Has anybody heard of this happening before? Well it's happened to me! Not sure of the resulting damage and cost yet? Likely causes please anyone? Do you think mazda UK should compensate me for this? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Mazda UK say post warranty non-manufacturer service history a factor. Surely that's rubbish or there would be countless examples of this fault all over the UK?

 

What year is your car? Please use the manufactured date and not the plate number as used in the UK, most users of this site are in North America so this information is meaningless to them. If you do not follow the maintenance schedule to the dot they can and will deny any warranty claim since you did not maintain the car to their standards.

Welcome to the forums!!

 

My car is 2007 registered, just over five years old.

 

Chains CAN break but I have only seen them break on very high mileage engines or EXTREMELY neglected ones, it seems to me that you could have had a defective chain or tensioner, was it making noise before it broke?

 

Yes. About 2 minutes before everything cut out I heard what I can only describe as a slight flapping noise, which increased in frequency as the engine revs increased. Then the car jolted and everything cut out. I had just pulled off from a red light and must only have been travelling 10mph for a distance of 50 yards

 

Sounds like it was the tensioner or a guide that failed first, I do not know how the setup is on this engine but if it started to make noise before it broke then the chain was still working, chains just snap without warning (apart from some noise for a LONG time when they are old) but a failed tensioner or guide will make the chain very noisy. Have you seen the broken chain? If you havent seen it it could be possible the chain just came off the sprocket(s) instead.

 

No, I've not seen the broken chain. Due a diagnostic report from the garage today. What would cause a tensioner to fail?

Thank you very much for your time by the way.