UPDATE 3/21: **SAFETY ALERT: Fuel Tank recall - Fuel Leaks & Other Issues"

[Delanor]

I get the impression with VOSA that a certain number of cars with a fuel leak is nothing to really get excited about they will contact Mazda who will probably know nothing about it, now if a certain number of cars had actually caught fire then there may have been a different reaction.

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Del.

[ChrisHolmes]

Took my car to get the long list of recalls done after getting the notice. Came home, smelt fuel and saw a wet exhaust and driveway.

Does anyone know if VOSA have been contacted about this as it's so common for this to happen? How many cars are out there that are a fire risk that haven't noticed a fuel leak?

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Romford Mazda, December 30 2020
4. N/A
5. Yes
6. N/A
7. No other issues noted

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Please go back to the beginning of this thread and read it through to see the actions that have been taken.

[Ollie]

Surely if Mazda and VOSA do nothing then those affected would make up a class of people whom could take action against Mazda for their failures?

[ChrisHolmes]

Those affected will have already taken the action of returning the car to the dealer to be fixed. That's not the issue but changing the process for the work is and that requires changing before someone's car goes on fire. It's ironic that the very thing the recall is supposed to prevent is actually being caused by the work not being done correctly!

[rotatopotato]

Well, an email communication channel has finally opened with David Wilson-Green, Director Customer Service, Mazda UK. Thanks to warpc0il for providing me with the email contact details.

The current situation is that Mazda are stating they were aware of only one other tank leak, post recall, prior to my formal letter to them in October 2020. They therefore say they have insufficient data to take any action, as they don't know exactly what is the cause of the issue (process, workmanship or part at fault).

If you have experienced a leak which you believe is as a result of recall work, David has asked owners to contact the Mazda UK Customer Assistance team by calling 03457 484848 or via email to mmukassistance@mazdaeur.com

PLEASE inform me when you have done this, so I can keep up the dialogue and pressure.

If you have already contacted Mazda via one of these routes, please provide me with details as Mazda don't seem to be aware!

Finally, if you haven't already done so, please check if your car has any outstanding recalls via this link: https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/.

[rotatopotato]

A small, and somewhat late bit of progress, but at least it's progress.

David Wilson-Green has emailed me to say:

"I’ll ask for a Technical Notice to be sent out as a further reminder all Mazda Dealers to precisely follow the repair process and importantly to double check for any fuel leaks prior to handing the RX-8 back to the owner with your updated suggestions"

This was in response to my email:

"Post this recall work, the Mazda defined procedure is to (quote from p16 of doc “2004-2008 RX-8 - REPAIR PROCEDURE - RECALL 1017E) :

Perform “Fuel Leak Inspection” after the fuel pump unit Installation
1) Start driving the vehicle from a standstill or brake suddenly 5-6 times at a low speed.
2) Stop the vehicle and verify from inside the vehicle that there is no fuel leakage around the fuel pump ring and quick connector.

Two issues with that, the first being that there is no mention of checking for leaks on the driver’s side tank sealing ring? Many leaks were reported on the driver’s (non-pump) side. The second issue is that the tank will be less than a quarter full when this test is carried out, yet leaks don’t manifest until the tank is near full, so it seems common sense that the test is not likely to be adequate – borne out by the small survey revealing 15 owners who have realised they have a leak and have reported it."

[nightfire10]

I get the impression with VOSA that a certain number of cars with a fuel leak is nothing to really get excited about they will contact Mazda who will probably know nothing about it.

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Del.

The current situation is that Mazda are stating they were aware of only one other tank leak, post recall, prior to my formal letter to them in October 2020. They therefore say they have insufficient data to take any action, as they don't know exactly what is the cause of the issue (process, workmanship or part at fault).

It was the same reaction with the corroding oil cooler pipes, Mazda claimed a couple of cars had demonstrated the problem the thinking presumably all the other cars will not suffer the same problem - that thinking initially saves money!

With regard to checking for fuel leaks with less than a quarter of a tank by using the brakes - awesome! a lot of thought went into that as a fail safe procedure didn`t it.

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Del.

[casey]

One concern is that, based on some numbers provided by Mazda, most of the RX-8 tank recalls have now been done. We are aware that many owners may not realise they have a leak. Based, conservatively, on the survey results, there could be over 300 RX-8's with leaks

I wonder if any other Mazda models have the same/similar tank design and have been subject to recall? Hopefully not, and the issue is largely with the extra heat of the rotary engine degrading the plastics, so triggering the recall only on the RX-8.

[casey]

Took my car to get the long list of recalls done after getting the notice. Came home, smelt fuel and saw a wet exhaust and driveway.

Does anyone know if VOSA have been contacted about this as it's so common for this to happen? How many cars are out there that are a fire risk that haven't noticed a fuel leak?

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Romford Mazda, December 30 2020
4. N/A
5. Yes
6. N/A
7. No other issues noted

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Well, better late than never, Mazda seem to be taking things more seriously. Harry, the owner of the car above, has just reported on Facebook:

"Just spoke to Romford Mazda, they have repaired my car, refueled it, drove it and then lifted it up on the ramp again to check for leaks and is all good. But now head office have said they want photos of every single step for their investigation so has to be stripped apart again tomorrow for evidence."


Harry isn't in a rush, as he has another car for transport.

[ChrisHolmes]

Both my RX8s have the airbag and fuel pump recalls outstanding so I had better get the Nemesis in ASAP. RR54 can wait till I get the SC kit fitted.

[warpc0il]

T200 had a strange "completed/not-required" status for the fuel recalls, which I assume related to the pump modifications.

[ChrisHolmes]

T200 is no more but the updated pump lives on in RR54.

