Cracked Block (2018 CX-5)

T

TLove

I took my 2018 CX5 to a shop for a possible oil leak. Mechanic says block has hairline crack, is leaking oil down exhaust manifold. He tells me from his research it's a known issue with this model & Mazda is aware of the problem. There is no recall or class action lawsuit that either of us found. He doesn't know what they have done or will do to fix the problem. I am over that 75K mile extended warranty I bought, I'm at 77,652.
I'm going to take it to the dealership in the morning. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to proceed?

Mazda covered it 100%!!!!! I was shocked & very grateful to say the least!!
 
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Don't hate me but id trade it in. Its going to be many thousands of dollars to fix and you’re out of warranty :(
 
If this happened to me, I would trade it in for a vehicle of another brand.
No need to lie. Sell it to the professionals.

Your record (cracked engine block) is likely already in Mazda's computers.
Mazda will not give you a good valuation.
 
If you want to keep the car you can always ask Mazda to cover the cost since they know it is a manufacturing defect, and there are others who had their blocks crack too, so this is not an isolated event. You will likely need to call Mazda customer service directly and file a complaint. They may cover it or offer to split the cost.

Keep us updated. Good luck
 
TLove said:
...
I'm going to take it to the dealership in the morning. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to proceed?
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This problem is very well known on the 2018, but I don't understand why the mechanic told you it's a cracked block, when it's actually a crack in the cylinder head.

Stay calm and under control when talking to the dealership because some owners have received out-of-warranty assistance on this, so you don't want to lose any chance you have by turning it into a shouting match after 5 minutes. But do mention immediately that you're aware that this is a very well-known problem and has been mentioned numerous times online. Also tell them that you have read 33 complaints filed on the NHTSA complaint website for cracked heads on the 2018 CX-5. (they are there, trust me on that)

But if they decide to not give you any (or enough) goodwill assistance from the dealership, then open a case with Mazda Corporate and put all of the above in writing to them as well. And also mention to Corporate that you'll be filing complaint #34 with the NHTSA, if no assistance is given on your claim. Unless another owner files #34 before you get a chance to :rolleyes:


2 new complaints filed that I hadn't seen yet, so the total is up to 33
 
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It could very well be a cracked block. My wife's 2018 had a cracked block at 22,000 miles. They replaced it. It has 115,000 now with just regular maintenance.
 
knot said:
It could very well be a cracked block. My wife's 2018 had a cracked block at 22,000 miles. They replaced it. It has 115,000 now with just regular maintenance.
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Well, then the paperwork you received from Mazda for the repair job, has a problem description containing the words 'cracked block', instead of 'cracked head', correct?
 
This is the first I recall anything mentioned about a cracked block. If so, then wouldn't the repair order list a 'short block' as I doubt that Mazda would supply the bare block and expect the dealer to install the old crankshaft, pistons, oil pump, balance shaft etc. Or would Mazda as in the case of transmissions, just supply a complete rebuilt assembly. Curious how Mazda handles a cracked block issue.
 
Jmaz said:
This is the first I recall anything mentioned about a cracked block. If so, then wouldn't the repair order list a 'short block' as I doubt that Mazda would supply the bare block and expect the dealer to install the old crankshaft, pistons, oil pump, balance shaft etc. Or would Mazda as in the case of transmissions, just supply a complete rebuilt assembly. Curious how Mazda handles a cracked block issue.
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I believe that every 'cracked block' report on these NA/CD engines was actually a cracked cylinder head. But anyone is welcome to prove me wrong about that by posting repair paperwork from a dealership, which states 'cracked block' instead of 'cracked (cylinder) head' on it.

When cracked heads first started happening on the 2018 CX-5, Mazda Corporate approved long block engine replacements for some number of months. Then, when it became apparent that NA cracked heads was going to be a major and ongoing issue, the automaker issued the TSB which made the 'loaded' replacement head available to the dealers. And at that point the cylinder head replacement became the standard cracked head repair, instead of the full engine replacement. That action facilitated a reasonably quick repair, along with reducing the net cost to the corporation (the dealerships of course were fully reimbursed by Mazda for all of these cracked head incidents under warranty). All of the above is based primarily on multiple, very credible reports from Mazda techs, along with some individual owner accounts as well.
 
TLove said:
I was going to trade it in, but Mazda covered the repairs 100%. I was shocked but very happy!!!
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Great to read that and glad this worked out so well for you (y)

it's becoming clearer over time that Mazda is bending quite a bit on out-of-warranty coverage for cracked heads. And I believe this is in no small part due to a great deal of negative commentary about this issue that's been showing up online.

