Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose Connection on Injectors

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Mon 28 Apr 2014 13:37
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose Connection on Injectors - motormouth

On Saturday I had a slightly worrying experience with my 2012 13k mile Mazda 3.

Suddenly the engine maintainence light and ABS warning light came on and the car was barely drivable.

Fortunately I was not on the motorway, as I had been earlier that day.

I coaxed the car home and called out the breakdown folks, who arrived in an hour.

The was an RAC guy and excellent.There was nothing showing on the diagnostics but there was clearly a misfire and one of the injectors did not seem to be working.

Eventally he pulled apart the box of tricks behind it, gave it a spray and reconnected it.

The problem vanished and yesterday I gave it a thorough drive and thrash doing some stop starting and whilst doing a few errands..

All now seems well.

I must admit this sort of thing makes you wander if you have bought the wrong car, In 25 years of car ownership, this is my 6th car, I have never had a breakdown or near breakdown.

Should I just write this off as 'one of those things ?...I know some mazda diesels have been troublesome, but I think this 1.6 was meant to be pretty good, and the Auto bild report on them was excellent.

I bought this car with a view to it being good for a good few years, and if it was a lemon I would have thought I would have had problems by now..?

What is the consensus on these cars for long term reliability, would I have been better off with a petrol Mazda 3 ? The performance was a bit uninspiring.

I know I may be overreacting but my confidence in the car has been slightly undermined.

If no one replies, I though at least the post would be useful should anyone have a similar problem.

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Mon 28 Apr 2014 19:30
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - motormouth

Well the problem has recurred as I drove home tonight. Limped home 10 miles

Its off to the dealers tomorrow on a truck. RAC guy wanders if the loom/ wiring at the back of the injectors is too tight and fouling a connection.

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Mon 28 Apr 2014 19:59
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - gordonbennet

Seems you were right to be concerned.

You'll have the answer to your quandry i expect shortly, by the actions and competence or otherwise of the dealer in question.

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Mon 28 Apr 2014 23:16
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - Peter.N.

Unfortunately no cars are as reliable as they used to be due mainly to the added complexity of anti pollution equipment, so in short it could happen to anyone.

I tend to run vehicles over 10 years old, they are a lot simpler and I can repair them myself.

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Tue 29 Apr 2014 00:08
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - alan1302

Unfortunately no cars are as reliable as they used to be due mainly to the added complexity of anti pollution equipment, so in short it could happen to anyone.

I tend to run vehicles over 10 years old, they are a lot simpler and I can repair them myself.

But are cars less reliable now?

Older cars can be simpler to fix but I don't think they are more reliable than newer cars.

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Tue 29 Apr 2014 10:05
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - motormouth

My 'perception' is there was a bit of a golden age from 90's to mid naughties there was the right blend of quality and things were not made to work such extreme tolerances..

In the 70's my old man was always under the bonnet of his car adjusting spoark plugs, fitting an exhaust, even replacing alternators etc..but then again these were easy things on those cars, access seemed a lot easier.

We lead busier lives now, I simply do not have the time or physical attributes to get down and dirty with a car. Neither my 94 plate Mondeo ( 96k when sold, 9 yrs old, or my 53 Corolla, similar age and miles, ever let me down...both are probably going strong ! )

I have my doubts Mazda will get to the bottom of this first time, because if there aint a code for it they seem to have a "try that attitude"..rather than spend some time, resources getting to the bottom of the problem..We will see.

I'm not sure if will will have full confidence in the car from here on in

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Tue 29 Apr 2014 11:31
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - madf

My 'perception' is there was a bit of a golden age from 90's to mid naughties there was the right blend of quality and things were not made to work such extreme tolerance

My perception is people have rose tinted glasses and forget things.. After all, how often do you see cars today at the side of the road , stopped and incapable of movement? (Apart from punctures and crashes of course)..

Very rarely.

Edited by madf on 29/04/2014 at 11:31

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Tue 29 Apr 2014 12:07
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - motormouth

Perhaps there is an element of selective memory, but I frequently seem to notice high end cars being attended too. Perhaps it is just because they are an Audi, Merc or Beemer etc that I do notice it. I rarely notice older cars that have broken down, maybe that is just me...perhaps the complexity of modern cars renders roadside repair less possible these days, making them more likely to get a tow, wheras the older cars get fixed and move on...its all speculation..

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Tue 29 Apr 2014 12:41
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - Peter.N.

I agree entirely about '90s cars being more reliable. I was running Citroen XMs for all of that period and they just went on and on, up to 300,000 miles in some cases. The 2.1 diesels I ran had a fully mechanical fuel injection system and I never had a failure in getting on for half a million miles. Things wore out on them and needed replacing but they rarely ever broke down and if they did they were easy to fix.

I am running the early Hdi diesels now which are still capable of high mileages but if they stop on you you can't just get you spanners out and fix them.

I still have a '96 XM estate and its nicer to dive than my C5!

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Tue 29 Apr 2014 19:57
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose connection on injectors-update - galileo

My perception is people have rose tinted glasses and forget things.. After all, how often do you see cars today at the side of the road , stopped and incapable of movement? (Apart from punctures and crashes of course)..

Very rarely.

Last Sunday, on the M61, 3 cars on the hard shoulder, 1 Ford Fiesta, 1 Vauxhall Astra, 1 VW Golf. None visibly damaged.

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Wed 30 Jul 2014 11:49
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose Connection on Injectors - johncartlidge

Identical experience.

2012 Mazda 3 (62 plate), 12,000 miles 1.6 turbo diesel, warning lights and loss of power. Warning lights were abs/traction control and ‘spanner’. Car limped to safe spot, called Mazda Assist, RAC arrived 20 minutes, diagnosed failure of injector on cylinder 3 (using Ford Focus diagnostics, same engine). RAC man had never attended one of these cars for a breakdown. Car recovered to Mazda dealer; they have never had a recovery of this model. Hire car provided. (All the above took 4 hours in all from breakdown to home in hire car, even though I was only 2 miles from home…

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Sun 10 Aug 2014 13:13
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose Connection on Injectors - johncartlidge

Update to last post: Mazda dealer confirmed 3rd cylinder injector had failed. Replaced under warranty but car not ready until Monday p.m. from breaking down on Tuesday p.m.

Confidence in car is now dented, but could it have been bad fuel?

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Sun 10 Aug 2014 13:50
Mazda 3 1.6d - Loose Connection on Injectors - brighteyes
All the posts on this thread brings it home that gone are the days of trouble with the points or plugs or carb or many other mechanical issues. Nowerdays it's ECU or DPF or any other combinations of the alphabet you care to mention. This is all down to progress, improving MPG, emissions, performance and reliability. This is brilliant til it goes wrong and then you realise that the problem is way beyond the home mechanic. Sometime it even beats the franchise mechanics, if there computer doesn't tell them what's wrong they have lost the ability to fault find the "old fashioned" way. This is the price we have to pay for progress. At the end of the day the modern cars are more reliable than their predessors.
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