All Mazda 3’s have bad OCV’s?

[buster]

A few months ago I had the dealer replace the OCV on a 2015 2.0L Skyactiv engine. It was weeping and not leaking that bad. Two weeks ago I noticed the one they replaced is now also leaking, only worse. I took it to the dealer and they gave me a 2015 Mazda 6 loaner car with 33,500 miles on it. I decided to pop the hood to see what the OCV looked like and found it was also leaking. See picture below.


All the dealer did was wipe off the oil and claim it was residual oil from the last job and that it's not leaking. (it's not residual oil and it is still leaking). My car has 55,800 miles on it. I know two other people that have 3's and their OCV's are also damp with oil. This is just a poor manufactured part. Few people probably even really look at it being they don't often take off the engine cover.

In hindsight, I would have left the original on knowing they all seem to be like this. The one they replaced it with is actually weeping worse. There is little I can do to make them fix it. I could fight them on it, but I'm not sure it's worth it and I'm skeptical of what other problems they may create. (they botched the valve cover gasket the first time). Could be a crankase vacuum issue but at this point I don't know.

 

[brages]

a little weeping is nothing to cry about

 

[maxdustington]

Give it some time for the part to be updated. However, the warranty might be over by then.

 

[PeterPolyol]

grommet gasket weeping, eh?
I'd personally be apt to pull it myself, clean/dry all the surfaces with brake cleaner, skin the seal and with silicone, set it in, let it cure and be on my way.
You'll probably want to find a service center with a tech willing to use a skin of silicone on properly prepped surfaces.

Out of curiousity, what kind of brand of oil have you been using?

 

[KrisZ]

On my 06 2.0 it is seeping as well, but it started doing so at around 150k miles, not at 50k miles. I don't mind some oil seepage, but on a fairly new car with low miles, I am less tolerant.

 

[dogememe]

that's not ok, it's under warranty, they should take care of it. any leaking is not acceptable on a newer vehicle with warranty

 

[philipp10]

You're seriously going to whine over a drop or two of oil weeping? Not worth the bother.

 

[E150GT]

2016 Mazda 6 2.5 Liter. Purchased November 2015. 62,000 Miles

20181214_191151 by JOHN, on Flickr

20181214_191201 by JOHN, on Flickr

 

[buster]

Originally Posted by E150GT
2016 Mazda 6 2.5 Liter. Purchased November 2015. 62,000 Miles

20181214_191151 by JOHN, on Flickr

20181214_191201 by JOHN, on Flickr



Nice, that's how it should look.

It was weeping but the new one is borderline leaking.

 

[E150GT]

my valve cover is glistening a little bit though...

 

[buster]

"Clean the "residual oil" off, take a picture (before and after), revisit the dealer before your power train warranty is up if it still weeps. This is another Mazda issue that was supposed to have been resolved years ago. I'm surprised they're loaning out 3 year old cars. Dealers around here loan only the latest and greatest to try to get you to buy."

"That's more common and one may think. Mine 2.5 does it and I know of Gen 2 skyactiv mazda 3s that do it as well."

 

[zzyzzx]

What is an OCV?

 

[zzyzzx]

What is an OCV?

 

[newtoncd8]

I am going with oil control valve.

 

[PimTac]

Oil control valve. It controls the oil flow going to the hydraulic exhaust valve timing system.

 

[buster]

Right. I was on a Mazda forum and apparently it's quite common and quite a few people don't seem to think it's a big deal. I personally expect an engine to go at least 5 years/60k miles with any type of leaking or seeping. It's not a big problem though relatively speaking. To get it fixed may take some fighting with the dealer as they don't typically fix seeps.

There is a member on the Mazda forum that has a 2016 Miata and his is already seeping as well. It's just a poor quality part apparently. Also, few people even remove the engine cover to check so I'm sure it goes unnoticed quite a bit.

 

[bbhero]

Originally Posted by philipp10
You're seriously going to whine over a drop or two of oil weeping? Not worth the bother.



This is not whining... That low of mileage this should not be happening. Period.
My car didn't develope a very minor seep until 215k miles.... That's a far far far different circumstance than the one buster is in...

 

[buster]

I agree. However, dealer won't fix it. So I either have to do it myself or take it to a good mechanic.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted by buster
I agree. However, dealer won't fix it. So I either have to do it myself or take it to a good mechanic.

Take it to a different dealer?

 

[SteveSRT8]

All a stealership will suggest is "bring it back in" which assumes all you have to do is drive your car back and forth to them while they fix one thing and break 2 more!

Rant over. Seriously, you will want to prep and seal it yourself. You may not even need a new OCV if handled carefully.