Hello everyone. I've been lurking these forums for a few years, but finally created an account because I need some help/input. This might be a long post, so I'll provide cliffs at the bottom.

I have a 2004 with 89k miles on it. About 1.5 months ago, I took my car to the dealership because it was having trouble starting, rough idle, and would randomly just stall and not start back up for 10-15 minutes. Dealership told me the SSV was stuck open which was probably causing the problems as well as the CEL, but they needed to replace the coils, spark plugs, and wires, and run their ZoomZoom cleaner through it. Total cost was gonna be $4500

After reading through these forums, I found a great video DIY for cleaning the SSV which I followed and finished up by running Seafoam through the engine according to the TSB. Then I got the LS2 coil upgrade from RaceRoots and replaced the plugs/wires as well as put in a new Optima yellow top battery. Car was running much better, wasn't stalling any more, and no more CEL, but it was still having trouble starting. From what I read here, the only other thing I could think of was low compression. Then the other day I went to start the car in the morning and a ridiculous amount of white smoke came pouring out of the exhaust. It looked just as bad as when I cleaned the engine with Seafoam. From the look and smell of it, it seemed like coolant was leaking into the engine which I remember a couple members running into as well. It now does this every time I start the car after it's been sitting for more than a couple hours.

I took the car back to the dealership today, and they said the SSV was still stuck open despite there being no CEL, and that I'd have to pay them $3000 for a new lower intake manifold before they could submit a claim to Mazda to have the engine replaced under warranty. I wasn't really satisfied with this, so I called Mazda customer support, explained the situation, and then was called back by the dealership saying they ran a compression test which my car failed and I'd need records of all the service/maintenance I've had done to the car so they could submit a claim. Then when I went to pick my car up, they decided to add that I'd still need to replace the manifold. To make things worse, after driving my car around for over a month with no CEL, suddenly after being at the dealership for 4 hours, the CEL is on again.

Cliffs:
- Dealership wanted to charge me $4500 to fix a stuck SSV which I fixed myself for free (thanks to these forums). I also seafoamed the engine, replaced the coils, plugs, wires, and battery. Car is still having trouble starting, but is much better.
- 1.5 months later with no CEL, coolant starts leaking into engine causing lots of smoke when I start it up.
- Dealership says SSV is still stuck and I have to pay $3000 to replace the manifold before they can replace the engine even though it failed the compression test.
- CEL is now back on after being at the dealership for 4 hours.


That's the history, now for my questions:
- Is their any way that a stuck SSV could cause coolant to seep into the engine or cause the low compression? If not, is their a way for me to convince Mazda of this so they'll replace the engine?
- Is it possible the SSV is still getting stuck, but NOT tripping a check engine light?
- I don't have any service records because I do almost all the regular maintenance myself, and I don't think there's any way I can get receipts for the oil/filters/fluids I've bought over the past 5 years. Is this absolutely necessary for them to approve an engine replacement? Is there anything I can do to get them documentation that they'll find satisfactory?
- If all else fails, does anyone know a good shop I can take the car to in middle Georgia to have the engine rebuilt? About how much should I expect to pay for this?
- Any other random bits of advice would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time and any help/feedback you can provide. I'd really like to get this fixed soon. It's incredibly embarrassing to have a nice car that spews white smoke at everyone whenever I crank it up

 

without receipts, you are most likely out of luck

It is up to Mazda (not the dealer) to approve warranty claims...

Do you have ANY receipts of oil/ filters? If so, then that could be a good start!

 

I might be able to get a couple. It depends on if the shops can look up a copy of the purchase for me. Would only having a couple receipts for oil and a filter be enough?

 

You can manualy check the SSV to see if's it's stuck. It's vacum operated so just reach down and turn it. As for the records just write some BS stuff in a note book. If the advisor gives you a hard time tell them that your were told in the past and from a past experince after providing receipts "How do I know you put this stuff into the car?". Most of the time there just giving you a hard time but need something(records, invoices) to send in.

 

Doubtful. But, possible.
I've seen instances where members weren't even asked for maintenance records.
Do you purchase your oil and filters bulk?

 

The filters I usually purchase one at a time. But I normally buy oil in bulk so I have plenty for changes and also topping off the oil whenever it gets low.

As far as the SSV being stuck, they don't seem to care whether it's actually stuck or not OR if it's actually causing any problems. They just saw a code pop up when they scanned the computer, so now they say they have to replace the entire manifold.

 

worry about the coolant, before you throw money into the SSV/manifold issue. Fixing that won't solve the problem.

 

That's definitely what I'd like to do, but the dealership won't fix the coolant/bad seal/low compression unless I fix the SSV by replacing the manifold. They went so far as to type "intake manifold and tuning valve need to be replaced, NOT cleaned" on the receipt.

 

If you haven't done so, read this thread https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-remove-ssv-beta-teaser-video-184663/

It could be possible that you need a new one, but it's best to DIY and cover all bases before spending that type of money!
If you find you do need a new SSV or manifold, search either the part out threads, or else a few vendors here. Much cheaper than Stealership.

 

That's the video I used to clean it a month and a half ago. The car has been running fine since I did that except for the tough start issue which was probably due to the low compression. It also had no check engine lights until I left it with the dealership.

The main issue I'm having now is that the dealership is saying I have to replace the manifold before they'll submit a claim to Mazda to have the engine fixed/replaced under warranty despite the fact that the SSV hasn't been causing me any problems for 1.5 months. They said that even though it didn't cause a CEL, it was a "pending code" which means they have to replace the manifold before they can replace the engine. In other words, I have to pay them to drop the engine, replace the manifold, and put the engine back in so they can replace the engine under warranty. The fact that the SSV isn't actually sticking or even if it was, would have nothing to do with the low compression (at least from my understanding) or the coolant leaking into the engine doesn't seem to matter to them.

 

Quick update:

I got in the car this morning and while it still spewed out a bunch of burnt off coolant from the exhaust, the check engine light that mysteriously appeared while the car was at the dealership was gone.

Does anyone know if it's possible for the SSV to still be sticking, but not cause a CEL over the last month and also allow the CEL that was triggered at the dealership to disappear?

 

Have you tried contacting MNAO directly about the fact that the dealer will not warranty a failed engine?

 

I called them right after the dealership told me I'd have to replace the intake manifold before they could submit a claim. I haven't heard back, so I'll probably call them again tomorrow or Monday since it'll be Monday or Tuesday before I can even go back to the dealership. Just trying to gather as much information/ammunition as possible before I call them up again.