At what point does it not make sense to keep this car running? I wonder if I bite the bullet and do the maintenance / repairs, will it give me a few more good years?

What would you do?

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EDIT - list of repairs:

Battery cable repair (lots of corrosion): $285

#3 motor mount: $299

Left front control arm: $384

2 Michelin Tires: $488

Automatic transmission flush: $194

Engine reseal: $2125

Throttle body clean: $89

Fuel injection service: $123

Pollen filter: $68

DISCUSSION (35)

crowmolly > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:04

Post up the entire list and we'll dissect it for you.

thebigbossyboss > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:06

Interesting. My dad just replaced the engine coils on his manzda 6 (2005 I think). They are nice cars but a bit expensive.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:07

Did he follow it up with: "Or, you know, I could just take it off your hands. It's more of a burden to you than anything else right now. I'd be doing you a favor, actually."

Future ND Owner > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:09

Look up the blue book value for the car in your area (kbb.com). Compare it's current resale value vs. the repair estimate from the indy shop. My guess is that the repair bill will be higher.

If you can afford $15-25K for a new/late model car, I would get one. If you only have $4-8K to spend, I would probably fix and keep the 6.

ly2v8-Brian > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:10

Fix it myself.

JGrabowMSt > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:10

Kinja'd!!!

A bill that much and they're just going in dry? I'm not sure I'd let them.

Party-vi > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:10

No lube? Must have been rough.

spanfucker retire bitch > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:11

At what point does it not make sense to keep this car running?

Probably right now if everything in that quote is true.

dogisbadob > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:14

Rust repair isn't cheap!

Flat Six > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username
04/02/2015 at 11:24

Haha, no. I think they being honest.

Flat Six > thebigbossyboss
04/02/2015 at 11:25

That is a known issue where they regularly go bad.

Flat Six > dogisbadob
04/02/2015 at 11:26

I live in Texas, so thankfully I don't have any rust. I have seen nightmare pictures of Canadian Mazdas!

jariten1781 > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:26

What is included in this 'engine resealing'? That's one of those 'jobs' that could be anything from valve cover gasket, oil pan, and rear main; to a full tear down and doing rings and valve seals. Don't buy into that unless you see a full breakdown and you're actually having issues. It's usually mass overkill.

Flat Six > ly2v8-Brian
04/02/2015 at 11:27

I wish I had the time and knowledge...

Flat Six > Party-vi
04/02/2015 at 11:29

Funny that lube is called out separately - must be lube for the customer instead of the car!

Flat Six > jariten1781
04/02/2015 at 11:33

The car is slowly leaking oil. You can smell it burning after driving a bit. There isn't a puddle in my driveway and there was plenty of oil after 6 months. It sounds like they want to do a full teardown. Thanks for the tip, I'll be sure to find out exactly what is included in that.

Flat Six > JGrabowMSt
04/02/2015 at 11:34

Very funny :)

Flat Six > crowmolly
04/02/2015 at 11:42

Thanks! Updated post (I don't have page 2 in front of me so there are a few items missing)

Flat Six > Future ND Owner
04/02/2015 at 11:43

That was kind of my thinking - value is only about 4 or 5 thousand.

jariten1781 > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:52

As a PO of a 2004 6, stuck open PCV valve had me burning a fair amount of oil. That should be your first look and it's a very simple repair that may solve it. Make sure they've done a leak-down test and show you the results before you authorize a full tear-down...I've heard of some folks having issues with the valve seals on the V6...but it's pretty rare.

crowmolly > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 11:55

My opinion:

Battery cable repair (lots of corrosion): $285 Yes

#3 motor mount: $299 Probably not

Left front control arm: $384 How bad? Safety issue?

2 Michelin Tires: $488 How bad? Safety issue?

Automatic transmission flush: $194 Emphatic NO

Engine reseal: $2125 How bad? Probably no if there are just some small oil leaks. By reseal do they mean VALVE SEALS?

Throttle body clean: $89 NAH unless the car runs bad

Fuel injection service: $123 NAH unless the car runs bad

Pollen filter: $68 For a cabin air filter? Unless the filter itself is expensive, do it yourself.

Flat Six > jariten1781
04/02/2015 at 11:56

I've been reading about PCV here:

http://forum.mazda6club.com/3-0l-v6/158303…

I don't think that is the issue, but will check. Thanks!

Flat Six > crowmolly
04/02/2015 at 11:58

Thanks!

Control arm and tires are not safety issue yet.

Oil leaks are fairly small right now, no major puddles - I can just smell it burning when it drips on something hot.

Yeah that is ridiculous for the air filter, makes me kind of dubious of other prices.

