CX-5 Oil

banzaitree123

Member
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Mazda CX-5 GT
Hey guys,

I recently did an oil change on my 2016.5 CX-5 and there were some metal flakes in the oil and on top of that, it looked like the engine burned about a quart and a half of oil.

(gah)

I bought the car used and this is the second oil change that I have done with it since I bought it. What do you guys suggest I do next? I'm planning on driving it for another 7K miles and doing another oil change to see whats up. Do you think I should do another oil change sooner to just double check it?

Thanks in advance
 
It's still under warranty, right? Take it to a dealer and have it checked if you've got concerns.
 
How was the first oil change? I wouldn't go 7 if you're worried. 5 max.
 
I think I would follow the severe service recommendation of 5,000 miles per OCI. if you drive in the location you gave. What viscosity oil and brand are you using? Ed
 
What oil and filter are you using?

Make sure you are keeping receipts and records if you are changing yourself.

You might consider dropping to a 5000 mile interval.
 
Hey guys,

I recently did an oil change on my 2016.5 CX-5 and there were some metal flakes in the oil and on top of that, it looked like the engine burned about a quart and a half of oil.


I bought the car used and this is the second oil change that I have done with it since I bought it. What do you guys suggest I do next? I'm planning on driving it for another 7K miles and doing another oil change to see whats up. Do you think I should do another oil change sooner to just double check it?

Thanks in advance

A few questions come to mind.
You bought it used, so how many miles on it when you bought it?
Was it a private sale, or a dealer sale? If it was a private sale, the previous owner may have known about the problem and dumped it on you.
Do you have any idea when the first oil change was done?
What is the current mileage and is it under warranty?
Did you not check the oil periodically between changes? Did you not notice the drop in oil level?
Lastly, document everything if you are going to claim anything.
You should be able to start an oil usage/consumption history with the dealership to track actual oil loss.
I did this many years ago with a Chrysler minivan, and excessive oil consumption was tracked and verified....and subsequently fixed free of charge.
 
Firstly, you need to make sure you're checking the oil level regularly. If you in fact were 1.5 quarts low, that's equal to being 30% under full capacity, not good.

How many miles on the vehicle? What size are these flakes? A picture would really help here. What oil and filter are you using? Are you still covered by warranty?

Make sure the pan you're draining into is exceptionally clean, any amount of debris in the pan can make it look as though the debris is coming from your engine. I would make sure the pan is exceptionally clean and drain in 5k miles. Check the oil in the pan at that time. If you have an oil filter cutter, slice it open and see what the filter looks like. Make sure you're keeping all receipts and a record of your DIY maintenance, if under warranty.
 
Hey guys,

Firstly, thank you for all your insight.

Yes, I have warranty still on the car. I bought the car with 21 thousand miles on the clock and I did the first oil change interval at about 26 thousand miles. I failed to check the oil regularly as I wrongly assumed that the engine was good. I purchased it from a dealership and it was a leased vehicle that was traded in. I have only used Mazda oil filters and crush washers. I purchased the 0w-20 Mobile One from Walmart. Unfortunately, I do not have all the receipts from the oil changes and filter purchases. :(

Since I have found the flakes, I did notice that the oil level has dropped a quart (when I completed the oil change, the oil was probably exactly at the center of the two dots. When I checked the oil about a week later, it dropped to basically the bottom edge of the dipstick. That was also super terrifying) and I am checking it regularly, about a week's time interval. I am actually supposed to check it today. I can drop down to the 5k mile interval on the oil changes just to be sure.

The only thing is, the CX-5 is my wife's commuter and I know that it's not driven hard or anything like that. So, if I go to the dealership, what do I even start with? Do you guys have any idea how I would utilize my remaining time on the warranty?

Again, thanks for all the help!
 
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If you paid for the Walmart oil via credit card, then your credit card invoice IS your receipt. ed
 
⋯ Since I have found the flakes, I did notice that the oil level has dropped a quart (when I completed the oil change, the oil was probably exactly at the center of the two dots. When I checked the oil about a week later, it dropped to basically the bottom edge of the dipstick. That was also super terrifying) and I am checking it regularly, about a week's time interval.
Looks like you do have excessive oil consumption issue. How many miles has the CX-5 been driven for that week? Usually the car manufactures would come with a ridiculous 1,000-mile per quart oil consumption guideline to determine if you have excessive oil consumption issue. The good thing is you can start from your Mazda dealer, and demand them to fix the problem under warranty. Since you purchased your CX-5 there, they may be more willing to help you getting the approval from Mazda North American Operations for the engine repair of replacement. Car manufacture usually wants all proofs of oil change for this kind of issue. Hopefully your dealer have them before your purchase, and you may have to provide your part. If you don't have it, try to get some records from your original sellers, or even a credit card statement that would help.