[Harrycg93]

So today got my pride and joy back from Romford Mazda, all fixed and tomorrow they are coming to clean my drive. Can't fault them for their efforts! They are doing their best to assist and try to find the root cause of why these leaks happen

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[warpc0il]

I suspect that they've been subjected to some direct attention from Mazda regarding this case.

[Harrycg93]

Yes they have, once they completed the work a couple of days ago head office got in touch and requested pictures every step of the way in fitting the parts and believe they are also looking into the issue. Carrying on from now Romford Mazda will be filling the cars with fuel to the brim to check for leaks every time before a car gets released back to the customer as well. Good news they will be checking it properly, can't fault how well they have done in fixing the issue

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[GreySilver Beast]

Harry, I'm pleased to hear you have got your car back and that Mazda UK are also sorting out your driveway.

Your incident, coupled with the survey results from last August, plus the vital ingredient from warpc0il of the direct email account for David Wilson-Green, Director Customer Service, Mazda UK, finally came together to launch a serious investigation into this issue.

I have been impressed with the speed at which David Wilson-Green has taken action. There's more to be done, and I only wished Mazda UK had take this seriously earlier. It would certainly have saved Harry from the hassle of the last week.

[rotatopotato]

I'm delighted to have received an email from David W-G at Mazda UK a few minutes ago. The key content of which was:

We (Mazda UK) have made immediate changes to the online Technical Bulletin that all dealers should use when doing repairs. For info, we specify that dealers don’t print out repair procedures to use with future jobs so that any updates to the process can be picked up each time. The updates include new instructions around leak checking and importantly, that this will need to be with a full fuel tank.

He goes on to say, "Mazda UK or the dealer can’t pay for the fuel (DVSA deem this as an incentive and we aren’t allowed to incentivise recall work) so there will be the fuel bill to pay for of course."

I have replied that as long as the price per litre is reasonable, then I can't see this should be an issue for owners.

Additionally, he has said:

"My Technical Manager is arranging for the Mazda Repairer network to be contacted to understand the greater scale of the problem highlighted post repair. We will priority target those dealers highlighted in your correspondence where we see from your feedback there has been a faulty repair, but it will also be important we speak to Technicians from other dealers as they may have seen the same problem but fixed prior to giving back to the owner."

I don't think we could have reasonably expected a better outcome than this. It's a shame that Mazda UK didn't react sooner, but once David W-G got onto the case it's taken less than a week for serious action to taken. It's certainly done a lot to restore my faith in Mazda's after-sales care.

I now strongly urge any owner with this outstanding recall to get it done. I would recommend you check, when booking the car in, that the new procedure of filling the tank to check for leaks will be performed as per the recent Technical Bulletin.

Apart from this recall changing-out parts which might lead to a serious fuel leak, owners also benefit from a new fuel filter. We know, from experience, that these filters are clogging with age**, so it solves another potentially expensive maintenance job. Plus, owners run the risk of having their insurance invalidated if the DVSA record shows this safety recall work has not been done.

**Fuel starvation has occurred in certain cornering conditions with less than 1/3 tank of fuel. This manifests with the engine losing power for a few seconds. Extensive investigation by RX-8 OC members has concluded that clogging of the fuel filter with increasing mileage is the cause.

[ChrisHolmes]

Well done Malcolm, your hard work and diligence has paid off with this excellent result. I am glad my car is booked in on the 21st Jan for the recall as I expect there could be a parts shortage once your news gets around.

[warpc0il]

Mazda North American Operations have also updated their instructions since I Iast checked.

It includes a few items that I hadn't seen before, like...

CAUTION
DO NOT LEAVE THE FUEL TANK FOR A LONG TIME IN CONDITION THAT THE FUEL PUMP RING IS NOT INSTALLED.
If the fuel tank is left for a long time without the fuel pump ring installed, the shape of the fuel tank where the fuel pump ring is installed could be deformed by swelling, causing it difficult to install the fuel pump ring.
Therefore, install a new one immediately after removing the old fuel pump ring. To complete the replacement in a short time...

However, it still only says...

Perform “Fuel Leak Inspection” after the fuel pump unit Installation
1) Start driving the vehicle from a standstill or brake suddenly 5-6 times at a low speed.
2) Stop the vehicle and verify from inside the vehicle that there is no fuel leakage around the fuel pump
ring and quick connector

RCRIT-17V354-2573.pdf

It's frustrating that we can access these US documents, openly and for free, but not the UK documents, even with my privileged access to some Mazda systems.

[ChrisHolmes]

The page 4 comment is interesting and I wonder how long a “long time” is!

[nightfire10]

The amount of hassle I had (not leaking fortunately) I hope these dealerships are taken to task!.

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[casey]

RCRIT-17V354-2573.pdf
It's frustrating that we can access these US documents, openly and for free, but not the UK documents, even with my privileged access to some Mazda systems.

Indeed. I did ask David if I could have a copy of the relevant updated documents but he replied:

"I am not allowed to send anyone outside the dealer network our repair procedures I am afraid. This is written into our work contracts as the information is classified as internal, confidential and the intellectual property of Mazda Corporation."

[Delanor]

Fuel starvation has occurred in certain cornering conditions with less than 1/3 tank of fuel. This manifests with the engine losing power for a few seconds. Extensive investigation by RX-8 OC members has concluded that clogging of the fuel filter with increasing mileage is the cause.

There is no service interval for the fuel filter is there?

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Del.

[casey]

There is no service interval for the fuel filter is there?

Del.

As far as I'm aware, it's not on any service schedule. Warpc0il can correct me if I'm wrong!

[ChrisHolmes]

Yet again I have had to re-schedule having this recall work done due to needing to isolate for 3 days before an Angioplasty on 3rd Februray, frustrating but a good reason.