Why does my Mazda SUV consume oil?
QUESTION
Hi John,
Got a 2021 Mazda CX-5 Akera 2.5T petrol which currently has 26,000km on the clock.
In between the service intervals the car gets the low oil light coming on every 5000-6000km. The dealer has told me its normal for a turbo car to consume oil. I do also understand all engines will consume a bit of oil but this seems a bit hard to believe.
At 7,000 km they claimed this was just due to the running in process. They topped it up.
At 16,000km they found the oil to be down "600ml". They topped it up and this was the statement:
Carried out vehicle inspection, checked fault codes, found code for low oil level, checked oil level & found to be down by only 600ml, cleared fault codes, tested, all ok, customer to monitor, please note while it is unexpected to have a low oil level warning between regular servicing the oil usage is within specifications of up to 1.8l/10000kms
I had the 2.2TD before and experienced a few issues with it so decided to switch to the petrol. I also found this Technical Service Bulletin (American) https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10203724-0001.pdf
What do you make of this possible issue?
Thanks for your help,
Chris
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ANSWER
Chris,
If the oil consumption is constant (ie - same volume required to top up per 5000km; not increasing) then it’s probably a non-issue.
In that case it’s just a consequence of low ring tension or some other salient operational factor that will not affect engine life.
If it started at 200ml every 500km and now it’s up to 1000ml over the same distance, this is evidence of a defect that’s getting worse, and a serious scenario.
I’d just check it once a month, or similar, and keep it topped up with the correct oil grade which you can check in the owner’s manual.
If it gets worse, your concerns are documented, and there’s three more years of warranty (and after that, consumer law continues to protect you, via the Acceptable Quality Consumer Guarantee).
Sincerely,
JC
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