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2017 Mazda CX-9: engine failure

17 of the 61 complaints about the 2017 Mazda CX-9 describe engine failure.

owner complaints
17
of this car's complaints
28%
recalls
0
Is there a fix? 61 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Engine failure by model year

What owners say

Filed Sep 22, 2025 · Engine · UT

I took our vehicle into Mazda due to a coolant leak that could not be located. It had my wife stranded due to the vehicle overheating. Everything lined up with CSP11. The dealership is now stating that the vehicle has a blown gasket and needs an engine replacement. This is the issue covered by CSP11 except that the crack is in the wrong location. They haven't found the Crack but are denying the warranty due to the covered location not being the source. The vehicle only has 93000 miles on it.

Filed Mar 26, 2025 · Engine, Steering · PA

I was driving the vehicle on the highway when the vehicle started to overheat, lights started blinking, the car was smoking, losing power and acceleration. This car has a recall on the cyclindwr head which when cracks causing the car to loose coolant and oil. If it cracks while you’re driving especially on the highway the car will immediately loose coolant and oil thus causing a very dangerous driving condition. There was no indicator prior to the failure that there was anything wrong with the car. No check engine lights, no coolant lights nothing. Prior to this happening I smelled coolant in the car cabin , took it to my mechanic who tested the coolant system and found no leak. At the time he was unaware of the known issue these cars have with the cylinder head. The problem has been confirmed by Mazda and they notified me within the month of March of the problem and the extended warranty to replace the known manufacturer defect cylinder head. The Mazda dealer now has my car and acknowledges the cracked cylinder head caused the problem but said because I didn’t immediately stop on the highway and kept driving until I got to a safe location I was negligent and are refusing to fix the car which now has a blown engine, etc. it is available for inspection now at the Mazda dealer. My safety was put at risk because I could have died on the highway if the car completely stopped working, it was dangerous driving it when it first started happening because it started out of nowhere the car was fine I was driving 50+ mph and it started smoking, overheating etc. I could have also killed someone else. It is a disgrace that not only they won’t fix my car they want to say they won’t because I’m negligent? I drive my kids to and from school everyday do you think I’m going to risk their safety in an unsafe car? They should not only fix the car but compensate me for putting mine and my children’s lives at risk. A complete disgrace.

Filed Sep 11, 2024 · Engine · OH

My 2017 Mazda CX9 Signature Edition started leaking coolant from the engine near the firewall. I had a Mazda dealer investigate. They tell me the cylinder head is cracked and the entire engine needs replaced. This appears to be a common problem due to a design flaw and there is a Mazda service bulletin on it. I have found talk of a class action suit online because Mazda is not standing behind their product. I only have 88k miles on this car

Filed Aug 30, 2024 · Engine · AZ

My 2017 Mazda Cx9 was stalling and jerking while driving almost causing an accident but glad I was able to drive it home without causing an accident. Took the car to the dealership and was advised that it needs a new engine due to coolant leak. The coolant was going inside the vehicle.

Filed Aug 29, 2024 · Engine · MO

The 2.5l turbo engine mounts are not manufactured strong enough to handle daily driving and torque under the weight of the turbo. This causing cracks in the block/head resulting in coolant leak, over heating, and full engine replacement.

Filed Jul 11, 2024 · Engine, Fuel system · TN

My Mazda 2017 CX 9 apparently had a coolant leak. When we had our oil changed, we were told it looked like it was leaking from behind the turbo booster. As I was driving it yesterday, the car slowed to an almost complete stop on the interstate and a warning sign on the screen showed that it was overheating to a dangerous level. I immediately pulled over and allowed the car to cool down. I checked the coolant level and it was not very low at all, although I did add some coolant at that time. It continued to overheat and even blew tons of smoke out through the exhaust, so I had AAA tow to my home. After researching this, I have found that there was a bulletin posted in 2021 from Mazda about this very thing happening. My husband thinks that we may have a cracked block or a blown head gasket due to this overheating. This obviously could have caused me to have a wreck on the interstate by my car overheating and shutting down so quickly. We are scheduling to have it towed to our local Mazda dealer to let him do the $99 diagnostic. Based on what he finds, which we think will be confirming what we think it is, we will have to have a new engine put in my car due to a defect in manufacturing from Mazda. Even though my car has 130,000 miles on it and is technically “out of warranty“, we feel this is simply unacceptable and that Mazda should help us with this most definitely. I have so enjoyed my Mazda, and I feel that this is not something of my doing, but rather a defect on Mazda part and it should be addressed.

Filed Jun 6, 2024 · Engine · WA

Engine head cracked and is still on car as of now. If engine overheats, engine can seize. The leak has been reproduced, but the head has not been removed for inspection yet. No warning lamps. A large puddle of coolant was noticed under the vehicle. From what I have heard is that the material is too thin and eventually cracks. There is a tsb that covers the issue, but since we've gone beyond the 5 yrs of the powertrain warranty it won't be covered. We are under the mileage limit. We lucky caught the leak before engine damage took place (as far as we know, since the teardown has not been performed. If the replacement head is "reinforcing" that area then a design flaw has been inferred and should be corrected to avoid serious injuries due to a seized motor.

Filed Jan 16, 2024 · Engine · TX

My car started leaking coolant around [XXX]. It did not gave me any alert the car was heating up. My eldest brother was the one that notices. I took the car to the dealership and they are telling me I need a new engine. Now I'm googling and I'm seeing a big number of people reporting same issue. The dealership refuses warranty because is up to 60k miles and mine has 72k miles. However many people are having same issue on where the metal in the cylinder head isn't strong enough to support the weight of the turbocharger. I'm seeing complain in the internet since 2016 and Mazda has done nothing to fix this issue. Please go to for reference: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Aug 25, 2023 · Engine · GA

August 1, 2023, I discovered the coolant reservoir for my CX9 was empty, had to tow the car to the Mazda dealership, after a few days, the dealership informed me that I have a coolant leak at the cylinder head. This issue is related to the TSB #01-013-21-3753a. The Mazda dealership and Mazda USA informed me that I will have to pay $7,800.00 to have the car fixed, which is ridiculous, but the more serious part is that the car did not gave me any warnings, lights, overheating nothing. If it wasn't because I personally check the car fluid and didn't used the car afterwards, I could have hit the road and be left stranded in the heat or have an engine failure and cause an accident while on the highway.

Filed Jul 14, 2023 · Engine · MO

Engine cylinder cracked causing overheating and need for a total engine replacement. Service technician said that crack was due to an in factory assembly error - overtightening of components of the exhaust system. This is an issue that has happened in other Mazda CX-9's and Mazda is aware of the problem. Vehicle overheated while on a very busy highway and throttled my speed - I could have easily been hit while trying to get to a safe place to park.

Filed May 17, 2023 · Engine · VA

Engine leaking coolant due to a cracked cylinder head. 55,000 miles on car. No indications of a problem other than odor. Problem was confirmed by an independent service center and dealer. Dealer says engine needs replaced.

Filed Apr 27, 2023 · Engine · CA

Coolant Leak at Cylinder head. There is a known TBS01-013/21 They refused to pay for any of the cost to replace the engine. My out of pocket cost was $10K.

Questions about the 2017 Mazda CX-9 engine failure

Is engine failure a common problem on the 2017 Mazda CX-9?

17 of 61 owner complaints about the 2017 Mazda CX-9 (28%) mention engine failure. The model year with the most reports is 2017.

Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2017 Mazda CX-9?

There are 0 recalls and 61 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.

Other symptoms on the 2017 Mazda CX-9

Overheating 27Check engine light 9Loss of power 5

All model years of the Mazda CX-9

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