TOTAL TEARDOWN: BAD Mazda MZR 2.3L Turbo Mazdaspeed3 Mazdaspeed6 CX-7 Engine.

I just traded a 08 Mazdaspeed 3. It had 189,000 miles on it. For the last 140,000 miles, I have been running a Cobb Stage 1 plus tune on it. It has been drag raced and I have had street fun with it. It was my daily driver, including Michigan winters for 12 years. The only thing I had to do was change shocks, suspension bushings, tires and brakes. I had ball joints fail at 180,000 miles so I replaced those, along with the whole front control arms this spring. Ended up replacing the front K member as well, since I mangled it getting bolts out. The car still had the original clutch that was still holding. The car had it's original turbo. The motor mounts were all still good. The car never even turned on a check engine light it's entire life. The car had synthetic oil in it it's entire life. Best car I have owned up to this point. Be religious with your oil and spark plug changes people, it matters. The PCV system on these does blow, but there are fixes for that.

Ohh don't say that, thats the engine in my car

This is basically the same engine that’s in current rangers and broncos and such? Hmm…

Special tool set to do chains.....not such a big deal if You know what You are doing .Once You remove the crank bolt DO NOT rotate engine or damage will occur .

Mostly owner caused failure? So there's nothing wrong with the product only the treatment by the customer.

And btw that timing setup is perfectly normal everywhere else in the world bar the US

My is at 306,666 miles pushing 500 hp on meth

aaaaand just like that i no longer want a mps6

How to make more power with these motors safely?

Ford motor company fomoco is this is same engine as focus RS and mustang

I enjoy watching your tear down vids. Wether am in the toilet porch bed couch i watch your tear downs👍💪

Engine block says fomoco. Is it made by ford?

And here I was thinking about upgrading to turbo but after finding out about Mazda/Ford I doubt I will. With turbo all that happens is that it wears even faster!!!! And as he says who has the time to keep working on these simple engines all the time!!! He even said it, oil starvation issues!!!! God I wish I had known better!!!! I know I'm stuck with it now. But being I'm a gear head its not a prob for me to get it to back to the best it will get even if overhauled. Because it runs fine and shifts smooth before and after transmission filter and fluid change which has to be done over and over until all fluid is exchanged for new. Which is costly!!!

I wish I had seen your channel so much sooner!!!! I like the way you show what's to be expected with different engines. Our professor in auto tech could only tell us what to stay away from but you actually show and tell which is really 😎 cool. Looking to some more of your awesomeness. Keep up the gear ⚙️ werk!!!

can tell you how many times ive broken the crank timing tool bolt. made out of super weak aluminum so ANY torque applied either bends or completely breaks the tool. boss up and buy a real one. amazon ones are cheap and essentially one time use

Holy crap - I went to see a CX7 yesterday... it was dripping oil all over the place... once I realized it only drives on Premium fuel I can opted out... after watching this, even more glad I did not pull the trigger!

How does this 2.3 engine compare to the 2.0? I know the 2.0 isn't turbo but just curious if it built similar?

I love these kinds of videos. I just saw the other one on the GM Ecotech. Have any videos been made of a teardown of a Mazda Skyactiv 2.5 engine?

There actually the best engine when you put the 2.5 bottem end in them and timing chain system .

It seems like you say its hard to pull injectors on every DI engine...go figure.

FoMoCo cast in the block explains a lot.

Is the 2.3 somehow similar to the 2.0 we have here in Europe? I like that engine. My Mazda5 has 220t km and runs smoothly.

what a hunk of junk but TY,,,,,,WOW incredible very interesting great information super kool,
AAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++++ ,keep up the great work.

Thanks for your insight, opinions, and sharing of experiences.
After watching this and reading a few comments, it bothers me that a Mazda tech told me that I have the oil changed too often in my naturally aspirated 2.3 MZR - 2009 Mazda3 sedan.
Because I generally put few miles on the car - it’s at 143000km, I tend to change the oil every six to eight months (the car’s almost 15 years old) as opposed to the 8000km interval - often with as few as 2000km, using Mobil 1 5W-20.
Sure the used oil may ‘look’ new, but at $40/jug, $10/filter, and the labour (the car’s too low to do at home) I’m okay with that $200/year outlay.
The engine burns no oil, turns over immediately, idles smoothly, and pulls as well as any 150hp four cylinder.
Yes, I always take it to the dealership for oil changes (snicker all you want), as I’ve found it beneficial in the long run to have a relationship with this particular dealer. I own a 2004 MSM and a 2016 CX-3 both of which I maintain myself, along with two other Mazda’s owned by family members. Having a good relationship with the dealership has secured me discounts on winter tires, rims, batteries, filters, etc. Oh, and they’ve never charged me more than $40 labour for the oil change.