E92M3 > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 12:06

That's just ludicrous. I would try to tackle some of that yourself. Battery cable is any easy one. You can probably get the cable for $40 or less, and have it done in less than an hour. If you spent $4k on this car amd someone hit's you and totals it the following week you won't get any of that back. All of these things aren't going to keep the car from being driveable. I would fix a couple and save the rest for later, doing a couple at a time. I'm curious about this engine reseal. Could just need an oil pan gasket. Maybe Mazda is encouraging this type of inspection to make up some money it's losing on the recall?

jariten1781 > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 12:06

Battery cable repair (lots of corrosion): $285: Maybe, would need to see

#3 motor mount: $299: Maybe, but likely not unless vibrations are bothering you

Left front control arm: $384: Probably

2 Michelin Tires: $488: Probably

Automatic transmission flush: $194: Absolutely not. NEVER flush an auto transmission unless you want it to fail. If you want new fluid in there you should do a series of drain and fills. Flushes clog channels and are nearly universally bad news.

Engine reseal: $2125: After breakdown is given and compression leak down tests reassess

Throttle body clean: $89: Nah, do that yourself, it's cake

Fuel injection service: $123: Probably not unless there's an issue

Pollen filter: $68: Do it yourself

Flat Six > jariten1781
04/02/2015 at 12:11

Cool, I will look into doing some of that myself! I think tires are okay for a little while longer actually. I appreciate the feedback.

MazdaMonkey > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 12:13

-Just clean off the corrosion yourself (google "how to clean car battery." If battery is working fine, no need to replace cable.

-only replace motor mount if you are feeling some intense vibrations.

-Only replace control arm if you are getting weird wear on your tires

-replace tires at Costco. Best value IMO

-its important to keep up with auto transmission fluid replacement on this year Mazda. you can drain and fill yourself a couple of times easily in the driveway for cheap

-If its just a small oil leak and the car runs fine, skip the engine reseal. Just keep an eye on the oil level.

-you can clean your throttle body with $5 of cleaner in your driveway. Quite easy. I do it on my cars once every few years when i notice the idle getting rough.

-if your pollen filter is clogged, just change it yourself. Google how to, shouldnt take long.

Flat Six > E92M3
04/02/2015 at 12:22

Yeah, spending 4K would be crazy. I'll probably do what you say - start with a few important ones.

Flat Six > MazdaMonkey
04/02/2015 at 12:24

Thanks for the advice!

Regarding transmission fluid - is drain/fill different from flushing? Some other people strongly advised against flushing.

ly2v8-Brian > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 12:33

The knowledge isn't too hard to get, the time though...

Flat Six > ly2v8-Brian
04/02/2015 at 12:35

It looks like some of this stuff is easy based on other comments, so maybe I will give it a shot!

MazdaMonkey > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 12:40

There are two schools of thought on flushing. Some are totally against it. Some see its value.

With your typical automatic transmission, you can only drain a third of the fluid from under the car. This is because much of the fluid is stuck up in the torque converter, etc. The only simple way to get all of the old fluid out is to use an auto trans flushing machine (which the dealer has) that will push all of the old fluid out and refill it with new stuff). Some people are afraid of this because if there was any debris stuck in the trans pan, usually on the magnet, then they can get pushed up into the transmission itself and cause damage. So, they say, never flush.

Now, an alternative you can do at home is a repeated drain and fill: drain and fill, start the car to mix the old and new fluids, drain and fill, start the car, drain and fill, and repeat until the stuff coming out of the transmission fluid is mostly clean. This avoids the issue with flushing the transmission.

An even better alternative, and I have done this on a '07 Mazda3, which is basically the same setup as your car, is to drain and fill once. I am sure there are guides online for your car, but you basically drain what you can, then disconnect a fluid hose and start the car to drain out what is left in the transmission. If you want to be extra careful (and I recommend it considering auto transmissions these days), you can also drop the transmission pan and clean out any debris on there. Your Mazda should have a magnet that catches metal shavings that you can clean off. You can do this process in a couple of hours, but make sure you follow the guides closely and make sure you have the right tools before you start!

Flat Six > MazdaMonkey
04/02/2015 at 12:43

Thanks for the detailed response! I understand better now. This might be beyond my skill level, but I will read up :)

ly2v8-Brian > Flat Six
04/02/2015 at 12:44

Exactly. For your injectors try additives from STP or Sea-Foam. Your pollen filter should be right behind the glove box (also called a cabin filter). Google is your friend for finding where things are located.

Flat Six > ly2v8-Brian
04/02/2015 at 13:00

Thanks for the tips!