rodslinger

Well probably not anyway.... I don't know at what level your problems are with your 2.0 cold engine rattle related to the VCTS system but my particular car sounds like the motor is about to come out. For whatever reason it sounds worse than other cars I have heard. I received no help from Mazda customer service either. Out of frustration I was able to locate some e-mail address of persons in the MazdaUSA corporate office and made a few inquiries. To sort through the rubbish and get to the point, the last official statement I received was

"...there is unlikely to be a 100% countermeasure at any time..."

They are basically telling us that we need to just deal with it. My personal opinion is to let them know your feelings.

kc5zom

Where did you get all these e-mail addresses? Anyway probably not a good idea to go hassling a bunch of people over it. Just keep pounding away at customer service. I would say that if they actually sent that back:

"...there is unlikely to be a 100% countermeasure at any time..."

That it could be actionable in court or at least with your state office handling consumer complaints. Try and get them to send you this on company letterhead with a signature. It is a flaw with their system and they are responsible for repairing it.

Is it just me or is anybody else sick of Mazda screwing around with a valid complaint against the vehicle they designed? Mine still sounds like a POS when I first start it up until it reaches the middle of the thermostat.

rodslinger

The person that made that particular comment was out of the gulf region technical department. The statement was on one of his return e-mail addresses from his MazdaUSA account. Just as good as a company letterhead as far as I'm concerned....

Regarding the e-mail addresses, you would be suprised at how many people around the country conduct personal matters using their company e-mail accounts. All you have to do is snoop around a little and they stick out like a sore thumb.

kc5zom

Its easier to knock an e-mail off than a letterhead. Especially with a signature. Plus we really want to know the "official", meaning everyone in customer service is on this page, response to this. Not just the words of one employee.

rodslinger

-Agreed. But every time I contact customer service I get a different answer. Responses I get are anything from 'We've never noticed that problem' to 'We're working on it' or even 'We're not working on it because it ins't a problem'. From that I don't think Mazda has given them the proper information to update the customer (us). I'm just going to keep digging and let you know what is said...

rodslinger

Well it may seem that the bombardment of e-mails may have netted a possible result. Customer service called this morning and said the engineering department has made some design changes that are supposed to have improved if not eliminated the problem. The agent said to give him a couple of days to make arrangements and that they were going to send some updated parts to my local dealer for retrofit. I'll probably open the hood to find the solenoid disconnected when I pick the car up. But either way, I'll let you know what happened. I also pulled the e-mail addresses as a courtesy but will keep them handy just in case.

Pro_fan

So they were just sending parts to your specific dealership? No word on a recall type scenario?

I'm lucky that I don't have that rattle of death...it sounds like a major PITA!

Actually, that's the other thing that's weird...myself and a few others w/ the 2.0L say we don't have the death rattle. How is this possible???

Maybe it's been said before...I'll have to research it later I guess.

BTW, good work getting somewhere on this Rodslinger! I'm looking forward to the details!

rodslinger

I'm not sure why some people have it and some don't. The actual noise is lean burn pre-ignition when the VTCS is activated. Fuel blending may have some effect on it. Are you running premium grades?

Makaveli

I run 89 octane usually and the only rattle that I hear is near the 2,700 rpm range for a second and that's it. The rattle is not really a rattle but a different sound really that doesn't bother me that much. I do remember a long time ago hearing a bigger rattle in the morning and it annoyed me and I thought something was wrong with the car. I drive a 2001 LX 2.0........ and I usually leave the car on for a minute or two before driving off in the morning.

Makaveli

oh yeah, I posted to congratulate you on your pursuit!

Fulminatus

Mak, why are u running 89? Shouldn't you be running 87 like the manual says (or have I screwed up the numbers).

Haven't u paid attn to the threads that tell you that it is bad to use octane that is too high?

njaremka

tell me your reasoning behind it being bad to run higher octane gas?

zeus

I've always run the lowest octane I can get away with in my boats, trucks, cars and bikes. A higher octane always costs more, burns slower, and if your ride doesn't pre-ignite at a low oct. then there's no reason to run any higher. That’s my reasoning.

If you do run higher than necessary, the volumetric and thermal efficiencies fall off just a bit and results in an actual performance loss. Higher compression, advanced spark, forced induction or NOX will normally require the high test to avoid pre-ignition but even then, a proper tune can allow one to run the lowest possible oct for the street. More radical race tuning can require 104 oct. or above, but I don't care to be put aviation fuel in my ride all the time.

The bottom line is, if your state of tune doesn’t need high oct. then nothing is gained by using it. That doesn’t make it bad though, just unnecessary.

Rod, glad to hear they’re coming through for you. Here in Florida we have a lemon law that says if they can’t make it right after 3 tries, they eat it. I’d of had them chewing right away, and put the money down on a new Mspeed Pro. Hey that's not a bad idea. I wonder if I can make mine knock.

Pro_fan

I run 87 octane all the time.

Makaveli

From all the octane discussions, I understood that our car's fuel map and ECU are made for 87 octane and cannot take advantage of higher grade fuel. However you do still get better fuel mileage out of higher octane gas. That's why I run 89 and not 94 or 87......
I get better fuel mileage with 89 then 87 and this is not based on one tank of gas.....