My car has been out of commission now for about 3-4 weeks due to a front end accident. I was supposed to pick my car up today after days and days of getting the last parts on, painted, etc. I went today and they told me the car wouldn't start and they originally thought THEY had flooded the engine b/c their auto body mechanics didn't keep the engine warm before shutting it off when they took it in and out of the garage bays. NOTE: I do have all the updated TSB's.

They told me they were gonig to tow it to a mechanic to have them switch out the plugs ASAP so they could get the car running and back to me today. When the mechanic looked at the engine, he diagnosed that the problem was not that the engine had flooded, but that there was coolant that had leaked into the engine causing it not to start. So they again towed it to a Mazda dealership late today and I am currently waiting to hear back from them on the diagnosis.

My questions... I have read the couple threads about coolant leaks around the O-rings, but it seems as though this was an occasional problem in newer engines that were poorly built and resulted in a warranty switch-out. The auto body manager that has been working with me told me he is waiting to hear back from Mazda to see what is up. What they are mainly wondering is if the accident could have caused this or was it from being run shortly here and there around my driveway (to get on the tow truck) or at the auto body center without coolant cirrculating correctly in the car b/c the radiator was broke. I am a little nervous b/c I feel like somehow they are going to come back and pin it on the accident turning it into more of a claim that I already filed with insurance. My car currently has about 55,000 miles on it. Could this have been bad timing and this leak has nothing to do with the accident? Is there a chance Mazda will cover a new engine? And could this just be a part here and there that needs fixed, or is most likely an entire engine???

I'm not real knowledgable on the entire setup of this problem and am asking for some opinions on this... MY BIGGEST FEAR OUT OF ALL THIS??? Mada calls me and says I need an entire new engine ON ME. What do you all think? Any ideas?

Thanks guys.

 

How bad was the damage to the front end? After the crash was there any leaking coolant, if so what did the Body Shop have to do to fix it? Any photos of the damage? Before Mazda is going to fix anything you first have to rule out accident damage.

 

The damage was somewhat bad. The radiator was definitely shot as was the a/c condenser screen, etc. There was coolant that was leaking from the radiator, and when the car arrived at the auto body shop, it practically had zero coolant left in the car. Granted this information, what coorelation does this have to collant in the engine? If the radiator was leaking onto the ground at the bottom of the radiator, does it also leak into the engine?? If so, then this probably the cause... Just the way the said there was coolant IN the engine (from what they saw without taking everythign apart) caught me a bit off guard?

Does this sound like an entire new engine? Or could it possibly be seal or ring or soemthing and then just cleaned out?

 

If the engine was run without coolant and overheated it would leak coolant into the engine. Yes you most likely would need a new engine.

 

That's what I was afraid of and that sounds like that is the only possibility. Here is the thing, how do they determine who ran the engine until it leaked into the bay? I drove it shortly out of a garage bay out into my cul-de-sac so the tow truck could pick it up & the auto body center drove it in and out of their garage bays while fixing it?

 

Insurance agent called today to tell me that Mazda said I would need a NEW engine. Fault for the leak is still in question... They said it was most likely caused from overheating with no coolant in the system, but I only drove/moved the car about .25 mile and the needle never touched half and the auto body center moved it in and out of the engine bays... More updates to come later today or tomorrow...

 

My engine had a small leak in the rings and they trashed the motor and gave me a new one.

 

If you had no coolant in the system, the temp gauge wouldn't be reading accurately. It measures the temp of the coolant. So you could have overheated and it not show up on the gauge, or at least I would think so.