Rear shocks blown.

[alhope34]

Well, as some of you people know, the last two weeks I have been on vacation and have driven about 5500kms. Somewhere in the middle of the vacation I have noticed the rear of my car become increasingly bouncy and soft. The road I took through Cape Breton Island to get to Sydney, NS was the old highway 4 and to any of you who have driven it before, you know it is a very bumpy route. When travelling my car was not overloaded or even close to it, we packed relatively light. My fiance and I, 3 bags of clothes, 2 folding chairs, and a cooler. That`s all we took.

Over pot holes the bouncy-ness of the rear cant be felt TOO much, but over larger bumps, leaving parking lots, speed bumps and other things like that, the rear of the car bounces 4 or 5 times before it stops bouncing. My fiance`s sister`s boyfriend has an 07 MS3, we tried pushing the rear of his car down by hand and it was quite hard, and could hear the oil sloshing sound of the shocks. Pushing on my car we were able to easily push down the rear and couldn`t hear the oil sloshing sound at all.

So I have deduced, my shocks are somehow blown. I have no idea if the front shocks are affected too, but it only stands to reason that whatever the rear shocks went through the front went through as well. If I took it in for warranty, what are the chances they would change all 4 shocks instead of just the rear? If the rear have already blown out I`m kind of afraid the fronts would go soon too if they haven`t already. Oh, and I`m only at 28,800kms now on my 08 MS3, the other MS3 we were comparing mine to is an 07 with 35,000kms. I`m really hoping the dealership will change all 4 shocks without a problem, I haven`t gone offroading or anything stupid in the car that should blow out my shocks.

[Donutz]

Damn! Did you try looking at the shock/shock boot and struts to see if any oil has leaked out? Could be an indicator that a seal has failed.

[alhope34]

Damn! Did you try looking at the shock/shock boot and struts to see if any oil has leaked out? Could be an indicator that a seal has failed.

No, I never thought of that but it`s a good idea. I really don`t know what could have caused them to fail already. I guess better now than when the warranty is done.

[Unoriginalusername]

i am thinking about getting koni yellows off of pat

[Effin Itai]

If you put aftermarket springs on. I don't think Mazda will cover your warranty. If not, I see no reason why they shouldn't replace them.

[alhope34]

If you put aftermarket springs on. I don't think Mazda will cover your warranty. If not, I see no reason why they shouldn't replace them.

My suspension system is 100% stock. My only mods are in my sig.

[Noisy Crow]

Check the warranty.... I am almost certain shocks are considered a wear part.

[alhope34]

i looked at the shocks, and the right rear has oil with dirt stuck in it covering the lower 1/2. I can see how if the shocks wore out afrter 150,000kms they`d be a wear item, but this huge of a blow out after less than 30,000kms is a manufacturers defect to me. Only way to know for sure would be to go in and ask. I even paid for the 6 year 160k warranty, so that should be in my favour too. We`ve had shocks warrantieed on a Saturn and a Ford before, don`t know why Mazda would refuse.

[Donutz]

I think you have a good case to ask for them to be replaced under warranty if you don't track your car. That seems like really low mileage to have one fail.

[chinsterr]

It should be covered, but I would leave out the part where you mentioned you drove over a very bumpy road.

[FLIPDADY]

Yup Allan warranty should cover that for sure. If there is oil and dirt around the shock then for sure it's blown.

[McGuyver_3]

It should be covered, but I would leave out the part where you mentioned you drove over a very bumpy road.


He should be fine telling them because he did say it was a highway just bumpy so it was not like it was intentional just my 2 cents.

[alhope34]

Thanks Joe, that took a lot of weight off my shoulders.

And yea, it's not I drove over the grand canyon or anything, just a lot of cracks in the pavement. It frustrates me because I never even wanted to go down that highway, the GPS led me the wrong way. Plus, if the shocks were going to blow then it would have happened eventually.

And well, I made it home safe but the car feels really screwed up. Even around the smallest bend in the road, the rear end would wobble about all crazy.

[alhope34]

Well, I just looked again and on my 1300km adventure home today, somehow just about all of the oil that was on the lower half of the shock is now gone (maybe the 2-3 hours of heavy rain and highway speeds?), just a little bit of caked on dirt around the shock now.

