Hi,

I'm looking to buy a 7 seater and have been looking at the Mazda5.

I've just viewed a one that was a nice car, but the thing that worried me was that the DPF has been removed (and had the ECU altered) I know a lot of cars have these removed. But I was wondering whether when removed the car should pump a lot of smoke out the back (was dark so couldn't see the colour). The car was ideal but the smoke out the back worried me a little. It also got bogged down in second a lot until the turbo was kicking in.

I'm off to view two more tomorrow.

Also if the DPF is in does the car just require a regular oil change to avoid any issus with it?

Thanks

 

I'll give you what little insight I have to get you started, and I admit it's little since Mazda USA still does not have the diesel available here. I do however, have a Ford diesel truck amongst my pile of Mazda's.

The Diesel Particulate Filter, removed, adds a little pep to the performance of the vehicle. Downside, you have to buy a separate programmer to remove the DPF from the ECU. If, down the road, you have a concern with the ECU, you will be in a situation where not only will you have to replace the ECU, but purchase a programmer to reprogram the missing DPF. Unless of course, the vehicle is being sold with the programmer or tuner as it's called here. Once a tuner is used on a vehicle, it's married to that vehicle and cannot be used in another.

My advice, and again it's just mine, if your not familiar or understand these type of Mods, let this one go.

 

Thanks, I did give that one a miss, I bought a one yesterday, all seemed fine with. But after a the trip home and the next morning a puddle of oil was on the drive! (None visible when bough I even had a look after I'd had a test drive which is even more annoying) I've had a look this morning and it looks like its had a new oil pan (with oil all over) recently which could be the problem, although I have a funny feeling its coming from the timing chain/belt gasket.

Any ideas if this is common and how much will it likely cost to fix, I was going to get timing belt changed anyhow.

Thanks for help and advice.

 

The 2.5L DOHC – like the 2.3L DOHC that it evolved from – is a non-interference engine that uses a timing chain. It generally doesn't need to be changed unless you have reason to believe it's bad.

Depending on the year of the vehicle you purchased, there was a problem with the oil cooler gasket that started leaking around 80-100k miles for many owners. The fix from Mazda was to have you purchase a redesigned oil cooler from the dealer - no replacement gasket was offered. However if you search around there is a Ford gasket available that will buy you some time.