My personal experience on excessive oil consumption problem is it'd be difficult to get warranty service. My 2001.5 VW Passat 2.8L V6 is burning oil about 1,000 miles per quart since I purchased new. And there're people having similar issue with the same engine got free re-ring job by VWoA. But my VW dealer could never get an approval from VWoA for a re-ring job during the long 3-year fight before my warranty ran out. And that's my last VW vehicle although I'd been buying only new VWs since 1980's!
 
My wife drives it to and from work which totals about 20 miles a day. When I checked it, it was about a week after the oil change occurred. so about 100 miles for sure, maybe an additional 50 miles for the weekend, but since this issue, we stopped driving it on the weekends.

I will try to conduct more accurate readings of the car's oil consumption, but the mere fact that it's drank a quart around 100 miles is ridiculous. I will wait until the next 5000 mile oil change interval to make a decision to take it to the dealership for a new engine basically.
 
was it a certified pre-owned vehicle from a Mazda dealership?

how much oil did you put in when you changed it?
 
If it was burning that much oil it would be noticeable out the exhaust or engine run ability. I would check for leaks or have dealer do it.
 
If you paid for the Walmart oil via credit card, then your credit card invoice IS your receipt. ed

It doesn't matter. They would have to prove that he failed to maintain the vehicle to weasel out of this.

Industry standard is between 800 and 1200 miles per quart of oil usage, to get a new engine. Sounds horrible, I know, but thems the rules with most manufacturers. They will begin a consumption test when you go in and report such, if things are still done how they used to be.
 
If it was burning that much oil it would be noticeable out the exhaust or engine run ability. I would check for leaks or have dealer do it.

Nah, I had a mustang 5.0 that burned 1 quart every 750-900 miles, and you could neither see it, nor did it impact performance. This is also without any emissions equipment. over time, that would have killed the cats, were they there.
 
If you're burning 1qt per 100 miles, you would almost certainly be seeing it in the exhaust. Perhaps the exhaust manifold design of the CX-5 eliminates this usual symptom, but I don't think so.

Given that it's under warranty, I would let the dealership start an oil consumption study on your next oil change. They will need to be the one to change the oil and they'll likely have you come on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to record the oil level. I did this with a Charger I once owned, it would burn a quart every 1-1.2k miles.

Industry standard for consumption is typically between 800-1,200 before they decide it's a problem. In my case, Chrysler considered 1k miles to be the threshold so they didn't do anything about the consumption. I kept her topped off and she lived a healthy life up until 75k miles when I sold her. I'm not sure what Mazda's threshold is, but I do know that step one is having the dealership start a consumption study.

*Edit* A quick and easy initial check is to check the PCV valve, if it gets clogged, that can increase oil consumption. Check the valve and replace if clogged.
 
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If you're burning 1qt per 100 miles, you would almost certainly be seeing it in the exhaust. Perhaps the exhaust manifold design of the CX-5 eliminates this usual symptom, but I don't think so.

Given that it's under warranty, I would let the dealership start an oil consumption study on your next oil change. They will need to be the one to change the oil and they'll likely have you come on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to record the oil level. I did this with a Charger I once owned, it would burn a quart every 1-1.2k miles.

Industry standard for consumption is typically between 800-1,200 before they decide it's a problem. In my case, Chrysler considered 1k miles to be the threshold so they didn't do anything about the consumption. I kept her topped off and she lived a healthy life up until 75k miles when I sold her. I'm not sure what Mazda's threshold is, but I do know that step one is having the dealership start a consumption study.

*Edit* A quick and easy initial check is to check the PCV valve, if it gets clogged, that can increase oil consumption. Check the valve and replace if clogged.

I just saw that. Wow! I thought it was more miles than that. Yeah, PCV clogged will cause it to weep out of every sealed juncture.
 
Okay quick update. No smoke out the exhaust and nothing leaking from underneath it. I checked the oil last night and everything was normal and I drove it quite a lot last night and it pulled strong and nothing strange. The car is not certified used, then i would have already complained to the dealership.

As of right now, the car is running fine. Am I going crazy? I completed everything as the owners manual stated, the right amount of oil and the weight as viscosity, the car is being babied and not ran hard, mostly commuting. FOR SURE I did see metal flakes on my last oil change and it's about 1300 miles since the last oil change. I will keep posting as time progresses but this is definitely something strange and because everything is running smoothly and normally.

(smash)
 
Okay quick update. No smoke out the exhaust and nothing leaking from underneath it. I checked the oil last night and everything was normal and I drove it quite a lot last night and it pulled strong and nothing strange. The car is not certified used, then i would have already complained to the dealership.

As of right now, the car is running fine. Am I going crazy? I completed everything as the owners manual stated, the right amount of oil and the weight as viscosity, the car is being babied and not ran hard, mostly commuting. FOR SURE I did see metal flakes on my last oil change and it's about 1300 miles since the last oil change. I will keep posting as time progresses but this is definitely something strange and because everything is running smoothly and normally.

(smash)

Don't always baby it though.
 
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