I have to wait at least 2 weeks to get the car in to the dealer to see what they say. If they look at it and say nothing is wrong I can't afford the appointment. If they do say the shocks are gone but not covering it under warranty because I was rock climbing in Colorado or some other lame excuse, I can't afford to replace them. I think I just worry way too much, but once a thought gets in my head it just sits there, mocking me.

Ugh, I need some sleep. Thanks all again, I'll post up as soon as something happens with this.

BTW, the car handles like a pool noodle now...

[Darkleaf]

My front bumpstops were smashed and broken when I put my cobb springs in at about 18,000 km's. So at this rate I figure the car may last 40-45'000 km's ...And the cheapo windshield, paint.. sigh.

[alhope34]

Turns out only the rear-right shock is blown. I finally got it in to the dealer today, they gave me no problems at all about warranty. They ordered the part, should be in sometime this week.

The mechanic took it for a drive then showed me under the car, it was leaking pretty bad all down the shock I guess because it's the first time since it blew that it has been fully extended.

[MSMitch]

My right rear shock is also leaking oil...
In tomorrow for oil change, hopefully they can get parts asap.
Haven't driven it since I noticed the oil, but would occasionally bottom out on that side in gentle dips in the hwy with a full load of kids and dogs...
You can see the dirt caked on the shock, and a little pool of oil beneath it - :blush
Bummer, I mean, the front left shock I could see, cause, well, I'm no light-weight!! :chuckle

[alhope34]

It took my dealer 3 business days to get my rear right shock in stock.

[streetwerks]

rear shocks blowin out is a common occurance in speed3's

[5_Alive]

Hi.. yea my car blew its rear-right shock at 16,000km.. don't feel bad, welcome to the club.. its common, and will most likely happen again.. make sure you keep an eye on the left one.. so don't sweat it dude.. it happens to the best of us..

[Wild Weasel]

rear shocks blowin out is a common occurance in speed3's

Is it?

I'm pretty sure one or both of mine have gone. I've been noticing that things seemed bouncier than usual lately. Now that I've switched back to the stock wheels and tires, I KNOW things are more bouncy than they should be!

I pinned it down to the rear shocks after going over the speed bumps at Costco today. The front goes over nice and normal with no rebound, while the rear goes over and feels like a freakin' amusement park ride. :(

I'm due for an oil change anyway, so I suppose I'll get it changed at the same time. I'm just happy to hear other people have had the same issue and had it resolved.

[-cj-]

My front bumpstops were smashed and broken when I put my cobb springs in at about 18,000 km's. So at this rate I figure the car may last 40-45'000 km's ...And the cheapo windshield, paint.. sigh.

Old thread, but I had to vent... I found two crazy paint chips on my car already... WTF. Had to bust out the paint match pen. SOO Pissed.

Does Mazda really cheap out on the paint or something?

[b.rabbit]

Old thread, but I had to vent... I found two crazy paint chips on my car already... WTF. Had to bust out the paint match pen. SOO Pissed.

Does Mazda really cheap out on the paint or something?

This doesn't really have anything to do with your shocks being blown.. ?

[-cj-]

This doesn't really have anything to do with your shocks being blown.. ?

Thread is over a year old. I was responding to something I saw in the thread that I found interesting enough to vent at... alhope34 had his problem resolved, I'm not really hijacking his thread.

[Wild Weasel]

Well... I brought it back up because I'm having the same issue... but by all means, complain about the paint. :) Mine's been ok so far.

I'm just shy of 40k km's so having blown shocks is a bit of a surprise to me. I wonder if they just can't handle winter?

[-cj-]

Sorry Wild Weasel, didn't mean to draw attention away from a valid question.

What year is your MS3? I'm dropping my car next week and will be VERY pissed if I have to replace a strut that might have blown anyway... :/

[Fobio]

I'm @ 42,000 and lowered since 8000...no blown shocks, but sometimes it gets so rough on downtown roads, I wonder if all 4 are blown...I'll be inspecting this soon time.

[Wild Weasel]

If they were blown, you'd know it. Mine's quite obvious. Bouncy bouncy. :)

Making an appointment now...

[Wild Weasel]

Hey everyone! Long time no see!! :) I still won't be around regularly... I just don't have the time... but I wanted to post an update here.

My rear shocks have been feeling soft again since the spring. This morning I came out to a puddle of oil drained out of the rear right one. I'm sure, just like last time, the left isn't far behind.

It seems they last about 2 years... and then poof... gone. Unbelievable!

Luckily, I ordered FSD's a couple months back when it started going soft. I'll have them tomorrow. Perfect timing!