Did you ever notice how small the hole is for oil in the chain tensioner? I bet most people are neglecting oil changes and or wrong oil. Too thick of oil to get into that tensioner.

This a great engine for anyone who actually cares about their car and does maintenance.

Its not an engine for soccer moms who have no idea that oil needs to be checked.

what do think about the 2021 Mazda 6 2.5 turbo for reliability if service regularly?

I can feel the love! Also, first time I've read "FoMoCo", took me a minute, I only know of "fomo" :DD

Another super great video, thanks!

I’ve been working on these engines for years, I didn’t think they were that difficult. Nowhere in the league of difficult either Volkswagen/Audi turnout. This seems to just be an engine that hasn’t been maintained well and most of them are over 10 years old by now. I reckon you’re being a bit hard on them.

I bough6 a cx7 with decent miles for cheap. I don't know who screwed the pooch here Ford or Mazda but with ford's notoriety for low quality reinvent the wheel ideas I'm pretty sure whose to blame.
It's no wonder modern Ford ecoboost engines grenade at 80k miles

MZR is a good engine . Never had any problems with mine except minor maintenance and valve cleanings. Any engine will do that if not maintained. I just think you have done alot of these with terrible owners . Got to run full synthetic . I run pennzoil platinum full synthetic and change it every 3000 miles. Runs like a charm. My CX-7 is a rocket 🚀

what is the number engine

Comments show us who the real car guys are lol

There is a company that keys the crank as well as the camshafts on these. If you plan on building a higher HP build, it's a great idea to get that done. And to be honest, if you use the cam and crank lock tool, doing the timing chain is really simple.

If I had to guess, someone was in the bottom end and did the bearings at some point. But never torqued the rod caps to proper spec, didn't replace the caps to their original orientation, and didn't reinstall the balancer properly. Causing more stress on numbers 2 and 3. Hence "cooking" the rods as well as the bearings.

I've only ever heard good reliability from the Duratec engines.

I enjoyed how much you dislike that engine. I always wanted a Mazdaspeed6 back in the day.

Consumer Reports had rated the 2007 Mazda CX-7 as the absolute worst, most-troublesome, and least-reliable vehicle built in Japan in the entire Japan's history.

Can anyone tell me what size bolts this engine needs to mount on the stand (like the one seen in this video)? I have engine out on the hoist already... just need to know bolt size to use...

Going on 6 years now and never had engine issue ...
Your full of it buddy
U Must have bought a lemon 🍋

Is this the same engine from the focus rs...the ecotec? Just heard a rumour so was wondering if theres any truth to it.
Apparently its exact same engine just ford tune it to 350 before dropping it in the rs

My dad bought an 07 cx7 years ago the sales guy didnt tell him was turboed. My dad bought it within a few months of him owning it he blew the turbo. He got it replaced then he had the smart idea a few years later to try towing with the car. Im pretty sure the engine was going to blow, i could hear knocking but he got ride of it a few months later.

Why this 2.3 looks different from my 2.3 on my Mazda 5 2010? I would like to turbo it and get a bit more out of it but I'm seriously confused, because all the 2.3 I had seen, all of them have a different valve cover than mine, I only saw a 2.0 with the same valve cover (oil dipstick on the valve cover), but my 5 says its a 2.3.

They also planned on people doing bare minimum gerneral recommended maintenance 😂

Mazda no thanks 😮

I bought a 2008 Speed 3 brand new with 20 mi on the odometer. It now has 230,000 mi on it and it's still kicking. Zero engine work, original turbo, original clutch.

A little late to the party because i didnt know he had a video for this engine but from what I've seen in the vast majority of speed cars...like any other shitbox rice rocket. These cars were designed for an entirely different crowd than the people who actually bought them. The people who wanted them and raved about them new were the kinds of people who understood that the owners manual is a bible of sorts and that they required more maintenance than the Corollas and Accords of the time. The people that bought them were the kind of people who actually believe that cars make random sounds all the time and going a few hundred... or thousand miles over on an oil change was no big deal because race car.

That motor was rebuildable for some junkyard boost atleast

I was thinking of getting an older CX-7. I thought well they’re all cheap and break turbos but they’re surely fine if well taken care of. Thanks for your video I will rethink it.

What is the name of that cartraige