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I have a 2017 Mazda 3 GT 6MT that is a bit over 2 years old. Vehicle has been absolutely babied, garaged and service regularly and has just 8450 miles on it.
During the last oil change it was diagnosed that the front crank seal is leaking. The tech determined that it was a very minor leak and about 1/4 of a quart had leaked out. I plan to ask the tech how much oil the drained as I had got lazy and not checked the oil level in a couple months.
Also, I service the car every 6 months so at the oil change prior to this no leak was found so it was between then and now.
Question - I know a significant part of the engine needs to be removed to install the seal, how do you think this could affect future reliability? How do you think this happened on a brand new car with such low mileage? Is it more likely that the seal was faulty (perhaps outsourced to Mazda) or is it more likely a bad install at the factory (which is more concerning)?
I have a 2017 Mazda 3 GT 6MT that is a bit over 2 years old. Vehicle has been absolutely babied, garaged and service regularly and has just 8450 miles on it.
During the last oil change it was diagnosed that the front crank seal is leaking. The tech determined that it was a very minor leak and about 1/4 of a quart had leaked out. I plan to ask the tech how much oil the drained as I had got lazy and not checked the oil level in a couple months.
Also, I service the car every 6 months so at the oil change prior to this no leak was found so it was between then and now.
Question - I know a significant part of the engine needs to be removed to install the seal, how do you think this could affect future reliability? How do you think this happened on a brand new car with such low mileage? Is it more likely that the seal was faulty (perhaps outsourced to Mazda) or is it more likely a bad install at the factory (which is more concerning)?
I can't speak fully towards how difficult this is to replace.. Probably not as bad as a rear main seal, which would require the engine to be pulled. So, this is certainly something you want to get fixed now, under warranty. Leaks don't generally get better.
Those seals are subject to some fairly significant pressure. Not as bad as a head gasket, but, still.
Concern level? I'd say pretty minimal. You caught it early.. Didn't run the engine low on oil (of any real significance).. So I don't believe i'd be overly concerned. It's more in the 'annoyance' area. I'd be annoyed that it failed, but.. I don't think i'd be sweating it severely.
I will mention, I did a search on Mazda 3 front crank seal, and found multiple "DIY" guides, so.. This does kinda tell me this may be a somewhat common issue.
Something to think about is to check the PCV system (however it is set up on this car), make sure the crankcase is being kept under at least some vacuum. This is important in keeping away oil leaks.
Typically front main seals are easy, you take off any accessory drive belts, usually it is worth the trouble to pull the radiator, you take the big bolt out of the middle of the harmonic "balancer" (damper) and pull said damper/pulley with an appropriate puller, and the seal is right there.
the issue is that I have the fully loaded model with all sorts of tech in the front, radar cruise sensor etc. and the more they remove the more that stuff may not be put back properly causing me grief. I do have 10 months left on the bumper to bumper warranty and almost 3 more years on the powertrain warranty.
I am still at a loss as to how a 2 year old car with 8500 miles has a leak in a major area of the engine.
I'd clean the area real good and see if it comes back in the next 10 months. Could it be a prior spill from a failed oil change that the tech is turning into a big warranty repair $$$ for himself?
@CityGuy anything is possible but seems a little far fetched that a high rated dealership would pull such a fraud to make a few hundred bucks in profit which in the grand scheme of things would be chump change for them compared to the risks involved to their reputation.
The car was fixed under warranty and no issues since then. The dealer did an excellent job all around and i'm actually glad the tech noticed it and brought it to my attention rather than ignoring it.
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