AC Compressor, VVT and Timing Chain

[CXRabbit]

All big issues that can arise on the 2007 CX-7.

I'm going through it with the AC Compressor now. Car is undriveable. It ended up a smokey mess on the site of the road. I'm going back and forth with Mazda now on getting them to pay for the repair.

In the meantime, there's a TSB for the VVT.

And now I'm reading about premature Timing Chain failures.

Here's my question...

On the VVT issue, since there is a TSB about it, if the car is out of warranty should the dealer cover the repair?

On the Timing Chain issue, short of regular maintenance (which I'm good about), what can I do to prevent a premature Timing Chain failure? I CANNOT afford a new car right now or a new engine on this one, so I'd like to minimize the potential of this happening at all.

I thought about letting them fix the AC Compressor and then trying to negotiate a trade-in with them... however, I really can't afford a new car payment right now (CX-7 is paid for) and, even if I could, I'm not too keen on Mazda right at the moment...

What do you all think?


(ps. My car: 2007 CX-7 Grand Touring with roughly 56,000 miles.)

 

[CXRabbit]

For anyone interested, Mazda agree to pay for the parts (about $1150) and I paid for the labor ($350). We're still going back and forth on who pays for the tow.

I'm considering trading the car in. Not really crazy about the idea because I was hoping to own it relatively trouble-free for at least 100,000 miles, but this whole experience is making me very nervous. I also found out today it does need the VVT replaced and that is going to cost $900. NOT happy.

 

[offset_98]

Ugh this would make me angry if it were my car. We're at 37k and trouble free but I have a feeling trouble lies ahead. We too have talked about trading the CX-7 in early just for this reason but we're almost done paying for it and don't want another car payment.

 

[CXRabbit]

Yeah Erik, it's a real pain-in-the-ass. I was VERY happy with the car right up until last week when all the trouble started, but I guess that's how it usually goes. I certainly wouldn't expect a timing chain failure for a very long time, so I really want to do everything I can to minimize it. I can tell ya, I never expected this AC Compressor meltdown, but thankfully Mazda KNOWS it's an issue and covered most of it.

I talked with Firestone today and the manager wants me to call back tomorrow and we're going to do a 3-way call with his A-Tech and see what we can do about the VVT and timing chain... though from what he tells me so far, there isn't really any way to "check" the timing chain without 4-5 hours of labor, and at that point you might as well replace it. I'm not ready for that yet (I hope), so we'll see how it goes from here.

I also know a guy (parts manager) out at another Mazda dealership and am going to call him and see if he can get me a better price on doing the VVT.

I hate begin nervous about driving my car, but this whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[offset_98]

Have you called Mazda corporate? They have a customer service center you can call and ask for assistance. I worked there in college and generally speaking, if you "helped them out" then they would help you out, i.e. if you got oil changes and maintenance done at your local dealership, chances are good that with a nudge from someone in customer service at corporate they will help you out. Only thing to remember is, these places are franchised so some dealers will tell customer service to pound sand.

It sounds dumb but b/c of that reason right there that I learned working at corporate's call center, I've always used my dealer for oil changes, tire rotations and any other maintenance I needed. To help save myself a little bit of money, I'd buy my sythetic oil at WalMart and bring it to the service bay with me.

You're right though, there is absolutely ZERO reason a timing chain should go so early. I've had cars well over 200k miles where that never even came up in conversation much less became an issue. It's unacceptable. Good luck, let us know how you make out!

 

[CXRabbit]

I had my maintenance done at the Mazda dealership for the first year... until they went out of business. They only recently reopened this new Mazda dealership (new ownership) a few blocks from where the original one had been.

I didn't call corporate because with the AC Compressor issue I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out (them picking up the bulk of the cost). The timing chain thing I'm just hoping to prevent. I'm going to price around on the VVT actuator before I make any decision on what to do next.

I will keep ya posted

 

[Matrosoff]

CXRabbit, did you hear the diesel-like sound from your engine?
Like this one : http://rstblog.com/wp-content/uploads/warm.mp3
If yes, your car has a bad vvt clutch problem. This can lead to timing chain failure. If you never replaced VVT actuator by the warranty, than i can bet it is a problem. Because this is well-known problem for 2007 yr model (however, i have the same prob with 2007 yr model). You can drive long time possibly 10-20k miles without any problems but with this sound. But after that.... You have to pay... pay... pay... Really huge amount of Benjamins.

BTW, many shops sells actuator for $600-$700. The normal price is $200-$300 for it. Do not overpay