A piston in the engine in Carole's son's Mazda 3 has hit the head and currently the cost effective way forward is to fit and exchange engine. I'm well aware of the chance you take but I'm hoping to limit that risk by going to a member of the Federation of Engine Remanufacturers. Any recommendations in a 50 mile radius of Reading ? Thanks, Andy
Hi Andy not sure about distance but I always use Ivor Searle engines at work there very good I've never had a problem and they have good warranty. If you pm me the details I can get you a price as I get all engines trade. You could pick it up or I would happily deliver it for you.
Alistair, not sure what to say. You might just have earned me a shed load of brownie points and dug young Jim out of a huge hole. I'll catch up with the local guy who is looking at it. I guess it's a drop the engine out and remove all the ancilliaries in prep for a rebuild/exchange. I'm back in my sick bed with sinus problems today and we are supposed to be at Brands for the BSB this weekend. I'll pm you Monday. Andy
I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy weekend Ducati hospitality tickets and 2 nights B&B in the Brands hotel. No that's alright mate, I'll struggle through . Andy
Had a quick look on their web site and a bare remanufactured Mazda 3 '09 MY 1.6 engine is about £1750 inc VAT. As I expected that includes none of the ancilliaries and might be too expensive with the costs of removing/ refitting the engine, I need to ask the question. Clearly if you can get a better figure for the engine every little helps. Andy
I have had four Mazda's............323 1.8 Gti hatchback; 323 Fastback; Mazda MX6 x 2............The hatch was one of the quickest and most reliable cars I have owned; but all four of them ended up with knackered CV joints at about 110,000 miles......thereafter everything else seemed to want to pack up.
So havng spoken to the Cookster's contact, it's a rebuild only job from them or one of their agents at a cost of about £3000. Looks like its's a scrapper . Andy
I'm not getting much right today, it's an '07 so too early for an mps. Fallback seems to be to get the engine stripped by the current mechanic and get the crank, block and head to Owlsmore Engineerng opposite Moto Rapido to recondition. The kid has got no money despite a full time job but then if I remember when I was that age, I wasn't exactly flush. Andy
Piston no.2 has at some stage hit the cylinder head and is about 1mm lower than the rest. As the oil pressure was still good, seems likely the conrod small end has failed. Decision is made, the cost of an engine rebuild exceeds the value of the car by a considerable amount so has been deemed beyond economical repair. As the rest of the vehicle and a lot of the engine ancilliaries are still good including a brand new DPF and tested injectors, it's going to be advertised as a job lot for spares. Thanks for all the advice people. Andy
Rare as rocking horse poo, no guarantee what you are buying is any better and still needs someone to remove the old engine and fit the replacement. Quotes coming in at £1400 to £1700 just for an engine when they can find one plus another £1500 for a mechanic to do the swap. Car cost £2300 originally. Advice from several sources condemn the Mazda 2.0 turbo diesel of that period as at best unreliable, so Carole decided to fund him a sensible car off his inheritance and recupe whatever she can from the Mazda. Andy
sounds like the best option although if it were a bike worth 3500, am sure you'd have little hesitation in a 2k+ rebuild
Not a valid argument. I'm 63 and had a job since I was 14, not a 21 year old who has had a job for 18 months and has yet to come to terms with spending less than he earns ........... and come on, this is a 10 year old Mazda we're talking about not the stuff of life. Andy