I can't possibly express how disappointed I am in the rear shocks Mazda put on these cars.

Still love the car though. :D

Hope everyone that remembers me is doing well!

[cwp_sedan]

Hey everyone! Long time no see!! :) I still won't be around regularly... I just don't have the time... but I wanted to post an update here.

My rear shocks have been feeling soft again since the spring. This morning I came out to a puddle of oil drained out of the rear right one. I'm sure, just like last time, the left isn't far behind.

It seems they last about 2 years... and then poof... gone. Unbelievable!

Luckily, I ordered FSD's a couple months back when it started going soft. I'll have them tomorrow. Perfect timing!

I can't possibly express how disappointed I am in the rear shocks Mazda put on these cars.

Still love the car though. :D

Hope everyone that remembers me is doing well!

Who are you again? :chuckle

That sucks the shocks have gone again already though.

[S.F.W.]

Hey everyone! Long time no see!! :) I still won't be around regularly... I just don't have the time... but I wanted to post an update here.

My rear shocks have been feeling soft again since the spring. This morning I came out to a puddle of oil drained out of the rear right one. I'm sure, just like last time, the left isn't far behind.

It seems they last about 2 years... and then poof... gone. Unbelievable!

Luckily, I ordered FSD's a couple months back when it started going soft. I'll have them tomorrow. Perfect timing!

I can't possibly express how disappointed I am in the rear shocks Mazda put on these cars.

Still love the car though. :D

Hope everyone that remembers me is doing well!

wow, talk about back from the dead..

[SKYMP3]

I had a shock leak a month ago and Mazda exteded Warranty is not covering it.
I replace the rear shock from Jimmy. (Car has 64k km and stock suspension)

[alhope34]

Yea, I had to get two rear shocks out of factory warranty and one shock in the warranty. I just changed the out of warranty ones myself, was super easy. Just 3 bolts. I think the shocks are so bad because they are a Ford part! :P

[Wild Weasel]

Got the FSD's yesterday. Putting them on tomorrow.

On a bright note... my website will soon have a full write-up on how to do the replacement. :)

Big thanks to Northern Motorsport for coming through with the parts!

[FUB4R3D]

I had a shock leak a month ago and Mazda exteded Warranty is not covering it.
I replace the rear shock from Jimmy. (Car has 64k km and stock suspension)

Sorry to drag this back from the dead again, but all I can say is "CRAP!"... I haven't been around for a while and just spent some quality time under the rear of my car looking at my suspension since I found a couple of little oil drops near the passenger-rear side. That shock is long gone and actively dripping oil while up on a jack, the drivers side rear is not far behind (coated in oily dirt, but no drips yet). I was hoping to find some happy news for me since I have MAP until 2015/160k on my 08.5 that just cleared 63.5k on my drive to work this morning. Guess not.

I initially reported the problem of suspension noise, bouncy ride, and overall pool noodle-esque handling through corners back on May 18th @ 57,329K, but it wasn't leaking at the time. Techs reported that, and I quote, "Did not hear any unusual noises from this vehicle at all -- It's as quiet as a new MazdaSpeed 3; Checked all suspension/steering/brake components - All look OK at this time". Any chance that I can use that as a leg to stand on or am I looking at some out of pocket hate? They quoted me that 4 days before my 36k warranty expired. Now, 2 months later, the suspension is toast... I haven't been driving on particularly bad roads, abusing the car, or doing anything differently than I have since I picked it up at 33k last May.

I'm prepping the the usual lacklustre treatment from a certain local dealership (Gotta take it there since I have to work when every other local dealership is open), expecting them to blame it on the aftermarket wheels (235/40/18 on 18x8, never rubbed, no issues, been on for less than 30 days now) and dismiss my previous mention of suspension problems.

Any guesstimates on what I would be looking at for the cost of the parts alone for both sides? Anyone's local dealership a little nicer and would work with me like a few friends of mine with domestics (< 6 months out of warranty but under the KM limit and the dealership offered to cover 75-90% of the cost). This cost couldn't come at a worse time for my bank account.

TL/DR version: rear suspension is gone, initially reported it to the dealer 4 days before 36 month limit of factory warranty, they claimed the car was brand new (have paperwork proof of it), 2 months down the line, suspension is raining oil and I'm preparing to be screwed by the dealer. FML

TL/DR for TL/DR version: FML.