For the benefit of other owners who might one day be facing this same issue, can you give a brief summary of your conversation with the dealership? I'm most interested in anything they said to you that sounds (even remotely) like a direction going forward, that Mazda might be now taking on coverage for cracked heads in general.
 
To add to that, did you always use your dealer for maintenance? Because that supposedly makes it more likely Mazda will show goodwill in these situations.
 
edmaz said:
Great to read that and glad this worked out so well for you (y)

it's becoming clearer over time that Mazda is bending quite a bit on out-of-warranty coverage for cracked heads. And I believe this is in no small part due to a great deal of negative commentary about this issue that's been showing up online.

For the benefit of other owners who might one day be facing this same issue, can you give a brief summary of your conversation with the dealership? I'm most interested in anything they said to you that sounds (even remotely) like a direction going forward, that Mazda might be now taking on coverage for cracked heads in general.
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Unfortunately, I spoke too soon! The dealership called me today saying they messed up & Mazda only paid $1750 so I owe them an additional $1035. He said, "for your deductible". A deductible on my expired warranty. UGH!! I emailed Mazda customer service, again. We shall see!
I also filed a complaint on the NHTSA.
 
TLove said:
Unfortunately, I spoke too soon! The dealership called me today saying they messed up & Mazda only paid $1750 so I owe them an additional $1035. He said, "for your deductible". A deductible on my expired warranty. UGH!! I emailed Mazda customer service, again. We shall see!
I also filed a complaint on the NHTSA.
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A total repair cost of $2785 can't be correct. The lowest quote I've seen reported for this work is $4500, and others ranged all the way up to $9000. So if they have your part at 1K, then Mazda must be kicking in 3.5K or more.

Not saying that you should be happy about having to pay that amount, and perhaps they will ultimately increase their contribution for you on this. This has been a systemic issue on the 2018, and I continue to feel that Mazda should be picking up the full tab for all of these cracked heads - warrantied or not. They shouldn't be asking others to help clean up the mess they made.
 
Is this issue with the regular 2.5 engine or turbo engine? Our 2016 Cx-5 sport with the skyactiv 2.5 engine just hit 85k and has been quite reliable.

My brother just bought a used 2021 CX-5 sport with the same 2.5 skyactiv engine with around 19k and hopefully that will be as reliable.
 
txt990 said:
What about the 2021 Cx-5 sport with the 2.5 ?
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The number of complaints on NHTSA, independent owner reports, and feedback from Mazda techs, all points to much lower number of cracked NA heads on 2020 and newer models. And if a manufacturing issue with the casting process was the one and only cause for the heads cracking, it makes sense that fixing it would resolve the issue.

All of that said, it does continue to nag at me why there have been ANY cracked heads at all on the newer MYs. The Mazda techs say there have been 'a few' newer ones, and we have had one confirmed report (with dealership paperwork) of a cracked head on a 2022 reported here. So this means that, unless they continued to install previously cast defective heads, the casting issue has not been 100% resolved. Or alternatively, there's more to the cracked head issue than just bad casting alone. Regardless of what the actual answer is, it's disappointing and unsettling to me that this mess still has not been completely resolved, six years or so after it began.

So the answer to your question is that 2020 and later NA/CD models currently appear to be much less likely to have cracked heads. However, probably no one outside of Hiroshima actually knows what the future holds for these newer vehicles.
 
edmaz said:
The number of complaints on NHTSA, independent owner reports, and feedback from Mazda techs, all points to much lower number of cracked NA heads on 2020 and newer models. And if a manufacturing issue with the casting process was the one and only cause for the heads cracking, it makes sense that fixing it would resolve the issue.

All of that said, it does continue to nag at me why there have been ANY cracked heads at all on the newer MYs. The Mazda techs say there have been 'a few' newer ones, and we have had one confirmed report (with dealership paperwork) of a cracked head on a 2022 reported here. So this means that, unless they continued to install previously cast defective heads, the casting issue has not been 100% resolved. Or alternatively, there's more to the cracked head issue than just bad casting alone. Regardless of what the actual answer is, it's disappointing and unsettling to me that this mess still has not been completely resolved, six years or so after it began.

So the answer to your question is that 2020 and later NA/CD models currently appear to be much less likely to have cracked heads. However, probably no one outside of Hiroshima actually knows what the future holds for these newer vehicles.
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From what I have read online it seems to affect mostly the turbo engines? At least that what I thought I saw on a TSB.
 
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