hallo all,

I have a mazda 6 diesel 2 litre 143bhp 57 plate and until now it has been amazingly reliable.
it has done 125000 miles and I noticed the oil light flicker on maybe 8 weeks ago.
I topped it up to max level but had to put more in a few weeks later. I have re-topped up since then as well.
the passenger side of the engine shows a lot of leaking oil and having spoken to a few people without getting a sensible solution I took it to mazda in Watford for a "check and report".
They charged me £60 and concluded that oil was leaking from the intercooler and therefore I needed a new intercooler. they said they could get an intercooler kit from mazda which fully fitted would cost me around £800.
however this morning I took it to a mechanic who disputed their diagnosis. he insists that the turbocharger is failing and having taken the hoses off the turbocharger he showed me a deep well of oil in the base of the turbo. he also said that the intercooler is fine.
he wants £800 to change the turbo for a reconditioned unit and said that if I took the car to mazda for a new intercooler then I would also need to buy a new turbo in a month or twos time.
could a mazda main dealer be so wrong in their diagnosis?

 

Oil leaking from the intercooler:
It is quite possible your intercooler is not sealed up. It depends where it is leaking from. They should be able to re-weld it up. The intercooler only cools air, there should be no oil in it. Can the intercooler insides be cleaned?

Even though the intercooler is leaking oil, where is the oil coming from?
It comes from the Turbo! A new intercooler will not solve your problem---however, instead of leaking on your driveway oil will go in to your engine helping to clogyour catalytic converter and ruin your spark plugs, intake.