Mazda6 petrol - oil consumption issue

flamegrilled

I bought a 2010 Mazda 6 1.8 petrol from a main Mazda dealer one year ago. Full Mazda service history, 50k miles, 6 month warranty.
Since my last service (done by local mechanic) it has required 3 litres of oil with 5k miles covered. Mechanic believes this is a know issue with this engine and the only options are to change the engine or trade the car.
Should I get a second opinion ?
Anyone any experience of this issue in these engines ?
Trawling the internet shows some oil consumption issues with this engine in mondeos and Mazda 6.
Not sure what to do, bought it based on it's reputation for reliability and now find out it is probably a lemon 😠
Any advice appreciated.

Atlantic Dawn

Do you know what oil type the local mechanic used?

flamegrilled

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Do you know what oil type the local mechanic used?

Just checked the receipt - doesn't say what type of oil used. I have been topping it up with 5w-30

Atlantic Dawn

Yes the oil type used might be an issue but 3 litres for 5k miles is a lot, I'd say car holds 4-5 litres max to fill so it's a lot being lost. Any blue smoke from the exhaust?

flamegrilled

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Yes the oil type used might be an issue but 3 litres for 5k miles is a lot, I'd say car holds 4-5 litres max to fill so it's a lot being lost. Any blue smoke from the exhaust?

No blue smoke that is noticeable anyway. Mechanic believes it is all being burnt in the engine as there are no leaks. Would a different grade of oil be worth a try ?

hi_im_fil

3litres in 5k miles might actually be within the manufacturers permitted limits. Do a bit of googling and check it out

flamegrilled

hi_im_fil wrote: »

3litres in 5k miles might actually be within the manufacturers permitted limits. Do a bit of googling and check it out

Thanks that is a good point. I did check the manual a few days ago and the oil consumption is within the upper limit. I will post shortly with the actual limit from the manual when I get to check it. I still think 3 litres in 5k miles is seriously high though ?

hi_im_fil

It's obviously burning oil but I wouldn't say excessively. I think 1 litre per 1k miles is the point at which you may need to get some engine work done to rectify it

flamegrilled

hi_im_fil wrote: »

It's obviously burning oil but I wouldn't say excessively. I think 1 litre per 1k miles is the point at which you may need to get some engine work done to rectify it

OK cheers. I guess I could keep driving it and keep a close eye on it and see how it goes. It is running very well. My mechanic reckons at this rate of burning the cat will need replacing at some stage which he estimates is about 1k. Even if I had to do that it would still work out cheaper over a few years than changing cars I think.

flamegrilled

hi_im_fil wrote: »

3litres in 5k miles might actually be within the manufacturers permitted limits. Do a bit of googling and check it out

Just checked the manual. It says for the petrol engine oil consumption can be as high as 1 litre per 800 miles !
Going by this my consumption is approximately 50 % of the upper limit....

Sam Kade

I've a 2007 mazda 6 1.8 petrol, same problem, what happens is that the valve seals wear and it loses oil through the seals. It happened my car around 70,000 km I've 255k up on it now. I just keep topping it up every 2 weeks, otherwise the car is trouble free. It might help to use 10 w40 oil instead as it is a thicker oil.

flamegrilled

Sam Kade wrote: »

I've a 2007 mazda 6 1.8 petrol, same problem, what happens is that the valve seals wear and it loses oil through the seals. It happened my car around 70,000 km I've 255k up on it now. I just keep topping it up every 2 weeks, otherwise the car is trouble free. It might help to use 10 w40 oil instead as it is a thicker oil.

Thanks that's very interesting. That is what my mechanic thinks too - oil leaking through the seals. That gives me hope that I can drive it on and just keep topping up and see how it goes. You have put up bigger mileage than I ever will. I will keep the thicker engine oil in mind too.

Would your rate of consumption be similar to mine ?

Sam Kade

flamegrilled wrote: »

Thanks that's very interesting. That is what my mechanic thinks too - oil leaking through the seals. That gives me hope that I can drive it on and just keep topping up and see how it goes. You have put up bigger mileage than I ever will. I will keep the thicker engine oil in mind too.

Would your rate of consumption be similar to mine ?

It would be around the same consumption as mine. That's why you see a lot of Mazda 6's selling with blown engines they never check the engine oil.

flamegrilled

Sam Kade wrote: »

It would be around the same consumption as mine. That's why you see a lot of Mazda 6's selling with blown engines they never check the engine oil.

Cheers. Reckon I will do what you are doing - keep driving it as it is and top it up regularly. If I run into trouble down the line I can see what to do then.

techie

My wife's 08 Mazda 5 has the same engine and we only use 5w30 fully synthetic in that engine (now at 200k km) and it never burns a drop between service.

I check it every couple of weeks to be safe anyway.